Avia S-199 - Thoughts about Eduard’s Upcoming 1/48 scale “Messer”
- Yoav Efrati
- Aug 2
- 2 min read
Eduard’s recent announcement of their new tooled Avia S-199 “Mule” in 1/48 scale, to be released this upcoming winter, is wonderful news for Israeli Air Force enthusiasts worldwide.
The significance of this airplane to the history of Israel is unprecedented; it was the first and only fighter plane sold lawfully to the Jewish nation in 1948. As we see with our own eyes today, the sentiment for a Jewish state is nearly the same as it was in 1948, embargoed by the United States, Russia, England, France and other nations in the world; we were allowed to establish a Jewish homeland, but in order to defend ourselves we needed to smuggle most of our weapons from abroad. The only country willing to step forward and help the fledgling Jewish nation was Czechoslovakia, the same nation betrayed by Europe to the Nazis.
The Czechs enabled us to purchase arms in order to defend ourselves, including ironically, the most widely used fighter plane of Nazi Germany, a derivative of the Messerschmitt Bf 109G, the Czech Avia built model S-199.
In Israel, the Messerschmitt was nicknamed “Messer” by Yedish speaking Jews, meaning Knife, and by the pilot who flew her it was nicknamed “The Mule” for it’s problematic handling qualities.
The S-199 "Messer" was nicknamed the Mule by the pilots who flew her.
On the 29th May 1948, Israel’s first four Messers took to the air in a surprise attack which stopped an Egyptian armoured column from advancing towards Tel Aviv at the outskirts of Ashdot, at the bridge know to this day as "Gesher Ad Halom".
With only one Messer serviceable, 101 squadron commander, Modi Alon became the first Israeli pilot to attain an air to air kill on afternoon of June 7th, 1948 when he downed two Egyptian C-47 converted bombers that were on a mission to bomb Jewish civilian centres of Tel-Aviv and Rishon Le’Zion.
The 1/48 scale model shown in this post I built using Hobby/Craft - Academy S-199 fuselage, Hasegawa Bf-109G wings and AML propeller and spinner set. The model’s overall khaki green color was painted with Revell SM362 Reed Green, to match a fuel cap saved from an actual Messer airplane.
The colourful markings applied to Messer Daled-120 were applied just prior to October 16, 1948 “Operation Ten Plagues” that pushed the Egyptian army entrenched along the Ashdod - Jerusalem road that cut off Jewish settlements in southern Israel.
Prior to the offensive, 101 squadron Messers, Spitfires had Mustangs had over wing roundels applied along with red and white diagonal rudder strips and spinners, to help differentiate them from Egyptian and British flown Spitfires and Typhoons operating over Israel.
I’m looking forward to building Eduard’s upcoming new tooled S-199, their current technological ability and love for the home built airplane will be something special.
Yoav Efrati - 02 August 2025
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Thank you,
Yoav Efrati
Looking forward to the build, and knowing your attention to detail, historical accuracy and skill as modeler, I am sure that we will have great enjoyment reading your article and looking at the pictures of the build and of the completed model. Many thanks for sharing your knowledge and art with us.