Sabrejet

Strangest part of the Collect Aire kit is the aft fuselage which is way too narrow - almost to the point it looks to be a different scale. No such disparity on the Kitty Hawk kit, so I think we can safely say the two have nothing in common.

The CA kit has shape issues, so if KH did use it (which I doubt), then they put right all the inaccuracies. So double kudos KH and no thanks to CA.

Note that 'British Racing Green' is a generic term, so won't necessarily indicate the colour you're looking for. The P.6 BRG is quite dark whereas the Vanwall green is lighter/more pale.

Good job: nice scheme too

Forward one cockpit air conditioning; aft one is a mid-frame engine vent.

FJ-3 similar:

Here is one as a start.

Good question; there are thousands of shades of green that have been used as the British racing colour. For me, British Green looks more like it for a Vanwall.

XB984 was the aircraft assigned to 3 Sqn CO Sqn Ldr Hutchinson. Note that the ejection seat warning triangle was as per the decal instructions on the RH/starboard side, but it was placed on the gun access door on the LH/port side: Incidentally you need those small mid-fuselage vents to accurately portray a Sabre 4 (both sides of the fuselage and visible between pilots 6 and 7 in the rear row of the above).

Truly a golden era for our hobby. I hope I can afford one

Later RCAF Sabre 5s had the fillet attached to the ammo door; often seen on Flight Systems Sabre 5/QF-86E as a result.

Seat is black, as is the entire cockpit area. Note also that RAF Sabre seats had a padded headrest, more like the one fitted to F-86As. Headrest and armrests very dark brown/black. Note striped red & yellow handles etc. Belts tan:

Never had a problem with white metal; good old Halfords white or grey works fine. A quick buff with scotchbrite before painting is all I do.

Looking further into the subject, both aircraft on sheet 48-699 can be done as ‘6-3’ or F-40-winged machines. It looks like the conversion to F-40 wing was done by Shin Meiwa and Mitsubishi in Japan circa March/April 1957. To summarise: Aeromaster 48-699: 52-4329 310th FBS (yellow) – had both wing types; served with 58th FBW to 31 May 1958 52-4538 311th FBS (red) – had both wing types; served with 58th FBW to 13 June 1958 Aeromaster 48-700: 52-4537 69th FBS (blue) – had both wing types; served with 58th FBW to 6 May 1958 52-4386 310th FBS (yellow) – 6-3 wing only (lost in flying accident 7 November 1956) There is a third Aeromaster sheet with 58th FBW F-86Fs (48-701) but the two aircraft featured (52-4628 and 52-4781) only had the 6-3 wing. EDIT: F-40 wing conversion location/timeframe confirmed:

See photo at top: the wing stripes end at the inboard end of the wing extension. As I said above, the Aeromaster sheets are OK for the extended-span aircraft (note that I refer to them as F-40 wing, not F-40). Also as explained, 58th FBW probably the only front line USAF Wing to have extended-span F-86Fs.