Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik 1/72 Scale Model

Soviet Il-2 - This is a model of an assault bomber that resisted the German invasion of 1941. The Shturmovik was the most successful of the three new bombers, the other two being the Pe-2 and Su-2, that the Soviets secretly produced after their invasions of Poland and Finland in 1939. The first Shturmoviks were one-seaters, with no defensive machine-gun position located behind the pilot, but this made it too easy for enemy fighters to attack from the rear, so a rear seat for a machine gunner was added on later models. The Shturmovik could carry a variety of heavy armament, and was so heavily armored that it earned the nickname of the "flying tank." Squadrons of Shturmoviks would form flying circles around German armored units forming a "Circle of Death" wherein they would take turns attacking, and then rejoining the circle, with the circle sometimes lasting for hours. It was one of the most successful planes of WWII, and more than 36,000 Il-2's were built.

More Photos: Right, Left, Top, Front Angle Right, Front Angle Left, Rear Angle Right, Rear Angle Left, Above Right, Above Left

Barbarossa: The Air Battle July-December 1941, Christer Bergstrom

Black Cross/Red Star: The Air War Over the Eastern Front, Volume 1, Operation Barbarossa, Christer Bergstrom

Black Cross/Red Star; The Air War Over the Eastern Front: Resurgence, January - June 1942, Christer Bergstrom

Kursk: The Air Battle, July 1943, Christer Bergstrom

Il-2 Shturmovik Guards Units of World War 2, Oleg Rastrenin

Il-2 Stormovik in Action, Hans-Heiri Stapfer

Ilyushin Il-2 and IL-10 Shturmovik, Yefim Gordon

Red Star Against the Swastika: The Story of a Soviet Pilot Over the Eastern Front, Vasily Emelianenko

Soviet Combat Aircraft of the Second World War: Twin-Engined Fighters, Attack Aircraft and Bombers, Yefim Gordon

Stalingrad: The Air Battle, 1942 to January 1943, Christer Bergstrom

Stopped at Stalingrad; The Luftwaffe and Hitler's Defeat in the East, 1942-1943, Joel Hayward