Warbirds Decals 1/72 Belgian Nieuport 11

By Matt Bittner

History

The Nieuport 11 is one of the most important aircraft of the First World War. I make my assertion on the following points. First and foremost it was one of the aircraft that stemmed the "Fokker Scourge". In addition it was to spawn not only its predecessor the Nieuport 17 and aftewards, but it was also the source for plenty of airplane designs to follow. Not only did certain German manufacturers copy it almost direct - like the Siemens Schuckert company - but the Albatros D.III and D.V can owe part of its design to the Nieuport 11.

Many French and other allied aces flew the Nieuport 11 at some point in time. Lufberry, Guynemer and Ball are just some of the many. It was a type that was flown by many countries - not only France, but Italy, Russia, and Belgium amongst others - including a few captured by Germans. Plus, it was flown by the Escadrille américaine - the famous all-volunteer United States squadron - that later became the Lafayette Escadrille.

The Decals

These are the first decals produced by Delta Aviation under the new "Warbirds Decals" moniker. There are decals only for the one machine, flown by Edmond Desclee of the 5 ^éme Escadrille, Aviation Militaire Belge.

These decals are excellent, spot-on registration wise and sport excellent colors. According to the Datafile Special on the Nieuport Fighters, Part 1, the instructions are very well done as well. However, there is one error - the aircraft had red stripes on its wheels, and Delta Aviation does not provide these decals. Be that as it may, that is no reason to forgo buying these decals. With some red paint you can easily rectify the lack of wheel-disc decals.

Thanks to Rosemont Hobby Shop for providing the decals.

References

Bruce, J.M., Nieuport Fighters, A Windsock Datafile Special, Volume 1, Albatros Publications, Inc., Great Britain