Heller’s 1/72 Bf-109K converted to an Avia S-199 “Sakeen”
This is Heller's Bf-109K converted to an Avia S-199. An enjoyable build, I took a kit that I was not too thrilled with as a 109K but had some fun making it to something that I like. This was Heller's first attempt (1976, Kit No. 074) to have a 109K model but made mistakes on the tail area and this kit was more a late G model 109. Later Heller reworked the mould and came out with a more correct 109K in kit No. F-232 in 1985.
I did some scratch building on the outside parts of the cowlings and wings (fairings and bulges, scoops), reworked the leading edge of the vertical stabilizer by adding on a piece of stretched sprue to the front and filled in the open area with putty. This made the angle a bit more shallow to give it the more correct look. I use parts from the 1975 Airfix release of their Bf-109E (bomb rack and bombs), Jo-Han's Me-109F/G (20mm underwing cannon packs) and Pavla's resin FW-190D spinner and propeller.
Decals comes from AML's Israeli S-199 sheet. I used the set that represent Avia S.199 of the 101 Squadron, Israeli Air Force/Defence Force.
All in all a fun build.
Great build. I still find it fascinating that the Israelis flew both the BF109 and Spitfire.
Thank you Neill, yes and then the Mustang too...the S-199 was reassigned for training after having the Spitfire and Mustang.
Great conversion work! Nicely done.
Thank you Robert.
Looks terrific, Bob (@v1pro). Awesome work to bring an old Heller kit up to today's standards. I just watched the movie Exodus (all 3 1/2 hours of it), this past weekend, so it fits right into the mood.
Thank you George, I was happy to make good use of this kit. This aircraft sure fits into the time frame of Exodus.
An excellent build, Bob! Very nice extra work on this oldie, the result is stunning, hard to believe it is only 1/72!
Thank you Spiros. I like the way how this build came out, to be honest the conversion part was easier than what I expected. I never liked the original look of this kit when I first saw it back in the 70’s.
Great finish, Bob @v1pro
Not so often seen an Israeli build of a 109, but she looks beautiful in this scheme.
Your performed conversions are well performed.
Thank you John, yes it is an eye catcher in this scheme.
Nice work Bob, I'm currently working on my second S-199 and from what I've read the Avia was based on the 109 G so you're build is more correct than you thought!
The Israeli's used any aircraft they could get in the early days including Mosquitos ,Beaufighters, B17's and at least two Catalinas as well as many more types.
Thank you Neil, Yes I knew it was a G model, Heller was wrong calling their release a K model. The S-199 airframe is actually from a Bf-109G-12. The CS-199 the two seater trainer version is from a Bf-109G-14. The big bulge on the upper part of the wings comes from a G-10. The C-199 is a pretty cool looking plane but with poor performance.
Great looking build! I love these kinds of projects - starting off with old kits and upgrading them. You did a fantastic job - well done!
Greg, thank you. I really enjoy working on the older kits and see if I can tweak them a bit. The straight out of the box is nice to do once in a while but tweaking the older stuff is the best!
This 1/72 kit is such a small model, it’s amazing all the details you added and tweaking you’ve done, @v1pro. You must do a lot of research to be able to do this. It’s more interesting then just a run of the mill German marked 109.
Jay, this build I had to do my research because it was a plane that I have ignored most of my life. I’ve read about it in the past but never cared about it. But in these last couple of years I have developed this big interest on the odd ball stuff. The conversion turned out to be a lot easier than what I expected. I have read a simple conversion on someone converting the very old Airfix 109G into this S-199. I was surprised on how simple it was. Then I watched a YouTube video on I think a 1/32 109G into a S-199 and again it was not that hard. So I winged it on this build and loved every minute of this build. The hardest part was putting the resin propeller together. I did a better job on the propeller of the KP CS-199 than on this one. I was building both models at the same time, this heller kit got done first.
If you ever give this a try on any scale the main gear wheels are angled in parallel to each other. On the Bf-109 they were angle to the same angle of the gear struts.
And yes it was pretty interesting compared to the usual build of a 109.