1/48 MiG-3 late ''black 12'' build

[KL]

This may be of interest:
http://web.archive.org/web/20100815010800/http://vvs.hobbyvista.com/Research/Wheels/part_1.php

In particular:
"the claim has always been that the MiG-3 wheels were painted with the trademark Soviet "green" colour (type and nomenclature unknown) which one may see even today on wheels, intake cones and such items [one lacquer described in the 1974 VVS camouflage regulations refers to this paint as 'KO-814 aerolak', but adds in the diagram, "or others..."].

So it could be almost anything, based on the above.

According to E. Pilawskii "anything" was norm in the Soviet Union.  Pilawskii writes that cockpits could have been painted in any colour or left unpainted, according to him almost any paint and combination of colours could have been used to camouflage planes.  All this, according to him, because there were no standards in Russia, orders and instructions were ignored and workers could do whatever they wanted.
You don't have to be a historian to know that it wasn't like that...

Long before Pilawskii's "wheel treatise" appeared, modelers have noticed that wheels on all Cold War Soviet planes were the same green colour.  In Aviakollektsiya Tu-16 book, V. Rigmant mentions that paint on Tu-16 wheels was dark green A-15f.  Radar and antenna cowers were painted with radar wawe transparent HV-16 green.

[John Thompson]

Good stuff - so the answer to Jason's question is apparently dark green A-15f! Thank you, Konstantin!

(FWIW, Xtracolours has a colour called X628 Wheel Hub Green in their line of enamels - it's close to FS34090, to my eye)

John

[learstang]

Yes, thank you gentlemen; that's what I wanted to know!  I have been using Testors Model Master Medium Green for wheel hubs, but it looks like a brighter green might be closer to the actual colour.  I may take a look at that Xtracolour paint, John.

Regards,

Jason

[Massimo Tessitori]

Hi all,
for what I know, A-15 is a postwar paint. If I remember well, this was written in a mail of Orlov to a Spanish researcher that asked him about AEh-15, an hypotized name for the 'factory green' suggested by EP.
Regards
Massimo

[KL]

for what I know, A-15 is a postwar paint. If I remember well, this was written in a mail of Orlov to a Spanish researcher that asked him about AEh-15, an hypotized name for the 'factory green' suggested by EP.

Orlov only said that fictional "factory green" might have been confused with the postwar A-15f.  It's not clear when A-15 appeared...
A-14 gray appeared in late 1930es and remained a cockpit colour in postwar years, till early 1960es.  After the war it was also referred to as A-14f (original A-14 was an oil paint, A-14f was an alkyd paint).

regards,
KL  

[4bogreen]

Hey guys,

Progress is slow, but here is a small update (colors are not definitive). Keeping busy 

[B_Realistic]

Euh I think that there is a problem in displaying the pictures.

[KL]

To correct myself and to conclude:

1.  Back armor was made of pressed steel and painted in olive green (probably 3B Protective, Early T-34 tanks were primed with dark green 3B and then painted with yellowish olive green 4BO)

2.  Wheels were made of the cast aluminum alloy and painted in dark green.  This dark green could have been A-15.

3.  Magnesium parts were painted in blue A-9 (this from Orlov and Vahlamov).  Some planes may had magnesium wheels.

Hth,
KL

PS.  back armor and head cushions were covered with dark brown artificial leather called "brezant"

[4bogreen]

Thanks KL,

I use the wreck photo's a bit as a guide. I was in doubt about the head cushion. I knew it was brezant, but in the wreck photo it looks like fabric. Russian uniform khaki. Now i just make it leather brown...
The back armor is a lighter green then olive green on the photo. Has the color of the plate been faded? the closest color i could find is camouflage light green. And then i mixed it up to the photo color with a drop of white...A total of two drops camouflage light green and one drop of white. The normal olive green color is to dark, and the light olive color is a bit to grey...
Maybe i am wrong, or seeing it different 

Regards,

Remco

[KL]

Dark brown paint peeled off the head rest on the wreck (after 70 years in mud).  IMHO, both darker or yellowish olive greens (3B or even 4BO) could be appropriate for back armor.  Gray on wreck photos is mud, degraded paint etc.
KL

[66misos]

Hi,

is green color on AN-12 wheel discs at http://sovietwarplanes.com/board/index.php?topic=1541.0 :

   

appropriate also for MiG-3?

Regards,
     66misos

[KL]

is green color on AN-12 wheel discs at http://sovietwarplanes.com/board/index.php?topic=1541.0 :
appropriate also for MiG-3?

IMHO, yes.  Look for older walkaround photos from 1980es or 1990es or museum planes that were not repainted recently.
Cheers,
KL

[Massimo Tessitori]

Hi,
I know that old color photos are nreliable, but look at this




Regards
Massimo

[4bogreen]

Hey guys!

It has been a while, but here are some photo's from the cockpit. These  colors are the base colors. I still have to weather the cockpit by fading and chipping. I recently received my postorder of AKAN colors. I ordered the colors on hobbycolours.net. and everything went smooth. corresponding is by e-mail and you must have a pay-pal account.
My version of A-14 steel grey is to light. I have to darken it a bit down...


Cockpit has all PE installed.


The blue oxygenbottle  is glued to the tubular frame


The armorplate is painted 4bo green(Vallejo/AK colors) and the seat A-14 steel grey


The yellow and green wires next to the radio shelf are made for tubings in the cockpit next to the tubular frame


I decided to make the wooden parts unpainted like one of the photo's made of a wreck.

I hope you like it 

Regards,

Remco

[learstang]

Looks good, Remco!  I don't know if you've decided on a paint scheme yet, but how about the "zebra-striped" MiG-3?

Regards,

Jason