While many WWII aircraft sported flamboyant personal artwork, what made this unit rather unusual was that its Gustavs carried designs linked around a stylised cartoon Pik As (Ace of Spades) character. For instance, he's seen here grabbing a lion by the scruff of the neck, smashing up Allied insignia and an RAF aircraft and, bizarrely, tucking a rabbit into a cot!

The sheet has been updated slightly from its first run to incorporate new information and includes markings for six Gustavs - all 'G6/R6 Trop variants, but lacking dust filters on the supercharger intakes. All the machines are armed with underwing 20mm cannon gondolas. Standard mid-war European camouflage is applied.

The decals are beautiful quality, thin and glossy with pin-sharp registration. Thanks to careful layout, Iliad have managed to squeeze full national insignia for four aircraft onto the sheet, so the opportunity's there to build a complete Schwarm without resorting to kit insignia. No general stencil decals are provided, but a small supplementary sheet includes useful fuel octane and oil triangles if your donor kit lacks the correct type.

Accompanying the decals is a full-colour A4 sheet of instructions with high quality side profiles plus 3-views showing the official camouflage pattern. All the machines sport spirals on their spinners and, while decals for these aren't given, there's a diagram with dimensions showing how to mask the spiral.

Conclusion

Iliad Designs' "Cartoon" Bf 109Gs is a great sheet for anyone looking to build an eye-catching mid-war Gustav. Having multiple aircraft sporting themed fuselage artwork would make a fantastic diorama if you've got enough space, or alternatively would make an ideal group build for a modelling club or website.

Item #48002a is available now from Iliad Designs - Price: $12.00

Many thanks to Iliad Designs for the review sample.

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