120th IAP PVO, Air Defense of Moscow, 1942 By Michael Neradkov (Michael XIII) Translation and adaptation from the original work (in Russian) at http://scalemodels.ru/articles/46.html |
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I’ve had the desire to build a MiG-3 for a long time and I began to
compile detailed information. A subject was selected immediately - that
most questionable aircraft "Red 02", disputes about which continued until
now.
This famous MiG-3 photograph was taken on 7 March 1942, when 120th
Fighters Aviation Regiment (IAP) became 12th Guards IAP.
The choice of the plastic kit was obvious – the ICM/Alanger kit is the
best available MiG-3 in 1/48 scale. Unfortunately, very little detailed
information is available on the MiG-3 itself. There are two books, several
publications (with the most detailed drawings by Voronin) and the Internet.
As I started to dig for information on the aircraft, I stumbled on
the resources of http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com.
I will not be afraid to say that at the given moment this is MAIN information
source on this plane.
Once I felt that there was sufficiently enough information, it was
time to get to work.
Research on Red 02
There was an ongoing debate about the color of the upper surfaces of
the wings of the MiG-3. After reading Massimo's
color analysis of the photograph, and having also become acquainted
with the recollections of V.V. Rybalko, published on site http://iremeber.ru,
it became clear that they were green.
Quotation from the conversation with Rybalko:
- What color are the upper surfaces of the wings you meet?
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What do we see in the photograph? This aircraft is very interesting - it is assembled from at least two different MiG-3s - an early and late series:
* The fuselage of a late series, this is obvious with respect to the
form and the details on the cowling
* The wing from an aircraft of an early series - without the slats.
Specifically, this fact and another color (sooner anything green AII) makes
it possible to make the conclusion that simply they screwed together them
from another broken aircraft or took from somewhere from storage. Who dealt
concerning the army ensigns - supply workers it will immediately understand
the high probability of this assumption, than the red color, which persistently
spread by some foreign model manufacturers and computer game "Il-2: Forgotten
battles"
* There is an antenna mast from the radio equipment evident
* The eircraft is painted in the white color, cowling - in the gray
color. Possibly metal.
* Lower surfaces - light blue
* Identification number 02 is red
* Star on the fuselage possibly has the thin black edging
* Tail wheel is locked in the extended position and is covered by a
cloth of dark color. By the way, this detail is sufficiently interesting
- not on one of the accessible drawings MiG-3 is this variant of landing
gear is found - everyone shows retractable with the different types of
folds. This is evident in the photograph; standing behind Red 02 is another
machine with number 12, with the common tail wheel. It is possible Red
02 received a field modification ( for lightering plane, for example)
* The spinner of black color, blades are metallic to the front, black
lusterless color facing the rear
* Inscription "reduction of 0.902" from the right side of cowling,
probably in red color
* Pitot tube - white with aluminum tip
* Under the wing are suspended the RS-82 rocket rails
The Kit
The reviews for the ICM kit had been favorable, but as I started this project, it became clear rather quickly that many challenges lay ahead. The project ended up taking almost half a year of intensive work.
The kit has a number of deficiencies that are not visible to the casual viewer:
* The control surfaces, which I can describe as the stuff from modeling
nightmares. They are discarded for the waste bin and are replaced by the
resin surfaces of Neomega. The latter are certainly not ideal, but with
the aid of the cyanoacrylate and soda, acceptable result can be achieved
* The boxy irregular shape of coolant radiator is similar to the ICM
Yak-9 rather than the rounded streamlined shape of the MiG-3 radiator Fortunately,
this is easily dealt by using epoxy putty
* Rough raised detailing is removed by simple grinding, although it
can deliver several unpleasant minutes while working in those almost inaccessible
places
Cockpit
The native cockpit is comparatively not bad; however, there
is no limit to perfection.
I rebuilt some details from scratch, and from a photoetched set of the Ukrainan company ACE. |
The pilot’s seat from the kit requires modification – the back must be ground off to acceptable thickness, and to press mold a new seat pan from the thin plastic using native as pattern. |
By the way, in the process of working on the cockpit, I found a new and interesting information source – the computer game "Il-2: Forgotten Battles." The cockpit on MiG-3 in the game is sufficiently correct, and the layout of placards proved to be simply irreplaceable.
Wings and Flaps
The landing light, reflector is a piece of thick foil of hemispherical
form, lamp is made from the transparent plastic. The glass is made from
Scotch tape, is superimposed on metal foil, the inspection holes and tie
tapes are made from it.
Navigation lights are made from colored plastic, glued in and trimmed
into the form of wing.
The ailerons are resin pieces of Neomega. The hinges are made by copper wire. |
Landing Gear and Wheel Wells
Nothing special - some photo-etched and home-made details were added. |
Cowling
Tail and Stabilizers
After looking over the Neomega parts, I decided to build the horizontal tail surfaces in two parts - plastic stabs itself from the kit and resin elevators. |
Painting and Finishing
The painting is finished with a fine thin coat of AKAN gray for weathering and a dull coat. The result is flat though some of the photos still show some reflectivity. |
The model is painted with AKAN enamels, weathering made by the St. Petersburg artistic acryls and Tamiya Smoke. The first experiment with last material came out successful, in my view. |
Law of Modeling
According to this old law, when the work on the model is completed, more information comes to light:
* http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com and correspondence with Massimo Tessitori
* Voronin's drawings and an old issue of Modelist Konstruktor magazine
* Piotr Bartoszewski - Samolot Mysliwski MiG-3
* A.N.Medved', D.B.Khazanov, M.A.Maslov - The "MiG-3" Fighter
Appreciation
* To Volodya Nazar (Nazar) for the moral support, the foil and the source
of inspiration and also, for the survey of finished model
* To Massimo Tessitori for a lot of information and good archive photographs
* To Jura Kazakevich and to Victor Chulkov for the moral support
* To all comrades for the support, the criticism and the prompts.