Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 Book Review
By David L. Veres
| Date of Review | May 2021 | Title | Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Author | Nikolay Yakubovich | Publisher | Guideline Publications |
| Published | 2021 | ISBN | n/a |
| Format | 72 pages, softbound | MSRP (GBP) | £17.00 |
Review
Nikolay Yakubovich explores the scion of a legendary line in the 129th installment of Guideline Publications’ popular “Warpaint” range.
In just 72 pages, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 surveys the design, development, deployment, and disposition of the I-200/MiG-1/MiG-3 family.
Text chronicles MiG-3 proposals, projects, and production variants and derivatives. Contents also include technical details, combat accounts, and personal observations.
Modelers will love it. Yakubovich includes color & markings notes, six pages of 1:72-scale line drawings, and two pages of MiG-3 model kit and accessories commentary. And to whet your project appetite, Andrey Yurgenson adds 35 superb color profiles – and a page of multi-views depicting Capt S. N. Polyakov’s famous “White 04”.
Nitpicks?
Translation occasionally appears mysterious – or perhaps too literal. Does the author really mean “streamlined” or “compact”, instead of “lean” on page 3? And what does he mean by “excesses” on page 27 – and “assimilated” a page later?
Claims sometimes sound suspect, too. De Havilland d.H.98 Mosquito construction, for instance, employed an innovative sandwich structure of spruce, ash, birch, fir, and balsa – not of balsa alone, as Yakubovich asserts.
Finally, for an English-language monograph from a British publisher, don’t expect automatic English equivalents for metric data. And don’t assume Western standards for technical descriptions, either.
Yakubovich, for instance, calibrates fuel capacity by weight (kilograms), instead of by volume (gallons or liters) – the latter practice more commonly applied to piston-engine aircraft tankage of the period.
Still, most enthusiasts buy “Warpaint” titles for pretty pictures – not for proper prose. And like the author’s previous titles, this one doesn’t disappoint. I’d just love photo confirmation of red-outlined “White 37” on page 33!
A digital edition is also available.
Recommended!
My sincere thanks to Guideline Publications for this review sample!