Assembly model 1:72 fighter MiG-3 late "Bloody 1941" Armory AR72011

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 (Russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-3) is a Soviet fighter-interceptor used during World War II. It was the development of the MiG-1 by the OKO (experimental and design department) of Plant No. 1 in Moscow to eliminate problems identified during the development and operation of the MiG-1. It replaced the MiG-1 on the No. 1 production line on 20 December 1940 and was built in large numbers throughout 1941 before No. 1 was converted to produce the Il-2. On 22 June 1941, at the start of Operation Barbarossa, approximately 981 aircraft were in service with the Soviet Air Force (VVS), Soviet Air Defense Forces (ASDF), and Soviet Naval Aviation. It was difficult to fly the MiG-3 in peacetime, and even more so in combat conditions. Originally designed as a high-altitude fighter-interceptor, 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 counterparts. It also entered service as a fighter-bomber in the fall of 1941, but was equally unfit for that role. Combat losses were very high, in percentage terms the highest among all Air Force fighters — 1,432 shot down. Those who survived were concentrated in air defense, where its shortcomings did not matter, the latter were withdrawn from service until the end of the war.