CORGI 1/72 LUFTWAFFE – GERMAN AIR FORCE JUNKERS JU 87 J9+BL (AA32518)

During the Battle of Britain, the RAF exposed the deficiencies of the Ju 87 in combat and they took a heavy toll of these much vaunted dive bombers. Losses became so severe that Ju 87 operations over England were restricted to night raids against coastal targets in the South East during winter of 1940, with these aircraft being specially prepared for nocturnal operations. With the light blue under-surfaces completely overpainted with a black wash, all national insignia and most unit markings were also blacked out, in an attempt to make the aircraft less vulnerable to night detection by Britain’s defenses.

The Ju 87 Stuka was a German two-seat dive-bomber and ground-attack aircraft of early World War II. First flown on September 17, 1935 the Ju 87 entered limited service with the Luftwaffe in 1937. Although accurate and very effective against ground targets, the Stuka was vulnerable to fighter aircraft. Its poor maneuverability and a lack of speed and defensive armament meant that the Stuka often required a fighter escort to operate effectively. Towards the end of the war, the Stuka had been largely replaced by ground-attack versions of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190.