On the cover of Model Art of Russia's Mig-3 model, the aircraft is described
as a "High Altitude Fighter". Since the Mig-3 was fast and manueverable
at high altitude, this description is certainly accurate. But the Mig-3 also
had a reputation for unwieldy handling at lower altitudes, in addition to being
under-armed. As the low-altitude needs in the Russian theater were not met by
the Mig-3, production of the airplane, which began in 1940, was discontinued
in 1942, with a little over 3,300 units having been built.
Nevertheless, the sleek lines and brilliant red and white paint scheme-- evocative
of a 1930's racer-- make the Mig-3 a wonderful model subject. In many ways,
this aircraft reminds me another WWII fighter, the Macchi 202 Folgore. These
airplanes not only have a similar lines, but both were also built in low production
numbers and were criticized for a lack of power and armament, and both aircraft
carried some of the most interesting paint schemes of the war. Even though these
planes were not the work-a-day Mustangs and Spits and Bf109s of the European
Theater, distinctive aircraft such as the Mig-3 hold their own as interesting
model subjects, and this kit will greatly enhance any collection of WWII fighter
models.
For More Information
Massimo Tessitori maintains a Mig-3
website at the "Modeling the Aircraft of the Soviet VVS" website.
While the website is geared towards plastic modeling, there is also a wealth
of information about the aircraft itself.
Also, list member Vjacheslav
Sokolets has built this card model, and the photos of his model are not
to be missed.
The Kit
The model was designed by Dr. Emil Zarkov, who has a well-earned reputation
for high-quality and well engineered card models. This model is certainly no
exception.
The model booklet contains 4 sheets of parts on colored cardstock, 1 sheet of
formers and parts to be lamanated onto to thin cardboard, and another sheet
of connecting strips. Additionally, there are several pages of diagrams and
instructions in Russian and English. Also supplied is a small piece of transparent
film for the canopy and other clear pieces. As a nice extra touch, the cutting
lines are printed on the film (no canopy template to contend with!).
The cardstock is slightly glossy and the printing is excellent. The parts are
vividly colored and the graphics are clear and perfectly registered. The cardstock
itself is somewhat thinner than I am accustomed to working with, and the white
tacky glue I like to use had a negative effect on the paper. Even when the glue
was used sparingly, slight bulges appeared at the seams after the glue had dried.
This my own fault, as the instructions recommended against using such glues
in the construction of the model. If you have a favorite glue, I would recommend
testing it on some scraps of the card for compatibility.
The model components can be assembled in either a "junior" or an "expert"
mode, depending on the skill level of the builder and the desired level of detail.
In general, the expert mode includes a full cockpit interior and glazed canopy,
and various other external details. It is important to note that the model does
not have to be assembled entirely as "junior" or "expert";
the builder can mix and match the components as desired.
While the instructions are pretty basic, the diagrams are very good. Both the
instructions and the diagrams, however, take the builder down a path where all
sub-assemblies are built ahead of time, and then all these sub-assemblies are
put together to complete the model. I like to build the components as I need
them, so I used the diagrams and instructions as a general guide rather than
building in the model in strict order of the instructions.
Cockpit
The cockpit bay is easily assembled and contains some very nice interior parts,
including separate harness straps and radio equipment that sits behind the pilot's
seat. The instrument panel is incredibly detailed-- this is no two-tone, hand
drawn set of gauges. The most difficult component of the interior is the gun
sight. This piece folds together in a method that is not immediately apparent;
just take an extra moment to study the part and the diagram. The gun sight is
completed with a small square from the transparent film. I did not add the seat
and control stick until after I had inserted the cockpit assembly into it's
fuselage cylinder (to keep them out of the way). The gun sight was attached
to the model when the model was nearly complete, right before I attached the
canopy.
Fuselage
The fuselage is made up of several cylinders using the former and connecting
strip method; that is, each cylinder is open at one end, and contains a card
board former and connecting tabs at the other end. The tabs at the former-and-tabs
end fit the open end of the adjoining cylinder. Those familiar with Dr. Zarkov's
designs will recognize the connecting strips he uses; each l-shaped strip not
only provides connecting tabs to the next cylinder section, it also provides
the bottom tab for forming the cylinder itself, resulting in a very smooth seam
along the bottom of the model.
The fit of the fuselage cylinders is excellent; all the panel lines and other
graphics line up very nicely. There are two sections in the nose (13 & 14)
that have duplicated parts-- junior and expert. The expert version is contains
3 very narrow, semi-circular channels to be formed and built into the nose.
