Avia S-199 1/72 Eduard

The Avia S-199 has already appeared on this blog once before, thanks to Josef Skalický, so this time I’ll skip the intro with historical background of the type — I’d just be repeating what was said before.

Back when the good old Kovozávody Prostějov released this model, I couldn’t resist as a kid and built it.
Later, I learned about its role in the history of the founding of Israel and decided that one day I’d build another version of the aircraft.
So when Eduard released the model with the option to build it with an exposed engine, I bought everything I needed, and here’s the result.

There’s not much to comment on about the kit as it basically builds itself.
The details are very well done, and the basic set of photo-etch parts do really enhance the interior.
The engine from Brassin is perfectly printed with fine details, and the instructions are excellent.
So, for someone like me who usually builds short-run models, this build felt like a small holiday.

The decals, however, were a different story.
The kit includes two sheets – one with small labels and the other with registration markings.
Eduard has historically used two types of decals – standard and “peelable.”
Neither the manual nor the decal sheets mention which type is included or how to handle the peelable ones.

After some trial and error, I found out I had the peelable kind and figured out how to work with them.
But without watching some tutorials from other modelers on YouTube, I wouldn’t have managed.
For the small labels, I didn’t peel them since my eyes aren’t good enough for that, and it wasn’t necessary.
For the larger decals, I fixed them in place using MarkSetter by Gunze.
After drying, they conformed nicely to the surface, and after peeling off the top film (with a scalpel and tweezers), they looked really good.

Paints used were Gunze C, and clear coats were Tamiya.
Painted by brush.