Greetings
The same photo of Nungesser's aircraft appears on page 56 of
Nieuport Aces of World War 1, and an artist's (Iain Wyllie) rendition of this aircraft graces the front cover of the publication. The shading of the published photo is lighter than than that in the posted picture, and seems to favor the view that the large blue fuselage band shown on the posted texture is, in fact, a shadow. This, at least, was the impression of the artist for the illustration on the cover. Note that there is also a change in tone where the "shadow" and the blue turtledeck band intersect.