The junior version is smooth and has these indentions depicted in grey. I built
both versions of these to sections, and found the expert version to be very
difficult. Ultimately, I was unsatisfied with my results on the expert version,
so I used the junior version on my fuselage. Please note that this is not a
criticism of the model's design, which is actually very clever. I think a great
feature of this model is that the designer has recognized that this is a difficult
component and has provided an alternative. I would definitely recommend scanning
these parts and printing on a similar paper to test-build.
Wings
The wing assembly is straight forward and presents only a couple of tricky parts.
Cardboard-backed spars and formers are built as the framework for the wings,
and to this framework the wheel wells are added. The assembly is then wrapped
with the white skin that extends a bit beyond the wing root area. Be sure that
the wheel wells are lined up correctly with the wheel well openings in the skin
before completely closing this piece. The rest of each wing (the red sections)
are then added. Alignment is not at all difficult; as with most of Dr. Zarkov's
aircraft models, only a little time and and few test fits are necessary to acheive
really nice wings. The wings attach to the fuselage with ease; the spar fits
nicely into it's slot in the fuselage, and all of the lines match up very well.
There are two other items worth mentioning on the wing assembly. First, there
is a landing light on the leading edge of the left wing (indicated by the red
arrow in the picture to the left). Rather than simply printing the light, this
kit has a recessed piece depicting the light, and a small piece of the clear
film that is glued to the inside of the wing. You want to have the recessed
piece glued in place on the inside of one of the wing surfaces before you wrap
the spar and glue the trailing edges. It's not too difficult and is a really
nice detail.
The other item to mention is the pair of air intakes at the wing roots (indicated
by the yellow arrow in the picture to the left). There is an odd-shaped cylinder
that is inserted in each of the air intake areas. When forming these pieces,
even though there is a diagram, it is not entirely clear exactly what shape
these pieces take. The reason I bring this up is that the instructions have
you build these two cylinders several steps before you assemble the wings. I
held off on making these parts until after I had assembled the wings; I was
then able to examine the hole into which these parts would fit. This made it
much easier to visualize the shape these pieces should take. One more quick
note about the intakes-- don't forget that the printed side of the part goes
to the inside of the cylinder!
The wings are finished up with fillets that cover the wing root area, and a
couple of pieces to finish off the edges of the air intakes. I find wing fillets
to be the among the trickiest parts of an aircraft model; the multiple curves
going in different directions are difficult to duplicate in card. However, the
precision of design here is just as high as with the rest of the model, and
with patience and test fitting (and test fitting and test fitting), the result
is very pleasing. The horizontal stabilizers are straight forward and not at
all difficult; just a few parts and a cardboard spar, and simple fillets that
wrap top and bottom.
Landing Gear
The landing gear is assembled in the traditional way; the strut is wrapped around
a piece of wire, and the wheels are built by sandwiching several discs together
and coloring the edges black. Instead of using the supplied wheels, I used a
set of Gomix wooden wheels. I painted the wheels with some black acrylic craft
paint, and used the hub from the printed wheel from the kit. I test-fit and
trimmed the printed hub until I was satisfied with the fit and then glued it
to the wooden wheel.
Final Details
The model is finished by adding exterior details and the prop. The external
details include an underside radiator, exhausts and intakes on the nose, and
various other "bits and bumps." Some of these parts, like the radiator,
are not at all difficult. Some of the other external parts, however, can be
quite small, but some of these details are marked as "expert" and
be included or excluded at the builder's 
discretion.
The prop and spinner assemble quite easily.
Conclusion
As one would expect from an Emil Zarkov model, this kit is very well designed.
The fit of all parts is very precise; there were no parts that I had to trim
or otherwise improvise in order to fit. The printing is excellent as well; the
colors are vivid and all the graphics line up perfectly. While the model can
be built in "junior" or "expert" mode, you should not confuse
"junior" with "beginner". I would recommend a moderate amount
of card modeling and aircraft experience before tackling this model as there
is little room for error. Some of Dr. Zarkov's earlier 1:72 scale print-it-yourself
aircraft would be excellent warm-ups for this model. The ability to mix and
match between the junior and expert components gives the builder a nice level
of detail choices. This model is highly recommended, and when completed, will
be among the most striking models in an aircraft collection.
Model Art of Russia's Mig-3 parked next to Digital Navy's Macchi
202.
Summary
| Model: | Mig-3 |
| Kit: | Model Art of Russia |
| Designers: | Dr. Emil Zarkov |
| Availability: | ModelArt of Russia |
| Scale: | 1/32 |
| Difficulty: | Medium to Difficult (Depending on options) |
| Parts: | about 250 |
| Instructions: | English, Russian |
| Diagrams: | Many, Very Good |
| Fit: | Excellent |
| Coloring and Artwork: | Excellent |
| Printing: | Excellent |
