Fantasy Printshop | Euro Decals ED-32130 1/32 Bf 109G (various) in ANR service

Reviewed by Iain Ogilvie

Now this is an odd case of serendipity in my modelling tastes.

Only last week I'd been reading my copy of "Camouflage and Markings of the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana 1943-1945" and found myself wondering if there were any decals out there for the various versions of the Messerschmitt Bf 109G they operated...

The serendipity I mentioned turned up unannounced in our postbox yesterday; an excellent new set of decals by Fantasy Printshop, in their Euro Decals range, covering a variety of G-6, G-10 and G-14 ANR airframes.

Quality appears top notch, as we've come to expect from Fantasy Printshop, with good colour density and perfect register, along with a thin and absolutely minimal varnish layer.

As with other sheets in the range, printing is on a blue ground making it easier to see all the white printed areas.

Options

14 options are included, covering aircraft from both 1 Gruppo and 2 Gruppo Caccia:

1 Gruppo:

Bf 109G-14 Wk Nr: 464380, "Yellow 1" of 5 Squadriglia, flown by Magg. Mario Bellagambini
Bf 109G-10 Wk Nr: 491354, "2-2" of 2 Squadriglia
Bf 109G-10 Wk Nr: 491356, of 3 Squadriglia, Lonate Pozzolo, February 1945, flown by Magg. Adriano Visconti
Bf 109G-14/AS Wk Nr: 785039, "3-13" of 1 Squadriglia, Lonate Pozzolo, March 1945
Bf 109G-14 Wk Nr: 491461, "1-10" of 1 Squadriglia, Malpensa, March 1945
Bf 109G-14/AS Wk Nr: 785853 of 1 Squadriglia, Malpensa, April 1945
Bf 109G-10 Wk Nr: 491493 "2-8" of 2 Squadriglia, Vizzola Ticino, May 1945

2 Gruppo:

Bf 109G-6, "Yellow 8" of 2 Squadriglia, Cascina Vaga, June 1944
Bf 109G-6, "White 5" of 3 Squadriglia, Villafranca, July 1944
Bf 109G-6, "Black 2" of 1 Squadriglia, Villafranca, October 1944
Bf 109G-6, ">" of Nucleo Commando, Villafranca, November 1944
Bf 109G-14 Wk Nr: 464444, Nucleo Commando, Aviano, February 1945
Bf 109G-10 Wk Nr: 491353, "Black 7" of 4 Squadriglia, Aviano, February 1945, flown by Cap. Ugo Drago
Bf 109G-10 Wk Nr: 491501, "Black 11" of 4 Squadriglia, Aviano, February 1945, flown by Magg. Mario Bellagambini

Placement Guide

Printed in colour, the set includes detailed placement instruction that include the relevant RLM colour references. No placement details are provided for the one set of stencils included, but these are fairly standard and details can probably be gleaned from the relevant kit's instruction sheet.

Recommended Reference

This is a personal recommendation, but one of the best books I've found on aircraft and units of the ANR: "Camouflage and Markings of the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana 1943-1945".

As it turns out, from the decal sheet instructions: "dedicated to the memory of Ferdinando d'Amico who helped with the research". Ferdinando was one of the two authors of this particular work, and was a renowned expert on the subject.

It features many of the airframes covered on this sheet, the images below illustrating the sheets' Bf 109G-14 Wk Nr: 464380, "Yellow 1" of 5 Squadriglia, along with a photograph and side view in the book.

If you can get hold of a copy I can thoroughly recommend it as a companion to this sheet, as well as giving some background on the interesting history of the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana.

Conclusion

This is a really interesting set of decals for ANR Messerschmitt Bf 109Gs: well researched and superbly designed and printed.

Highly Recommended!

Availability

This sheet is available directly from Fantasy Printshop.

Our thanks to Ray Horwell at Fantasy Printshop for the review sample.

Iain