HA0131-C
Consignment
This is a Consignment sale item we are offering. It comes in its original box and is in like-new condition.
Hobby Master 1/72nd scale Air Power Series
HA0131 Junkers Ju 87D Stuka, Luftwaffe StG 3, Libya, November 1942
Length: 6.25" x Wingspan: 7.5"
The Stuka was terror from the sky during the Blitzkrieg of Europe where there was little air opposition. Things changed with the Battle of Britain where they came up against Hurricanes and Spitfires. The much slower Stuka didn't have a chance against the superior speed and agility of the fighters and suffered heavy losses. The Stukas were removed from the Western Front and sent to the Balkans to assist the Italian Air Force fight the Greeks and Yugoslavians. Frustrated by the inability of the Italian Air Force in North Africa to defeat a force many times smaller in size the German Ju 87's were assigned to do the job. Here they once again were able to apply the tactics they had first become so well known for. Allied air power was almost non-existent during the early stages of the North African Campaign and the Stuka was able to inflict heavy losses on British troops and equipment. Once Allied aircraft were sent in numbers to North Africa the Stuka once again faltered from lack of speed and their airbases had to be moved further back from the front lines to escape the British artillery. Eventually after heavy losses the Dora's and other Ju 87's were withdrawn from North Africa. The 3./StG 3 and others would never again be able to freely roam the skies in search of victims. The Eastern front eventually became a shooting gallery for the Mig's, Yak's and numerous other Russian planes as the Ju 87 was recklessly thrown in to battle with the hopes of turning the fortunes of war. The 3./StG. 3 was the first group to receive the new Dora's and as this model depicts had an all tan desert camouflage paint scheme. This is what the aircraft looked like in November 1942 just a few months after the German defeat at El Alamein and the group's removal from North Africa.