jaw Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Good morning fellow BMers, I would appreciate some advice please. I am interested in making a 1/72 RAF Sabre with the leading edge slats - ie not with the 6-3 wing. This thought was spurred on by seeing a picture of a 93 Sqdn Sabre on the ground at Jever with everything out - slats, air brakes etc. If I was using the Airfix Sabre which has the 6-3 wingI have calculated that I would need to remove just over 2mm of plastic where the wing joins the fuselage reducing to just over 1mm at the wing tip. And if I wanted to have the slats extended, fashion that. But while browsing around a website I discovered that Academy do a USAF F86E Sabre which according to the box art has leading edge slats. Does anybody have this kit? If so I would be grateful if they could tell me whether it is possible to have the slats extended. More generally what is the kit like?? Thanks, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 From what I've read here, the Academy kit is incorrect as has the slats but the wing chord is the same as in the kit with the later wing In general, the academy Sabres are nice kits, with much sharper details than the airfix ones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 (edited) John, Academy did the hard wing with the 6-3 and fences too. I have one of the Hobby craft ones (that are now with Academy), with the the slats, being refurbed if you want to take a look at it. Edited October 18, 2012 by Paul J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickydicky210 Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 John Try this: http://www.model-making.eu/products/F-86-E-Sabre.html It shows the kit and instructions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 By the way, this kit is OK for an F.6 Sabre as it had the 6-3 wing with the slats re instated hence the wider chord. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisrope Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Academy/Hobbycraft in 1/72 can be built with the slats out. It is the wrong slatted wing but its better than chopping the Airfix wing up. Just squint at it a bit. It also makes me wonder why every Sabre kit keeps covering the same later wings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme H Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 The Academy kit does indeed have the 6"3" wing with slats, that equates to a Canadair Mk 6 which it was also issued as. Earlier wings have to be either cut down by taking out the 6"3" part, remember that on early wing sabres it does not have the little piece that was taken off to open the gun bay door, as it overlapped the door, Airfix mark this quite clearly as a small triangle on the leading edge of the wing, but you would need to make your own slats. Alternatives are to fudge it and just live with the Academy wing, this would be my prefered option, although to cover up your sin you could rescribe the Gun Bay door on the fuselage. Cut down the Academy wing, not easy, with all the slat tracks hanging out the front Also all D model Sabres kept the early wing, so possible to cross kit, but I know the old Airfix one doesn't have seperate flaps, can't say about the Hasegawa, although that is an expensive exercise. The ancient F86A by Matchbox had the early wing also, but no seperate slats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 (edited) Ah. I recall the Heller one had the narrow chord wing and slats(not separate either). Not a bad kit I recall and I do have one alongside my Hobbycraft Mk.6 undergioing refurbs. Both will be waering RCAF decals with the Heller one going to be a Mk2 or 4 Edited October 18, 2012 by Paul J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaw Posted October 18, 2012 Author Share Posted October 18, 2012 Thanks all for the advice and pics. Most helpful. Cheers, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Hemsley Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 The Heller kit was/is a Canadair Mk.6 with the 6-3 wing (slats molded closed). Supposedly, Heller tooled their kit based on a Turkish(?) Sabre, which was ex-Luftwaffe (a Canadair Mk.6). To make a Mk2 or Mk.4 (as originally delivered to the RAF by the RCAF), you'll need to cut the wing down to it's 'pre-6-3' form, but retain the slats. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 The Heller kit was/is a Canadair Mk.6 with the 6-3 wing (slats molded closed). Supposedly, Heller tooled their kit based on a Turkish(?) Sabre, which was ex-Luftwaffe (a Canadair Mk.6). To make a Mk2 or Mk.4 (as originally delivered to the RAF by the RCAF), you'll need to cut the wing down to it's 'pre-6-3' form, but retain the slats. Scott Hi Scott. # Thats interesting. I have matched up the wings of my dismantled Heller one with the stripped down Hobbycraft(Academy now) model and the Heller one certainly seems to have a narrow wing; Strange things going on methinks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bari Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 (edited) Hi I've got the Academy one in the cupboard, here are a few pics I got mine from Hannants a while ago I think it was on special offer about £6.99 looks nicely moulded. Edited October 18, 2012 by Bari Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaw