Dragon Aircraft - Me1101 Nachtjager - D5014

The Messerschmitt P.1101 was one of the most advanced fighter designs to emerge from Nazi Germany's late-war jet programme: a swept-wing, single-engine interceptor whose wing sweep angle could be adjusted on the ground before flight. The sole prototype, captured incomplete by American forces at Oberammergau in 1945, was shipped to the USA and directly inspired the Bell X-5 variable-geometry research aircraft. This 'Nachtjager' boxing is one of Dragon's imaginative paper-project releases, reimagining the P.1101 airframe as a two-seat, radar-equipped night fighter that Messerschmitt might have developed had the war continued into 1946.

Moulded in 1/72 scale, the kit reproduces the P.1101's distinctive shark-nosed fuselage, low-mounted swept wing and dorsal air intake with Dragon's characteristic crisp recessed panel lines. As a speculative 'what if' subject it sits alongside the manufacturer's celebrated Luft '46 range, which lets modellers build the exotic late-war German jet and rocket designs that never reached production, finished here with an added second crew position and nose-mounted radar array typical of contemporary night fighter conversions.

The kit includes clear canopy parts for the extended cockpit, undercarriage and a decal sheet with plausible Luftwaffe night fighter markings, giving builders a complete out-of-box project.

It's a great pick for collectors of German jet 'paper projects' and Luftwaffe '46 dioramas who want something distinct from the usual production-aircraft subjects on the shelf.