New (to me) from Eagle Editions’ “EagleCal” line is this 1/48 scale sheet of decals for the Me 262 B-1a/U1 night fighter. There is a copyright of 2016 on the instructions, but this is my first exposure to this sheet.

As with any other EagleCal product, my first impressions are that this is another high-quality product. Opening the ziplock bag, one finds a single, full-color instruction sheet wrapped around a decal sheet (with a protective slip of tissue paper). Three subjects are covered: two operational Luftwaffe night fighters and one a/c that was captured by the US.

Aircraft markings in this sheet are:

• “Red 10”, W. Nr. 110635, NJG 11
• “Red 8”, W. Nr. 110305, NJG 11
• “Ole Fruit Cake”, W. Nr. 110306 (captured by Watson’s Whizzers)

The instructions are on one sheet, folded into a 5 ½” x 8 ½” size. This opens to 17” x 11” and has one side printed in full color, with the other in black and white. The front “title page” shows left side views of all three subjects in color, and upon opening it one sees larger versions of these images, again in full color, with appropriate markings notes. As there are only three drawings taking up the full space of an 8 ½” x 11” page, they are a nice generous size. The art itself is beautifully rendered by James Bentley. The last part of the color page (the back cover), shows full top views of each aircraft with scrap views of the wing undersides.

One half of the black and white side of the instruction sheet is dedicated to showing stenciling placement. Full left, right and top profiles, as well as scrap views of wing undersides are shown. Options for variations of stenciling are mentioned (and provided for on the decal sheet). The other half of this side of the sheet contains a detailed description of the individual camouflage and markings of each subject, along with reference notes. As with all other EagleCal products, it is clear there is a lot of thought and research poured into this work.

The decals themselves look on the sheet to be of very high quality. They appear to be extremely thin and have a glossy finish with the absolute minimum of extra carrier. Although not mentioned anywhere, I believe these are printed by Cartograph. They look to be of the same high quality as other decals from that printer. In addition to the individual markings for each aircraft (including several styles of numbers where there might be some questions), three full sets of national markings (one being USAAF) and two full sets of stenciling are included. So, stenciling aside, there is enough on this sheet to complete all three aircraft.

These would make a great enhancement to either the old Dragon/DML kit or the newer one from Hobby Boss. Although I have not used these decals (yet), I have used many other EagleCal sheets and always found them to be of flawless quality. No reason to think otherwise here – highly recommend!

Thanks to Eagle Editions for providing the sample, and to IPMS/USA for allowing me to review it!