Ilyushin „Il-4“ – the Soviet long range bomber

Three days after Germany invaded the USSR, Hitler's propaganda reported, that the Soviet Air Force had been completely destroyed. But on August 8, 1941 bombs fell on the capital of Germany, Berlin. This was immediately followed by an order to black out the windows throughout the Third Reich, for which the Germans were not fully prepared, as the Führer himself had given guarantees, that not a single bomb would fall on German soil during the entire war. The Nazi Party press organ “Voelkisher Boebachter”, reported that the "brutal bombing was carried out by the RAF", which London immediately denied. It turned out, that this act of revenge was carried out by the planes of the "defunct Soviet aviation". The prototype of the planes, involved in the Berlin raid, was the DB-3 long-range bomber. In the pre-war nomenclature of the USSR, the letters of the designation of the aircraft indicated its purpose, later they were changed to the designations from the combination of the first letters of the designer's last name. The later version of the DB-3 was the Il-4, briefly called the DB-3F. Due to its simple technological construction solutions, this monoplane of metal construction could be quickly produced in large series. These planes were used in Long Range Aviation beyond the Arctic Circle, mainly over the Barents Sea. They were not uncommon over the Baltic and Black Seas, where the Il-4T torpedo version was mostly used. 6,890 aircraft of this type were produced in several versions.

A small and uncomplicated, well-designed model of a bomber without the detailing of cockpit equipment, which can be perfectly put together even by a modeler with little experience, working under the supervision of a more experienced colleague. Antiquarian publication.