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Notes on details colors
Usually the undercarriage legs, bays and doors were painted with a light
color, probably the same light blue of the undersurfaces; wheel disks
were usually painted with emerald green, with an unpainted hub.
Sometimes the undercarriage struts and doors look all painted with
a dark color which could be A-14 dark grey.
Flaps inner side looks painted light blue too.
The colors of the cockpit interior seems to be not fully standardized:
different combinations look possible.
The instrument panel is seen both light (light blue-green?) and dark
(black or dark grey A-14) on different examples; the tubes structure and
the seat look dark, probably dark grey A-14, while the internal face of
the fuselage panels in correspondance to the cockpit, the pavement and
the cloche are light, probably light blue-green as on the side panel conserved
in the Finnish Museum.
Probably some boxes were green.
The plates on which the side panels are hinged appear bare metal when
the panels are removed.
Note that the MiG-3 under reconstruction by Rusavia
has different colors; if they are real, they are well different from what
can be seen on bw photos.
The engine is forthemost painted gloss black, with some unpainted details; lubrification pipes should be brown. Inner face of engine compartment panels is painted dark, probably dark grey A-14 or AII green as the external surfaces.
The propeller blades are usually bare alluminum with the rear part partially
painted black, as factory standard.
Other configuartions are:
The demarcation line between the uppersurface color is usually sharp
and straight on metallic parts (nose, central wing section, horizontal
tail surfaces) and soften on the wood and fabric surfaces (fuselage side,
rudder); additionally, often the demarcation line shows small steps between
metallic and wooden parts, as if they were painted separately.
Sometimes we find soft lines on the nose sides too; this is probably
due to field repainting.
The camouflage blotches usually show continuity on these points, as
if they were painted after a reassembly of the parts.
The demarcation line between upper camo colors is usually soft, with
few exceptions.
The color peels offs quickly on the wing roots due to crew boot abrasion;
the remaining parts of the aircraft show no significant peeling off, apart
the propeller blades.
There is sometimes a writing, probably red, on the right side of the
nose, near the propeller; it is the reduction gear rate 0902 (which means
0.902) or 0732 (0.732).
A black line is sometimes on each side of the fuselage, under the leading
edge of the horizontal tail planes, perhaps to show a lifting point.
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