Many photos of German origin show Il-2s with white bands around the red stars on fuselage and wing undersurfaces. Probably all them belonged to the same unit.

Them all appear as the typical production of Zavod 18 of the late summer 1941.

Here the factory code on the landing gear nacelles is readable: 1834612.

The photo shows interesting details. For example, we see the thin sheet cover over the gap between spinner and cowling, absent on earlier planes and introduced in late summer 1941.

Note that the color of the undersurfaces is glossy: a strong indication for AII light blue, that remained in use in 1941 and was gradually replaced by AMT-7 and A-28m.

Another detail of the same plane, showing well the rockets rails that were in use up to about September 1943, before being replaced by flushed ones.

One can see that the white band around the star is roughly painted by brush, perhaps with water-soluble paint.

Another plane with the same white bands. The style of camouflage with the black z-shaped horizontal band on the tail is typical of Zavod 18, late summer 1941. Note the wide stars on fuselage, probably with a black outline. The tail wheel is provided with a flexible boot, as on many Il-2s of 1941.

Unfortunately the number on the rudder has been removed by German souvenirs-hunters. The white things, barely resembling a number on the lower part of the rudder, are internal structures.

Photos of downed plane White 33. This one shows the same white band, although faded, on the fuselage and probably under the wings too. The cockpit zone was ruined by a fire, bt we can assume that the canopy was of the early type, without armour on the upper and rear side, as on the previous photos.

The very wide black-bordered star on the fuselage and the smaller one on the tail are typical of the production of Zavod 18 in summer 1941.

Below: the photo of the tail shows clearly that the plane c/n 1862213 or 1852213 had a metallic rear fuselage. This type had an all-metal wing with metal-skinned ailerons, while the rudder and elevators were fabric covered as in all Il-2s. The wing was of the early all-metal type with balamce horns both on the wingtips and on the undersurfaces of ailerons, ShVAK guns and landing lights on both the wings.

White 33 was provided with a thin sheet cover on the gap between spinner and cowling, absent on earlier planes. There could have been a flexible boot on the tail wheel.

Below is a drawing of White 33 traced for the book on Il-2 of Jason Moore. Unfortunately the pattern over thw wings is not known for sure.