Several
German aircraft types including Messerschmitt Bf 109’s were manufactured in
occupied
Czechoslovakia
during WW2. After the war the Czech Avia company continued production,
but eventually ran out of the Bf 109’s original Daimler Benz engines.
They then modified the Bf 109 to accept Junkers Jumo bomber engines that were
still available. These engines gave the resultant fighter some rather
unpleasant handling characteristics, and led to the S-199 being informally named
Mulec, or Mule.
I
think that the S-199 is an attractive Bf 109 variant, and I had the old Kopro (KP)
kit to build. I also had several Revell Bf 109 G-10 kits bought very
cheaply during a chain-store sale. I realized that it would be less work overall
to transplant the S-199 nose onto the Revell Bf 109 G-10, and the whole thing
came together for under 10 Kiwi dollars (about US$6.00). I chopped the
Revell kit’s nose off using a stepped cut, and then added the KP nose and
propeller to make my Mule. A friend helped me out with some under-wing
cannons from a Hasegawa Bf 109 G-6. The
only other work was making the
armoured glass and framing behind the
pilot’s seat, plus refined the DF loop.
The
S-199 is well known for its ironic use by the Israelis in 1948, and is
frequently modelled in
Israeli markings. However I liked the overall green scheme of the Czech
machine, and thought it would be an unusual addition to my display cabinet.
I used the KP codes and bow-woman nose art, but got some
replacement Czechoslovak roundels from my
spares as the KP decals weren’t very good.
This
was an easy conversion, and I’m looking forward to building the excellent
Revell kit as a Bf 109 G-10 in the future time.
Mark
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