MiG-3 with winter camouflage profiles summary Click on each profile to see a bigger drawing with photos and comments. |
Updated on May 14, 2023
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During the snow period, many MiG-3 were painted white, both on the factory
and on the field.
The white cote had a different look depending by the mean of application
(spray or brush), of the layer thickness, the wearing, the care etc.
On many examples, it appeared as a very light grey instead that pure
white.
It is not clear if white distemper or usual white paint was employed;
however, the white layer was relatively uniform in winter 1941/42, well
different than those seen on LaGG-3s and La-5s in winter 1942/43, when
the aircrafts were only partially and irregularly painted by white distemper.
Besides, a lot of MiG-3s were fully repainted with summer schemes during
the spring of 1942, and this let us know that the white layer wasn't too
easy to be removed.
The white paint could cover the upper and side surfaces only, or be
extended to the lower surfaces too.
In photos, on has to check the presence of a white-blue demarcation
line on the fuselage, or the shade of wheel covers; the reflexion of snow
on wing undersurfaces makes them seem always white, even if they were light
blue.
The white paint extends often on propeller spinner and blades, and
even on the exhaust stacks (that return quickly dark because of heat
and smoke).
While summer camouflaged MiG-3s wore usually numbers on the fuselage
side, in front of the stars, white MiG-3s wore them on the stabilizer,
or don't have them at all. Very few exceptions to this rule were seen.
By the winter 1941/42, most MiG-3s had their tail wheel locked in extracted
position, the doors removed and a tissue cover added to close the bay.
RS-82 rockets were a standard equipment for the MiG-3s operating in
the front of Moscow.
Some rare photos show MiG-3s partially covered with white distemper;
they could be of winter 1942, for analogy with similarly painted LaGG-3s.
Some photos on the Kharkov front show the white paint partially covered
with temperate camo colors during spring 1942.
120 IAP/12 GIAP |
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MiG-3 late Red 02 of 120 IAP/12 IAP, Vnukovo (Moskov district), March 1942 |
MiG-3 late Black 12 of 120 IAP/12 IAP, Vnukovo (Moskov district), March 1942 |
MiG-3 late Red 20 of 120 IAP/12 IAP, Vnukovo (Moskov district), March 1942 |
MiG-3 late Black 36 of 120 IAP/12 IAP, Vnukovo (Moskov district), March 1942 |
MiG-3 late Red 39 of 120 IAP/12 IAP, Vnukovo (Moskov district), March 1942 |
MiG-3 early Red 90 of 120 IAP/12 IAP, Vnukovo (Moskov district), March 1942 |
MiG-3 late Red 93 of 120 IAP/12 IAP, Vnukovo (Moskov district), March 1942 |
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172/122 IAP |
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MiG-3 late 'Za Rodinu', 172/122 IAP, February 1942 |
MiG-3 late 'Za Stalina', 172/122 IAP, February 1942 |
MiG-3 late 'Za Partii Bolshevikov', 172/122 IAP, February 1942 |
Miscellaneous or unidentified units |
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MiG-3 late red 44, 124 IAP, Levanshovo airfield, Leningrad region, Dec 1941 |
MiG-3 late of 12 OIAE KBF, Leningrad region, early 1942 |
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MiG-3 late Red 77, unknown unit, winter 1941/42 |
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Partial or disruptive winter camouflage |
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