Eagle Editions’ EagleCals EC#22: Fw 190A-8/R2 decals in 1/72 and 1/48

By Chris Bucholtz

Recent EagleCal sheets for the Fw 190 have focused on the D-9 and other late war “stretched” variants. For this reviewer’s money, the earlier short-nosed versions were more attractive. This sheet portrays four Fw 190A-8 R-8s, the “sturmbock” or Ram, aircraft built to aggressively attack and even ram their targets. The improvements included extra armor, additional 30mm armored windscreen and canopy glass, and deleted outboard machine guns. These were in-close, hard-working -190s. Although the sheet proclaims the planes as belonging to II./JG 4 (Sturm), the first of the units so equipped, only Blue 21 belonged to this unit; White 16 and White 20 belonged to 5./JG 4 and Yellow 2 to 7./JG 4.

EagleCals provides markings for the airplanes and also does a good job of describing the modifications the modeler will need to perform. This varies from plane to plane, but EagleCals’ thorough instructions spell out what the modeler will need to do to build each plane.

All four Fw 190s are in the RLM 74/75/76 scheme, with variations in the placement of various blotches of color. As always, the printing of these sheets is absolutely spectacular, with even the white segments of the national insignia lined up with the black segments. Stencil decals for two planes are provided. In some cases, black outlines are provided as separate decals for white markings, or white surrounds are provided for colored numbers and swastikas. The knights’ head crest is provided as a single decal or as a black decal with a separate white background. EagleCals is to be commended for giving the modeler so many options.

The fighters all date to late 1944/early 1945, and were piloted by Obfhr. Franz Schaar (White 16), Maj. Gerhard Schroeder (Blue 21), Uffz. Erich Keller (White 20) and Fw. Erich Güldenpfennig (Yellow 2). References are footnoted so real die-hards can ferret out photos in books and make efforts to replicate the planes in great detail (except for Blue 21; this scheme is described as “provisional,” since the photo used for the markings was taken at a “great distance.”).

Saying that EagleCals sets the standard for Luftwaffe fighter decals is a monthly occurrence for Internet Modeler, but it’s true. Hats off once again for an excellent product. Our thanks to Eagle Editions for our review samples.