Originally Posted by wonwinglo

*** Good evening Steve,regarding your question whether Nieuports ever had anything other than a Lewis gun fitted ? well according to my mighty tome 'Janes Fighting aircraft of WW.1' they certainly did use Vickers synchronised guns,so it looks as if you are in ! the Lewis on the other hand is one of the easier WW.1 guns to make up if you wished to go to the trouble.
Regarding the weathering of Solartex a seasons flying will certainly help that ! with oil and dirt getting kicked up onto the model,my very old Puppeteer now looks like the real thing after years of flying fun,to clean up the Solartex just use a mixture of water,washing up liquid,meths and a bit of white spirit mixed together,this unlikely concoction once sprayed onto your model with one of those diffuser bottles should shift a bit of muck from the airframe,failing that gungy castor can be removed with a quick wipe with a cellulose thinners soaked rag,but watch any markings or transfers as this could be a bit too violent towards these.
Hope that this assists you a bit.