Carl_Brisgamer
04-19-2013, 08:27
My WGS Project #12 for 2013 is another couple of Air 200 miniatures 'donated' to my WGS fleet by Zoe Brain at Cancon - thanks Zoe! This fighting pair are Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-3s in the colours of the 401st IAP, VVS (Soviet Air Force), autumn 1941. An improved version of the MiG-1 and the first 'modern' mass produced Soviet fighter, the MiG-3 was intended as a high altitude interceptor. It was fast at high altitude (640kph) but was more than 120kph slower at low level, where most of the fighting took place over the Eastern Front. It was less maneuverable than the Messerschmitt Bf 109 due to its high wing loading, and also suffered a poor climb rate. It also proved to be unstable at high speeds making accurate fire difficult, another characteristic made worse by poor quality gun sights and its weak armament of a single 12.7mm UBS machine gun and a pair of 7.62mm ShKAS machine guns. Some variants (including these miniatures) were fitted with extra 7.62mm machine guns in underwing pods, but these also slowed the aircraft by 20kph.
86910
MiG-3s were delivered to front-line fighter regiments beginning in the spring of 1941 and proved to be a handful for pilots accustomed to the lower-performance and docile Polikarpov I-152 and I-153 biplanes and the Polikarpov I-16 monoplane. Even after the extensive modifications made to the MiG-3 in comparison to the MiG-1 it was still tricky and demanding to fly. Although it proved effective in shooting down high altitude Luftwaffe reconaissance aircraft, many MiG-3s were lost during the first six months of the Great Patriotic War. In those desparate days of 1941 the MiG-3 was even pushed into the ground attack role. By the middle of 1942 all remaining examples of the type had been transferred from the VVS to the PVO (Air Defense Troops) or Naval Aviation units.
'White 36' was flown by First Lieutenant Alexey Georgievich Kubyshkin of the 401st IAP in July 1941. During the first two months of the war Kubyshkin flew 70 recce, patrol, and escort sorties. He fought in 32 aerial actions and claimed 5 victories (3 Bf 109 and 2 Do 215) plus 6 in group (2 Bf 109, 2 Hs 126 and 2 Fw 200). His wingman is 'White 40', another aircraft assigned to the 401st IAP, pilot unknown.
86906
86908
86907
These aircraft are a couple more I completed back in March 2010 representing MiG-3s of the 120th IAP, PVO assigned to the defence of Moscow in the winter of 1941-42. I really like the winter scheme with the striking red wing panels.
86911
86909
My WGS statistics for the MiG-3 with underwing gun pods are as follows:
Manouver Deck: G
Damage Points: 17
Firepower: Short - AB, Long - A
Climb Rate: 4 (13 m/s)
Top Altitude: 14 (12,000 metres)
I almost gave the upgunned MiG-3 a long range firepower of B, but I found this quote on Wiki by MiG-3 pilot Alexander E. Shvarev "The third weakness was its gunsights, which were inaccurate: that's why we closed in as much as we could and fired point blank."
86910
MiG-3s were delivered to front-line fighter regiments beginning in the spring of 1941 and proved to be a handful for pilots accustomed to the lower-performance and docile Polikarpov I-152 and I-153 biplanes and the Polikarpov I-16 monoplane. Even after the extensive modifications made to the MiG-3 in comparison to the MiG-1 it was still tricky and demanding to fly. Although it proved effective in shooting down high altitude Luftwaffe reconaissance aircraft, many MiG-3s were lost during the first six months of the Great Patriotic War. In those desparate days of 1941 the MiG-3 was even pushed into the ground attack role. By the middle of 1942 all remaining examples of the type had been transferred from the VVS to the PVO (Air Defense Troops) or Naval Aviation units.
'White 36' was flown by First Lieutenant Alexey Georgievich Kubyshkin of the 401st IAP in July 1941. During the first two months of the war Kubyshkin flew 70 recce, patrol, and escort sorties. He fought in 32 aerial actions and claimed 5 victories (3 Bf 109 and 2 Do 215) plus 6 in group (2 Bf 109, 2 Hs 126 and 2 Fw 200). His wingman is 'White 40', another aircraft assigned to the 401st IAP, pilot unknown.
86906
86908
86907
These aircraft are a couple more I completed back in March 2010 representing MiG-3s of the 120th IAP, PVO assigned to the defence of Moscow in the winter of 1941-42. I really like the winter scheme with the striking red wing panels.
86911
86909
My WGS statistics for the MiG-3 with underwing gun pods are as follows:
Manouver Deck: G
Damage Points: 17
Firepower: Short - AB, Long - A
Climb Rate: 4 (13 m/s)
Top Altitude: 14 (12,000 metres)
I almost gave the upgunned MiG-3 a long range firepower of B, but I found this quote on Wiki by MiG-3 pilot Alexander E. Shvarev "The third weakness was its gunsights, which were inaccurate: that's why we closed in as much as we could and fired point blank."