Trumpeter 2830 Mig 3 Early (Alexander Pokryshkin)

 Kit#: 02830.

Price: 27$

Decals: Three options.

Notes: Pieces A4 and A5 will leave gaps.

History:

From Wikipedia: "The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 was a Soviet fighter and interceptor aircraft used during World War II. It was a development of the MiG-1 by the Experimental Design Department) of Factory No. 1 to remedy problems found during the MiG-1's development and operations. It replaced the MiG-1 on the production line at Factory No. 1 on 20 December 1940 and was built in large numbers during 1941 before Factory No. 1 was converted to build the Ilyushin Il-2.

On 22 June 1941, at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, some 981 were in service with the Soviet Air Forces (VVS), the Soviet Air Defence Forces (PVO) and Soviet Naval Aviation. The MiG-3 was difficult to fly in peacetime and much more so in combat. It had been designed for high-altitude combat but combat over the Eastern Front was generally at lower altitudes, where it was inferior to the German Messerschmitt Bf 109 as well as most of its Soviet contemporaries. It was also pressed into service as a fighter-bomber during the autumn of 1941 but it was equally unsuited for this. The losses suffered in combat were very high, in percentage the highest among all the VVS fighters, with 1,432 shot down planes. Over time, the survivors were concentrated in the PVO, where its disadvantages mattered less, the last being withdrawn from service before the end of the war."

The Kit:

Trumpeter's Mig 3 in 1:48 comes in a sturdy, top opening cardboard box with the image of Mig 3 White 17 flying. There're a total of 4 light grey sprues and one clear sprue. There's no flash and all the parts are crisply moulded.

The instruction booklet consists of 11 easy to follow black and white steps.

There're a total of three decal options:

Mig 3 "White 17," painted in Dark Green, Light Blue and an engine cowling painted black.

Mig 3 "White 5", Alexander Pokryshkin, painted in Olive Drab (most likely Dark Green) and Light Blue.

Mig 3 with two red arrows on both engine cowling sides, painted in White and Light Blue.

Construction:

I know next to nothing regarding aircraft of the Soviet Union during World War Two, not even the interior colours of their aircraft. Luckily Britmodeller provided a useful tip, the interior of the Mig 3s during WW2 were painted in light blue, so I began like that. I painted all the interior parts in light blue (Revell 49), with several boxes painted in black. The seat was painted light blue with red brown seat cushions. There's also a radio box that's installed behind the cockpit. Trumpeter didn´t provide any info regarding the colour of said radio installation, so I went and painted it black. Before closing test fitting the cockpit, I glued the tailwheel to the right fuselage half. After the cockpit was dry, I test fitted the fuselage halves with the cockpit installed. The first time the cockpit didn´t let me close the fuselage, but on the second test fitting session, I managed to close the fuselage halves with the cockpit inside without too much trouble. Back to the radio parts, it was at this time that I managed to install it in its place, just behind the seat.

Next I worked on the wings. These are separated in two tops and one bottom section. The bottom wing needs to have two inserts (parts A4 and A5) installed. The fit of these two pieces isn´t great, but not bad either. With a bit of guessing, I discovered where the inserts should go, and glued them in place. After that, the flaps, which are separated, were glued to the upper wing and left to dry.

I then moved on to glue the wings to the fuselage. The inserts previously mentioned left some gaps while I test fitted the assemblies, but after some coaxing to raise both inserts (Parts A4 and A5), I managed to avoid gaps. After that, I glued the horizontal stabilizers and the radiator bath (which goes under the fuselage), and then I glued the engine cowling, which also serves to install the guns.

Colours and Markings:

The decal option I chose was that of Alexander Porkryshkin's Mig 3 "White 5." Trumpeter's colour guide indicates to paint this aircraft in Olive Drab, but I had my doubts, so after a bit of research, I decided to paint the aircraft in Dark Green (Revell 39). While, the paint was drying, I set off to work on the propeller, which is black with a yellow spinner. Once I had achieved full opacity with the dark green, I painted the light blue (Revell 49) on the undersides. The propeller spinner was painted yellow, while the propeller itself was painted matt black. I then covered the aircraft with Revell's gloss varnish for the decals.

My first experience with Trumpeter decals wasn´t great (their Me 262 in 1:32). They were really sticky and broke easily, so I approached to these decals with a bit of trepidation. However, the decals behaved really well, sticking only when I pressed them onto the surface. They also settled perfectly into the panel lines and rivets without the need for Microsol, but I brushed some just to be sure. Once the decals were dry, I brushed the aircraft with two coats of Revell's matt varnish.

Final Construction:

This involved gluing the landing gear and several other pieces. The landing gear struts were painted in steel (Revell 91). The wheels were also painted with black hubs and tank grey (Revell 78) tyres. The gear doors were painted on the inside with steel, and on the outside they were painted in light blue (Revell 49). The cockpit canopy was also intalled at this time, and with that, I had a complete aircraft. The propeller was the final assembly to install.

Conclusions:

I enjoyed building this kit, it was easy to build and didn´t have many parts (Trumpeter states that the total number of parts is above 70). This won't be my last Trumpeter kit for sure.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-3