What we have here is one helluva deal on some fine decals from Sky Models of Italy.  I am a serial Bf109er, but my interest in these infamous aircraft lies between the G4/5 and K4.  I had pretty much decided that I had no interest in the Es, and little in the Fs.  True to my weakness, I got this sheet hoping to have some interesting markings for some G-series Bf109s I already have, and I soon found myself buying two Tamiya E-models because of these decals.  I just can't let all those interesting schemes go unbuilt!  Once again, done in by the decals.  They're evil, you know.

 I did actually see the sheet on the site I bought the decals from (pacmodels.com), but not having the instrux to look at, I wasn't really sure what variants it covered, except that I could ID some from each variant from E to G.  You can never have too many decals laying around, so I picked up this sheet along with the nice P-51 sheet from the same manufacturer.  I was very impressed with the quality of the decals upon arrival.  They are very beautifully done.  They are very crisp and in perfect register.  Some of the script on a few of the badges is so small, you'll need a magnifying glass to make it out.  But if you do this, you will not see some scribble or blob that looks like writing - you will see finely printed microscopic words.  The multitude of kill markings is accurate down to the smallest detail.  I said it about Sky Models' P-51 sheet, and I'll say it again about these - if there are better looking decals, I haven't seen them.  Read on.

 People have complained about the national markings in some of the other Sky Models offerings, and the crosses on this sheet are a little smallish when compared to some of the other sheets I have.  However, I had to put the crosses right on top of one another to tell, so it's really pretty close.  And I'm not so sure that maybe my other sheets aren't a little too big.  I'm not the kind of modeler that breaks out with a full set of plans and a micrometer before I build anything, so I'll leave the debate about the exact scale size of the German national insignia to those so inclined to take it on.  On a painted bird, these crosses would be fine.  From my perspective, the national markings are a non-issue, since you'll need more crosses to build the other schemes on this sheet.  Like other offerings from Sky Models, you only get insignia to do one or two of the many aircraft.  In this case, it looks like two.  And come on - who buys a sheet of decals and only builds one model?

 Ok, so far I've covered the basics.  But here's where these decals really earn the cheese you lay out to get them: on this one sheet you get individual markings for 37 aircraft!  Yes, I meant thirty-seven different aircraft.  As I mentioned previously, it covers a broad range from the Bf109E through the Bf109G6.  However, the subjects are heavier on the earlier birds than the latter, which is how I ended up buying two 1/48 Tamiya Bf109E kits to support my decal habit!  Here's the breakdown:  23 markings for Bf109Es, 9 Bf109Fs and 5 Bf109G5/6s.  Now maybe you can see why I started out looking for a couple of interesting Gs, and ended up with a pair of Es on the shelf.  As a last thought, it's entirely possible that you could mix and/or borrow from this sheet to do still other schemes not indicated in the instrux.

 As for the instrux, they are fairly basic.  They feature a profile from each aircraft and a common paint scheme representation for each generic variant.  The decal call-outs could be better, as if this is your only source, you'll be scratching your head as to the placement in some cases.  Most of us know by now, though, that decal instrux are no substitute for solid references.  To that end, Sky Models gives a list of resources, so should you decide to research the subjects yourself, you won't have to go far to figure out where to find them.  Last, there is the Sky Model standard full color paint guide with FS numbers and equivalents in Humbrol, Molak, Tamiya, Gunze and Model Master lines.

 Whether you're new to the Bf109 or a serial Bf109er, this sheet will probably be the best $8-$9 you're likely to spend on decals.  Highly recommended.

 Review courtesy my wallet. 

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