Corgi AA38803 Dornier Do 17Z-2, 7 Staffel, KG3 ‘Blitz’ Russian Front, Winter 1941/42

The prototype Do17 was built in 1934 in response to a Lufthansa requirement for a 6-passenger mailplane. However the design was rejected, partly due to the slim fuselage which would later give the plane its nickname of ‘The Flying Pencil’. Nevertheless military interest was shown in the design and it was developed as a medium bomber and long range reconnaissance aircraft. The Do17Z was a development of earlier marks designed specifically as a medium bomber. It was used extensively on all fronts during WWII although by 1942 it started to be withdrawn from mainline duties. KG3 was a Luftwaffe bomber wing whose units participated on all of the fronts in the European theatre until it was disbanded in September-October 1944. It operated two of the major German bomber types; the Dornier Do17 and the Junkers Ju88. This model represents an aircraft of 7 Staffel, KG3 based on the Russian front during the winter of 1941/42. It wears a hastily applied overall wash of white camouflage, well suited to the severe winter weather on the eastern front.