HOBBY BOSS 1:72 MIG-3
(converted to MiG-1)

Reviewer: Johan De Wolf (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted: 22 February 2008

Kit Details

Aircraft: Mig-1
Scale: 1/72
Base kit: Hobby Boss #80229 Mig-3
Parts: 34 grey + 4 clear injection molded.
Surface detail: finely engraved
Decals: 2 options
Accuracy: excellent
Price: €6.95

History

Although designated Mig, the original design of the I-200 was neither from Mikoyan nor of Gurevich. It was a design concept by Adrianov who worked for the Polikarpov OKB and proposed by Polikarpov in 1938. It generated little interest as it was deemed similar to other designs already in development. However in 1939 it became clear that the other designs would take longer to gestate than expected and Polikarpov convinced the NKAP that the I-200 could be developed quickly. As the I-200 was the only fighter designed to use the new Mikulin AM-37 the go ahead was given. However while Polikarpov was away for business, the government decided to transfer the design to a new development group. This group was headed by Mikoyan who was previously employed by the Polikarpov OKB. It is no secret that Mikoyans brother, Stalins top man for foreign trade, had a hand in this transfer. To support the young Mikoyan two experienced engineers, Gurevich and Romodin, where assigned to this new group. The design progressed rapidly, as Mikoyan was eager to prove his worth. Drawings where finalized by January 1940, and the first I-200 prototype was ready March 30. As the cowling fitted very closely around the engine, placement of the guns proved to be a problem. However redesign would have meant unwelcome delay, so it was decided to fit two 7.62 ShKAS, and one 12.7 UBS machine guns under small fairings on top of the engine.

Flight testing showed that the I-200 was quite a handful even for experienced pilots. It had some rather undesirable characteristics. But on the positive side, the machine was very fast and performed well at high altitudes. In fact the I-200 outperformed everything else in existence at that time! Stalin quickly became aware of this new aircrafts astonishing performance and mentioned it should be put in production. The design team was none to happy about putting what was still a prototype into production, and feared severe repercussions if they failed. Testing went ahead with all due speed and the first prototype was soon joined by nr.2 and 3. Already in August 1940 the NKAP ordered that the machines be put forward for state acceptance trials. Here again the good performance but poor handling was noted, as well as the aversion to a hinged canopy. Weapon and maintenance systems were found to be good, but armament was considered a bit light for a modern aircraft.

The NKAP ordered the immediate start of mass production with incorporation of 112 improvements and modifications. Production of what was now the Mig-1 started end of September with a pre series of 25 machines. Because of the speed at which production started these machines had none of the recommended improvements. Service trials pilots liked the performance but where less happy with the handling. Series production was already underway and modifications where incorporated if and when drawings and parts became available. As the sliding canopies where not available in time, early Mig-1’s where delivered without them. This had of course a bad effect on performance. The NKAP ordered Mikoyan to put all modifications in production as the Mig-3 no later than December. However in no way was the production rate to suffer from this. Therefore production continued as before and the designation was simply changed to Mig-3 from machine nr 101 onward. As the production machines started reaching service regiments the bad quality of the new fighter became acutely obvious as pilots crashed them at an alarming rate.

When the government became aware that the Mig program was heading for disaster an investigation was immediately started. Because Mikoyan was protected by his brother he could not be touched so a scape goat had to be found. Several capable and experienced people lost their life or where banned into obscurity (including Polikarpov) as a result of this. Meanwhile the people at zavod 1 had worked frantically to solve all the problems. By the time the Germans invaded Russia the production machines where finally of an acceptable standard. The Mig-3 was superior to the Me-109E/F at high altitude, but at low altitude where most combat took place they where markedly inferior. The feeble fire power of the small caliber guns didn’t help much either. However when pilots discovered that the Mig’s could withstand much higher diving speeds than their German counterparts, they began to successfully employ hit and run tactics. During production several further improvements where made, such as heavier armament and under wing fuel tanks. Also the triple launch rails for RS-82 rockets, already successfully fitted in the field, became standard on production lines. Although of only small caliber these rockets proved deadly for many a German bomber. As the Germans moved ever closer to Moscow, Zavod 1 had to be evacuated and none of the proposed new Mig (M-82, AM-38) versions reached production. In late December ’41 the last Mig-3 left the new production lines in Kuibishev to make way for Il-2 production. In the short production span of just 14 months some 3100 machines had left the factory.

In the defense of Moscow the Mig-3 finally proved their worth. Serviceability was very high even under dreadful conditions and successful intercepts where made day and night at all altitudes. So effective where these intercepts that of the 8000+ bombers launched against Moscow only a mere 2.5% where able to bomb their intended target successfully. The Mig-3 had finally come of age and some remained in service well into 1943. That the Mig-3 never received the acclaim it deserved was because of its early problems. And the only people that are to blame for that are the politicians that rushed an undeveloped prototype into production.

