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Rafi Ben-Shahar
347 articles

Hasegawa 1/48 Ju 87R-2 Stuka

November 4, 2024 · in Aviation · · 10 · 95

My interpretation of the "Desert Snake" flown by Leu Lt. Hubert Polz from Tmimi, Libya in 1941. The black and white photos confirm that the red color stands out from the camouflaged background.

Reader reactions:
8  Awesome 1 

13 additional images. Click to enlarge.


10 responses

  1. Bravo! Very nice rendition 👏

    Some say the snake appears only on the left side. In truth, difficult to say as picture of the right side seems to not exist…

    • Thank you, Stephane,
      Unlike the USAF logos and nose art, the Luftwaffe's non standard regulated paintings were commonly symmetric. So, it is safe to assume that with the lack of photographic evidence, there was a snake drawing on the right side.

  2. Fantastic job on the famous Desert Stuka, Rafi!

  3. Rafi, @blackmopane, I really like this one. I would like to agree that the pictures clearly show red, but I have been looking a black and white pictures and red usually shows up darker. There are some that argue the spots between the white are actually a darker sand color. Personally I like the red and think you did a great job with the kit. I have the Airfix Stuka kit and want to build this bird too , and when I do will do the spots in red like you. I will be very happy if it looks as good as yours.

    You can see Collin Latta's, @tail-dragon interpretation with the sand color snake here.

  4. Excellent result on this famous Stuka, Rafi @blackmopane
    The snake combined with the camouflage looks beautiful.

  5. Great job on an iconic aircraft.

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