The Avia S-199 was a propeller-driven fighter aircraft built after World War II by the two aircraft factories in Czechoslovakia: one of them officially called závod Avia (Avia Plant) (1946–48) and závod Avia-Jiřího Dimitrova (Avia-George Dimitroff-Plant, 1948–49) in Čakovice near Prague, as a post-war corporative part of the Automobilové závody, n.p. [Automotive Works, National Corp.], and the other one called závod Vysočany (Vysočany Plant, 1948–49) in Prague, as a corporative part of Letecké závody, n.p. [Aviation Works, National Corp.] It was constructed with parts and plans left over from Luftwaffe aircraft production that had taken place under the country’s German occupation during the war.
Despite the aircraft’s numerous problems and unpopularity with its pilots, it achieved fame as the first fighter obtained by the Israeli Air Force, for use during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Czechoslovak pilots nicknamed it Mezek (“Mule”), while in Israel it was officially known as the Sakeen (“knife” in Hebrew). In practice, the aircraft was more often called Messerschmitt or Messer (which also means “knife”, in German and Yiddish).
Source: Wikipedia
I really wanted to get this build done before the new year and I finally crossed the finished line. At this summer’s Nats, my goal was to pick up something unique and not really add that much to the stash. My wife blessed me with a few dollars to splurge and I made a purchase that I rarely make. I had always eyed the 1:32 Werner’s Wings S-199 conversion set, but the price of $75 made me hesitant. I decided to take the plunge, so I chatted with the nice Werner’s Wings folks at the vendor table…they are really nice folks.
The base kit I used was the fine 1:32 Hasegawa Bf109G-14. The Werner’s conversion set came with an entirely new nose piece and some great decal options. I have to comment that Werner’s resin was first rate…finely detailed and not brittle… the surface was perfect.
I had to cut off the nose of the base kit and resin nose fit was perfect. I added some RB Productions fabric belts…I also purchased some Barracuda Wheels. Soon after I painted with MM RLM 02 and chose the Czech scheme…
I did make one annoying error….when I clamped the left wing I did it too tightly which compressed the wing…this resulted in poor fit with the resin nose. So the fit in this area was my fault and not the conversion set.
Dale, those decals look awesome from here. Not a hint of silvering at all. They look painted on the model.
Thanks, George…the Wing’s folks put together a quality product….and the decals went down very nicely…