The kit

Hobby Boss is new name in plastic kits. Unlike other recent new comers the people at Hobby Boss have decided to do things differently. As soon as one opens the sturdy top opening box, this difference becomes clear. The sprues with smaller parts and separate lager parts are neatly presented and fixed in a holding form. There is nothing floating around loose and this very effectively prevents broken parts and scratched canopies. The next thing that sets this kit apart from most others is that the fuselage and the wing are one piece solid affairs. In older kits this would have meant crater like sink marks and brutal mold seems. In this kit I can’t find any such defects, nor is there any flash. The main parts are very finely engraved, with raised detail where appropriate. Even though the parts count is pretty low by modern standards, there has been very little compromise to detail. Smaller parts are well defined with sharply formed detail. The kit comes with a closed one piece canopy, and a three piece open canopy. They are very clear and without distortions. The parts fit very well and most slot together so tightly that only a drip of liquid glue is needed to make the bond permanent. The A4 size instruction leaflet consists of a parts location diagram, 3 easy to follow construction diagrams and two full colour 4-view colour schemes. The decals are sharply printed, thin and opaque. In my kit the black and red where slightly out of register, making the stars useless. The decals in the kits of other subjects I checked didn’t seem to have this problem though.

Accuracy

The kit represents a late production Mig-3 as produced in the second half of 1941. As such it features the long nose, long machine gun fairings, ViSH-22K prop, combat slats and the triple rocket launch rails. The drawings in Sovetskie istribjteli are considered the best by most Russian aircraft enthusiast. The kits follows the details of these drawings very closely. Dimensionally the kit is very accurate too, with all measurements being as good as spot on. The only problem area is the cockpit. Because of molding limitations it rather lacks in detail. The kit can be built as an accurate Mig-3 representation straight from the box. However to turn it into the earlier Mig-1, some changes have to be made. The nose has to be shortened by about 1,5mm, the leading edge combat slats have to be removed, the pitot needs to be moved from under the wing to the leading edge, the exhaust arrangement has to be altered and the gun fairings are different. These are the most visible changes between the Mig-1 and later Mig-3’s.

Construction

I started with the biggest job. I cut of the nose right behind the exhaust slot. I then shortened the nose section by about 1,5mm. The first shrouded exhaust stack was reshaped to look like the other two, thereby shortening it by 1,5mm. I removed the tabs of the rear stacks and made sure they would fit 1,5mm further forward. After being satisfied with the look of the exhausts I reattached the nose section back to the rest of the fuselage. The gun fairings were reshaped at this time. The wing was then made to fit again. I only needed a little bit of filler to smooth the joins. Filler was also used to remove the engraved lines that depict the slats. The hole for the radio antenna was filled in as was the hole for the under wing pitot. The solid navigation and landing lights were replaced with transparent parts. The flaps were scribed into the under wing surface. As I wanted to depict my Mig with the hinged canopy removed, as seen on many early production machines, I had to do something about the bare cockpit. I used the resin parts from an Encore Mig-3 kit because I wouldn’t build this kit anyway. The molds from the Encore kit stem from Cap Croix du Sud and are highly inaccurate. The resin cockpit parts, by True Details, in this kit are pretty good though. I adapted them to fit the Hobby Boss kit. I used the center part of a P-51B instrument panel from an Eduard etched set, the layout matches the panel from a Mig-1/3 pretty closely. I then scratch built a reflector gun sight. Finally a new ring type control column and seat belts were added. The kits pitot was adapted to fit in the wing leading edge. Next the radiator tub and landing gear were added. I looked into adding the resin gun pods from the Encore kit too. However these have nothing in common with the real thing so I delegated them to the spares bin. I decided not to alter the prop of the Hobby Boss kit as the difference in this scale is hardly visible. The last parts to be added were the front and real parts of the canopy.

Painting and Decals

It is difficult to guess the interior colours for an early war Soviet aircraft as there are several possibilities. On Mig-1/3’s it could be unpainted material, aluminum dope primer, medium grey (A-14), light grey, blue grey or even light blue (AII blue). For my Mig-1 I chose aluminium dope. The seat was left in natural aluminum too, with leather brown upholstery. The seatbelts where painted in a cream colour. The instrument panel and control boxes on the side walls where painted black. The landing gear was in the same colour as the wing under surfaces, and the same goes for the wheel wells. In this case it was AII blue. I painted the wheels in medium grey. For the upper surfaces I once again chose an uncommon finish. As with my Mig-3 the base finish was Zavod 1 green (maybe AE-5 green). But I added a field applied pattern of AII green. Only a few photographs of Mig’s in this scheme have surfaced so far. The decals came from the spares album and are something of an artistic license, so the model does not depict any machine in particular. After decaling the model was given a wash with black/brown aquarelle slush to highlight panel lines and break up the evenness of the finish. Everything was then sealed in with semi gloss varnish. I used a silver pencil to simulate chipped and chaffed of paint. Finally the exhaust stacks where made rusty with pastels. A heavy exhaust stain was also reproduced with pastels.

Conclusion

Although it clearly takes more effort than building it straight from the box, this conversion was not very difficult. I spent the most time on reshaping/sculpting the forward exhaust stacks. The resin cockpit details ad a bit more realism, and since the cockpit is open it is all visible. I enjoyed doing the conversion and I am pleased how it turned out. Although I now have two Migs already, I feel like getting yet another one and doing that famous red and white winter scheme.

References

Sovetskie Istrebiteli by V.Voronin & P. Koleshikov
Soviet Airforce Fighter colours 1941-1945 by E. Pilawskii
Soviet Airforce Fighters part1 by W. Green & G. Swanborough

PS. The car in the pictures is a GAZ-M1 (ACE kitnr.72211). It is a beautiful little kit but very much a short run product, so not suitable for a beginner.

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