The white Lily of Stalingrad
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Album info
Just a few days ago, August 18th was Lydia Litvyak's birthday, and August 1st was also the 82nd anniversary of her disappearance in action.
She was part of the 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment, created by fellow female ace Marina Rascova. Litvyak was called the "White Lily of Stalingrad" in Soviet press releases.
Because she suspected she might have been taken prisoner, she was not recognized as a Hero of the Soviet Union, under the hypothesis that she was a potential traitor. However, her chief mechanic, Senior Sergeant Inna Pasportnikova, spent years investigating and searching for the exact location where Lydia's Yak-1b #23 was shoot down and crashed. She was rewarded after 36 long years of searching. Thus, Lydia was recognized as a Hero of the Soviet Union in 1990.
She is considered the top female ace of Soviet military aviation, along with Yekaterina Budanova. Pasportnikova stated in 1990 that the tally was eleven solo kills plus the balloon, and an additional three shared.
The kit
This Arma Hobby kit is gorgeous. I know that there is an especific kit aimed to Lydia, but I coudn't find it. So, I took some decals from the spare box, and built the white lilies from white decal paper.
