During the snow period, many MiG-3 were painted white, both on the factory and on the field.
The white cote had a different look depending by the mean of application (spray or brush), of the layer thickness, the wearing, the care etc.
On many examples, it appeared as a very light grey instead that pure white.
It is not clear if white distemper or usual white paint was employed; however, the white layer was relatively uniform in winter 1941/42, well different than those seen on LaGG-3s and La-5s in winter 1942/43, when the aircrafts were only partially and irregularly painted by white distemper.
Besides, a lot of MiG-3s were fully repainted with summer schemes during the spring of 1942, and this let us know that the white layer wasn't too easy to be removed.
The white paint could cover the upper and side surfaces only, or be extended to the lower surfaces too.
In photos, on has to check the presence of a white-blue demarcation line on the fuselage, or the shade of wheel covers; the reflexion of snow on wing undersurfaces makes them seem always white, even if they were light blue.
The white paint extends often on propeller spinner and blades, and even on the exhaust stacks (that return quickly dark because of heat  and smoke).
While summer camouflaged MiG-3s wore usually numbers on the fuselage side, in front of the stars, white MiG-3s wore them on the stabilizer, or don't have them at all. Very few exceptions to this rule were seen.
By the winter 1941/42, most MiG-3s had their tail wheel locked in extracted position, the doors removed and a tissue cover added to close the bay.
RS-82 rockets were a standard equipment for the MiG-3s operating in the front of Moscow.
Some rare photos show MiG-3s  partially covered with white distemper; they could be of winter 1942, for analogy with similarly painted LaGG-3s.
Some photos on the Kharkov front show the white paint partially covered with temperate camo colors during spring 1942.
 

black 12 of 12 GIAP,  Vnukovo, March 1942	red 02 of 12 GIAP,  Vnukovo, March 1942	red 85 of 12 GIAP,  Vnukovo, March 1942
black 36 of 12 GIAP,  Vnukovo, March 1942	red 90 of 12 GIAP,  Vnukovo, March 1942	red 39 of 12 GIAP,  Vnukovo, March 1942
Za Stalina, 6 IAP, Moscow front, winter 1941/42.	unknown unit, Kalininsky front, winter 1941/42	Lieutnant I.F.Golubin of 16 IAP,  Moscow area, winter 1941/42
red 3, unknown unit, spring 1942	black 2, 28 IAP Moscow front, winter 1941/42	red 8, 27 IAP,  Moscow front, winter 1941/42
red 42, unknown unit, winter 1941/42	unknown unit,  winter 1941/42	Za Rodinu, 122 IAP, Vnukovo February 1942
Za Stalina, 148 IAP,  Kharkov front, spring 1942	Za rodinu, 148 IAP,  Kharkov front, spring 1942	dotted aircraft, 148 IAP,  Kharkov front, spring 1942
distempered white 40,  unknown unit and place, 1942	Za Partiy Bolshevikov, 122 IAP, Vnukovo, February 1942	Red 7 unknown unit and place, 1942

 

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