Some comments in response to your assertion that Eindecker cowls weren't brushed or machined. First, noting the picture you use by your signature, I suspect that your knowledge of Eindeckers may be superior to mine. However, the impression that Eindeckers have brushed cowls is pretty widespread. For instance, http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/ca...ned-cowls.html which also cites WW I Aero. Second, photos of the original, hanging in the Imperial British War Museum (I believe), as well as the one at San Diego, and others floating around the Internet, certainly appear to have cowls and cheeks prepared that way.

Perhaps more important, the modeler who started this thread clearly isn't attempting to build a competitive scale plane. But he might start in that direction by picking out a prototype, of which he can get a photograph, and then finish his model to represent that prototype. If the best way of representing that prototype is by brushing aluminum, perhaps by following SR Batteries approach, or perhaps by buying pre- brushed aluminum from Walt Moucha, then he has a justifiable approach.