This is the aircraft that Joseph Stalin proclaimed to be as essential to the Red Army as air and bread. The heavily-armored Shturmoviks ("Ilyusha" to its crews) were rugged and they employed a lethal array of weapons including 20mm or 23mm (a few had 37 mm) cannons, rockets and/or bombs including payloads of up to 192(!) PTAB bomblets which, although of small caliber, could easily penetrate the thin upper armor of German tanks. At the Battle of Kursk on 7 July 1943, 70 tanks from the German 9th Panzer Division were destroyed by mass attacks of Il-2s in just 20 minutes.

This set actually includes two different models - (2x) each of the early Il-2M and the later Il-2M3 "arrow wing" model (see detail comparison photo). While photography of these little gems is a challenge for our equipment and limited skills, check out the well proportioned model including the detailed canopy, engine pipes, tail assembly and even a tiny tail wheel (the Pit-Road German "armored column" is not included!).

Although the surfaces are not perfectly smooth (3D printing is done in layers), the plastic used can be sanded and painted much the same way you would handle resin or styrene. The landing gear is represented in the retracted, in-flight position on these models but it should be fairly straight forward to add photo etch parts for a very convincing "gear down" rendition, perfect for an Eastern Front air base diorama.

NOTE: While we currently maintain limited inventories of most items, some items may be "printed on demand", which usually requires 10-15 business days from order to shipment.