Revell 1/72 Messerschmitt P.1099B/I

REVELL 1:72 MESSERSCHMITT P.1099B/I
'INBOX Review'

Reviewer: Myself (rec.models.scale)

Kit Details: Revell 1:72 #04359 - Messerschmitt P 1099 B/I Heavy Armor

Aircraft History: The Messerschmitt P.1099B/I is as many people reading this will know simply a paper based project that the German's envisaged taking to the skies in the latter part of the war - or more simply a "Luft-46" subject. Essentially it was supposed to be a further development of the Me 262, retaining its wings but having an enhanced armoured fuselage enabling it to fulfil the role of a heavy all-weather fighter to destroy Allied bombers.

Kit Parts: Three sprues contain around 65 medium sea grey crisp injection molded parts and a smaller sprue contains three clear parts. The canopy section is quite clear and has frosted areas to help you know exactly where to paint later. Panel lines are engraved and the surface detail is generally very good. There's no flash and the ejector pin marks are generally on the internal side of parts and out of the way. The kit was produced a decade ago under what was then new tooling technology so the parts look pretty nice.

Instructions: A 12 page booklet, roughly A4 sized pages makes up the instructions with a brief overview of the aircraft on the front. The next couple of pages are devoted to symbols and modelling information which is then followed by alphabetic labels for painting information, keyed to the Revell range. Annoyingly RLM numbers are not stated, however, these are stated on the markings diagrams later in the instructions. The 29 step assembly process does not start until page 5, and even then shares the page with a sprue diagram. The assembly diagrams are easy to follow and concentrate on one aspect of construction (eg: port wing, then another step for the starboard wing), hence the large number of steps. The last two pages are devoted to four view painting and decalling information for the two versions the kit produces. The instructions use shaded areas and RLM numbers with their alphabetic labels (which thus allows you to work out the RLM from the painting guide earlier in the instructions). Italeri can learn something here, not only are the shades fairly easy to distinguish but there's also an alphabetic label, to clarify any uncertainty.

Colour Options: Two options are provided for by the kit, and obviously both are speculative given this aircraft never found its way off a piece of paper (or few). One is from ZG1 and the other I./KG (J) 76 and both are finished in a splinter upper wing and fuselage scheme of RLM 81/82 over RLM 76 grey fuselage and undersides. An RLM 82 mottle pattern is applied to the upper half of the fuselage areas.

Decals: The sheet is not overly large but does contain a reasonable amount of stencilling and the Luftwaffe crosses etc are shared between both versions. The sheet has a very matt appearance but with only essential carrier film and the colours are sharp and in register. There are of course no swastikas so these need to be sourced from elsewhere. Revell decals can be a bit hit and miss but in the late 90's most of the sheets they produced are not too bad, and I am hoping this is one of them! I remember using the excellent decal sheet from the Me 262A (the kit tooled about the same time as this kit in 1998).

On the Sprue Impressions: The main sprue is from the earlier P.1099A boxing of this kit and one of the first things that you see is that the wings appear to be taken from the Me 262 molds. Nothing wrong with that as the wings and engine nacelle should then go together very well, given that kit was a little gem. The engine make up is identical to the Me 262 with cowling halves, nose intake and rear exhaust cone, both of which are a bit shallow.

For this scale, the cockpit detail is excellent. A cockpit floor forms the base onto which side consoles already molded with detail are attached. The consoles include a separate radio box which is attached and can also be picked out along with some other gadgetry on the port side. The seats are reasonable replicas with seat belts molded onto them. The pilot also has a periscope sight! There is a control column and a main instrument panel with raised dials and gauges to be affixed, and even the rear bulkhead has detail molded onto it. Very nice for this scale.

The wheel wells also have some plumbing, hydraulic and structural detail molded into them so overall the detail for this kit is quite good. All the wheel well doors are molded in one piece, but scored down the middle to easily cut to enable them to be displayed with wheels down, with the tyres having some tread detail. However, even though they are one piece, they have small alignment tabs/hinges which will need to be removed for wheels up and could affect how well they fit

Unfortunately there are no stores in this kit but there are quite a few gimmicky parts with the nose and rear fuselage guns able to be affixed in a way to allow them to be moveable. The rear facing guns coming out of the canopy are fixed into one position at an angle of about 10 degrees.

Parts breakdown includes the fuselage halves, upper and lower wing halves and tailplanes on one sprue and the majority of other parts on a second sprue. A smaller sprue which is unique to the B/I version has a separate nose section with gun ball turret, rear facing crew member's seat, various machine guns and a separate forward fuselage underneath section to replace the machine gun version from the A.

Conclusion: If you are into Luft 46 subjects then this is certainly one to add to the mix. This came out around the time Revell released a whole range of similar subject types, most of which went together very well and were great kits. Whilst it is speculative, I am more than happy to recommend this, it certainly will look good in that section of the cabinet devoted to these subjects.

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