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The kit undercarriage legs, moulded out-of-register, were used as a guide
for the scratchbuilt units of brass rod and plastic pipe; some new details
were added. The scratchbuilding of compasses with bent plastic strips has
given a particularly good result.
The small parts of undercarriage doors must be not only bent, but cut
out and thinned or rebuilt, too. |
We have to scratchbuilt the mechanism for closing the small doors, a sort
of U-shaped rod on which the wheels press while retracting. Below: the undercarriage bay.
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Our best reference for undercarriage colors is this detail from the only
known color photo of an original MiG-3. The wheel hub looks factory green,
while the interior surfaces are probably light blue-green metal primier.
The shades of the photo looks to have a too orange hue due to the sun's
light.
Note the use of dark green on the internal surfaces: a dark color is visible in the undercarriage bay from a videotape; it could be dark green. |
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The example restored in Novosibirsk wearns light grey undercarriages as postwar MiGs (photo on the right). In some other photos the undercarriage doors, wells, legs and wheels
appear to be painted with a dark colour, probably blue grey (2
photos below).
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The flexible cover of the shock adsorber is probably black rubber; here
it looks cylindrical, perhaps because it is fully extended. |
The kit's tail wheel is fair; its doors are by far too thick, and represent
the ones used on the early production MiGs, (with short nose; I have only
one photo showing a long-nosed example ). They must be scratchbuilt by shaping
(by force or by heat) and cutting some plasticard piece.
It is possible to thin the inner fuselage surfaces and add some internal detail. |
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