Barracuda Studios | BC32144: Erla Bf 109G-10's Part 1

Reviewed by Kevin Futter

Roy Sutherland's Barracuda Studios has recently released a range of upgrade items aimed primarily at Revell's new Bf 109G-10 kits. Among these are two decal sets from the company's BarracudaCals line. Here we take a look at set BC32144.

This set features markings for the following aircraft:

Bf 109G-10 (Erla built). White 14
Ex II./JG3 aircraft. Flown by Waldemar Wagler, JG51 at Garz, Germany, April 1945
Bf 109G-10 (Erla built). Yellow 6
JGr.300. Pilot Unknown. Neubiberg, Germany. June, 1945.
Bf 109G-10 (Erla built). Black 13
JG27(?) Location Unknown, Mid June 1945
Bf 109G-10 (Erla built). Red 5
2./JG300. Flown by Friedrich-Wilhelm “Timo” Schenk. Borkheide, February 1945
Bf 109G-10 (Erla built). Blue 1
JG301. Pilot Unknown. Base Unknown. Spring, 1945
Bf 109G-10 (Erla built). Black 22
5./JG52. Pilot and location unknown.
Bf 109G-10 (Erla built). No identity markings.
Squadron and location unknown. June, 1945

As you can see from the scans above, the artwork by Anders Hjortsberg is provided in full colour, and is very attractive indeed. High resolution digital versions of the supplied instructions are available from the BC32144 product page on the BarracudaCals website. Research credits go to Anders Hjortsberg, David E. Brown, Marc-André Haldimann and Lynn Ritger.

Also provided in the set is a sheet containing detailed stencil placement information:

The decals themselves are provided on two sheets, and printed by Cartograf in Italy, so the quality is virtually assured. One sheet contains the individual aircraft markings and stencils, while the other contains all the national markings.


Note that while swastikas are provided, they are separated into two halves each, and will need to be assembled on the model. A pair of spinner spirals is also included on each sheet.

The print quality is stunning, with minimal carrier film, great colour density and perfect registration. The resulting decals are reassuringly glossy.

The printing is also impressively crisp (to which my photograph below doesn't quite do justice):

Conclusion

This is a quality package, featuring some of the finest printed decals I've seen. Cartograf decals are among the best available, and if you've ever used them before, you'll know what to expect when it comes time to apply them. If you're looking for some alternative decals for your Revell Erla Bf 109G-10 kit (or suitably modified Hasegawa kit), I can certainly highly recommend this set!

Thanks to Roy Sutherland for the review sample.

© Kevin Futter 2014

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This review was published on Monday, July 07 2014; Last modified on Saturday, March 26 2016