‘As essential to the Red Army as Air and Bread'

As a Russian I always await a new model from Zvezda with anticipation. This is because, as a rule, they kit our own indigenous aircraft, which other companies ‘generate’ very rarely.

- Aleksandr Schastniy

Soviet attack aircraft IL-2 Shturmovik

Kit No: 4825

Scale: 1/48

Type: Injection Moulded Plastic

Manufacturer: Zvezda www.en.zvezda.org.ru

Many modellers thought this kit would be a re-packaging of the old Accurate Miniatures kit, as Zvezda did with the Yak-1B. However, this model is a completely new tooled kit.

Like the T-34 tank, the IL-2 was one of the key tools of Russia’s victory in the Great Patriotic War, and like its tracked cousin, it took a while for the Russians to develop tactics to get the most out of these basic, but excellent, machines. During the war, 36,183 Il-2s were built, and in combination with its successor, the Ilyushin Il-10, a total of 42,330 were made, making it the single most produced military aircraft design in aviation history. Contrary to popular belief, the Il-2 was never given an official name. 'Shturmovik' is actually a generic Russian word meaning ground attack aircraft. When factories fell behind on deliveries, Joseph Stalin told the factory managers that the Il-2s were ‘as essential to the Red Army as air and bread.’