1/32 Trumpeter MiG-3

by Jeff Brundt

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History

In 1941 the German Luftwaffe encountered a previously unknown Russian fighter with a long slender nose. Until then the only known Soviet fighters were powered by radial engines and lacked the performance of the front line German fighters. German intelligence was very poor concerning the Soviet Air Force and the existence of this new fighter took Luftwaffe fighter pilots completely by surprise.

Equally surprising, and disconcerting, was that this sleek Soviet fighter was faster than the Bf 109F, Germany's top fighter at the time, and could out maneuver the vaunted Messerschmitt as well. The following comments from a German expert, Dr. Ing. Karl-Heinz Steinicke, as quoted in the book Horrido! by Trevor J. Constable and Col. Raymond F. Toliver, are worth repeating.

"In July and August 1941, during the first aerial combats over Kiev, elegant low-wing monoplanes with straight engines appeared next to the Rata. A few of them had been seen over Lemberg during the first few days, but this didn't cause much of a surprise because they were held to be our own."

"The reaction, of course, was devastating, but only because of poor intelligence work."

"Noteworthy especially in this comparison (of German and Russian fighters most used in 1942) is the range of the MiG-3. In spite of greater speed the MiG-3 could fly 110 km farther than the worthy Bf 109F-4. Many times, this inferior range was a handicap to the German pilot, because it made a premature return flight necessary."

"It is also astonishing that the absolute maximum speed of the MiG-3 was higher than that of the Bf 109F-3. Since the Russian MiG-3 was more maneuverable than the Bf 109, it is really remarkable in retrospect that the German fighter pilots were so successful on the Russian Front. There were, of course, Soviet fighter planes that were not as efficient."

Since, in the West, the Bf 109F was considered to be the best, or at least one of the best, air superiority fighters in the world at that time, the MiG-3 is clearly worth examining more closely. The first successful MiG design was the MiG-1, a high altitude interceptor powered by a Mikulin V-12 engine that developed 1350 horsepower. This sleek, low wing, cantilever monoplane was armed with 1-12.7mm (.50 caliber) machine gun and 2-7.62mm (.30 caliber) machine guns, all mounted in the nose and synchronized to fire through the propeller arc.

The MiG-1 was officially known as the I-200 by the Soviet military, and the first (unarmed) prototype achieved a top speed of 403 mph at 6900 meters in May of 1940.

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That made it the fastest fighter in the world at that time, and the Soviet Air Force immediately began a flight testing program.

Production of the first 100 MiG-1's commenced immediately following the conclusion of the flight testing program in September 1940. The testing program had revealed that the MiG-1 was not without flaws. Its longitudinal stability, control responses, and handling were all regarded as inadequate, so a redesign was commenced even as the first production MiG-1's were being built.

The MiG-3 was the result of the program to improve the MiG-1. The MiG-3 was primarily built around a steel tube frame with duralumin skin. The new ship was visually similar to the MiG-1, but the engine was moved forward 4" to change the center of gravity, the dihedral of the outer wing was increased 1 degree to improve stability, the airframe was strengthened, the height of the aft fuselage was reduced for better pilot visibility, the radiator fairing was moved forward and the supercharger intakes enlarged. To increase operational flexibility, a 55 gallon fuselage fuel tank was added along with four wing hardpoints. These allowed the MiG-3 to carry 440 pounds of bombs or 6-3.2 inch RS82 rockets. Pilot survivability was increased by the addition of 9mm seat armor and all fuel tanks were surrounded by inert gas to reduce the chance of fire or explosion due to battle damage.

The MiG-3 was ordered into production in December 1940. First deliveries of the new fighter to front line fighter squadrons occurred in April 1941. The MiG-3 remained in series production until the last week of December 1941, when it was discontinued due to the unfortunate unavailability of the AM-35A engine. Total MiG-3 production amounted to some 3120 aircraft, and 50 more were built from available parts during the first half of 1942. The MiG-3 remained in service almost to the end of the war; wrecked aircraft were often cannibalized to keep others flying.

By Stalin's order, production of the AM-35A engine had been shifted to production of the similar AM-38 (low altitude) engine for the IL-2 Shturmovik attack bomber. In addition, the Shturmovik was given absolute priority for all AM-38 engines produced, so an attempt to modify the MiG-3 for the low level air superiority role came to naught. Only one prototype MiG-3 was built with an AM-38 powerplant.

The last gasp of the MiG-3 program was an attempt to mate the slender MiG-3 airframe to the Shevetsov M-82A air-cooled radial engine. This round, 14-cylinder, 1700 hp engine was some 15 inches wider than the AM-35A V-12 for which the oval cross section fuselage was designed. A new forward fuselage section was designed to mate the two. The resulting hybrid was unofficially known as the MiG-3M-82, and officially designated the I-210 by the Soviet Air Force. Flight tests revealed a number of serious problems (not surprising!) and development of the I-210 was discontinued after a total of 5 prototypes were built.

The Kit 

Trumpeter’s MiG-3 clearly shows their evolution in the realm of a large scale kit maker. The MiG-3 is a very nicely done effort. Of course there are the ubiquitous ejector pin marks in inconvenient places and a somewhat heavy handed approach to surface detailing but Trumpeter has definitely caught the flavor of the MiG-3. The clear parts are some of the thinnest and finely molded pieces I have seen in any large scale kit. Cockpit detail is very nice and complete. The kit instructions are also very well done and include excellent illustrations. There is also a fret included of hinge fittings for the moveable control surfaces. 

Assembly 

The kit pretty much falls together. A little extra time is needed to assemble the moveable surfaces (which I then later glued in a fixed position later anyway). Fit of all parts is excellent and there is minimal filler needed. The most annoying thing is having to fill the profuse amount of ejector pin marks. I also replaced the kit gun barrels with small diameter brass tubing. This makes them look much crisper. 

Painting and Decals 

I wanted to paint the MiG in a winter cammo scheme since I had no winter schemes in my collection at the time. The bottom was painted with PollyScale acrylic ‘Russian underside blue’. This was my first effort with acrylics and I was very pleased with the whole process. The blue was then hard edge masked and I sprayed the remained of the model with Floquil reefer white. There’s been a historical debate about the outer wing panels of the MiG-3 ever being painted red (even blue in some reports) or if they were left the original Russian ‘tractor green’ color from the summer cammo scheme. I liked the red wings better so that’s what I painted them using MM enamel ‘guard’s red’. 

The decal sheet provided is bare bones minimum. You get the red stars, some white numbers (for doing the summer cammo scheme), red numbers, red arrows and the ‘Za Rodinu’ (means ‘for the motherland’). There are no placards or data decals because you never see pictures of the MiG-3 with them. In all honesty if they were there they would have been painted over by the winter cammo and front line units would put repainting them very, very low on their priority list in the winter of ’42. I sprayed the model with Testor’s clear lacquer gloss coat and then applied the decals. They went on very well and I used Micro-Sol to settle them down. 

Weathering and Finishing 

I used Floquil grimy black for the exhaust stains. I also used some light dry brushing of burnt sienna on the fuse and wings to simulate the dirt and mud you’d see from the unimproved, forward airbases the Soviets flew from. The landing gear, spinner/prop, slats were all attached and I gave the model a final flat, clear coat of lacquer to seal everything down. And there you have it; a fine, representative, large scale example of one of the Soviet Union’s key fighters in the early part of their homeland defense.

Jeff

Visit my web site @ http://www.geocities.com/jbrundt

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Photos and text © by Jeff Brundt