Posted October 18, 2012 Author Share Posted October 18, 2012 Bari - many thanks for posting the sprue pics. That is really appreciated. It looks pretty good to me. So I have taken the plunge and ordered one from the big H together with Modeldecal 97 which has all the RAF Sabre squadron. Cheers, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 (edited) John, (and Bari et al..) make sure the stub axle on the main legs are in line!!! One of the ones I built had the axle offset to the leg and looks ***king awful!! Trouble is cutting it off and re aligning the axle with the leg would weaken the part unless you go for replacement sets. Also the nose leg has a horrible contraption that is supposed to be the retract arm. This is crud too. On the sprue is a proper one and you should look to using this part and cut off the one on the leg otherwise it don't fit too good. Nor the folded nose door which is affected by this nose leg. Can't see it in the photos above but the better leg might still be on the sprue. I can see the retract is there though.. Also some of the cockpit/canopy parts are a mix... be warned. I don't know why Academy had to change these parts other than to take it away from the fact that it was a Hobbycraft kit once. Other than that it is a nice kit and I like them. One other thing re the wings some F5 s were retrofitted with the slats on the 6-3 wing to match the F6 Edited October 18, 2012 by Paul J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Craik Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 John, (and Bari et al..) make sure the stub axle on the main legs are in line!!! One of the ones I built had the axle offset to the leg and looks ***king awful!! Trouble is cutting it off and re aligning the axle with the leg would weaken the part unless you go for replacement sets. Also the nose leg has a horrible contraption that is supposed to be the retract arm. This is crud too. On the sprue is a proper one and you should look to using this part and cut off the one on the leg otherwise it don't fit too good. Nor the folded nose door which is affected by this nose leg. Can't see it in the photos above but the better leg might still be on the sprue. I can see the retract is there though.. Also some of the cockpit/canopy parts are a mix... be warned. I don't know why Academy had to change these parts other than to take it away from the fact that it was a Hobbycraft kit once. Other than that it is a nice kit and I like them. One other thing re the wings some F5 s were retrofitted with the slats on the 6-3 wing to match the F6 I would like to see a photo of an in service Mk5 that was fitted with the 6/3 slatted wing.The only ones that I have seen were with private owners,and this was after service life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousAA72 Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 I've managed to convert an Airfix kit into a slatted version (well, still not finished -some decals to add..) I removed a scale 6" from the root of the wing and 3" at the tip (2mm & 1mm) I think -must check my maths.. The Academy slatted winged kit is a nice starting point, but in reality on the aircraft, the slat's upper surface was so thin that there was virtually no ridge on the wing - as depicted by Academy. By cutting small notches on the reduced wings leading edges-equating to the width of the slats- and removing the 1mm bit inbetween you can then make the new slats with plastic card and rod. Sanded to shape - acuating slats can be made from more card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 As much as we all go for super accuracy 1mm or 2mm in 1.72 I would just go with the Academy kit. Julien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 IIRC, the only kit that has the correct wheels for an RAF Sabre is the Heller kit, they are beautiful mouldings! I know it may seem a trivial point but the later wheels just don't look right. Pavla do some replacement wheels which are correct. Wez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 The pavla wheels are very nice I used them on my Yougoslav F.4 as the Airfix ones are just plain bad. Julien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 The Heller kit was/is a Canadair Mk.6 with the 6-3 wing (slats molded closed). Supposedly, Heller tooled their kit based on a Turkish(?) Sabre, which was ex-Luftwaffe (a Canadair Mk.6). To make a Mk2 or Mk.4 (as originally delivered to the RAF by the RCAF), you'll need to cut the wing down to it's 'pre-6-3' form, but retain the slats. Scott Are you sure as I have old old Heller kits and new heller kits (aka airfix box) and the wings are the same. Even though the decals in the box are for a German kit, the wings are wrong, also provdies decals for a USAF aircraft and its wrong for that as well. Julien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey3 Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 John, Just had a quick scan of the above - if you haven't tried it - this may be useful : http://f-86.tripod.com/wings.html Regards, monkey 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennings Heilig Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Supposedly, Heller tooled their kit based on a Turkish(?) Sabre, which was ex-Luftwaffe (a Canadair Mk.6). You sure? I've never heard that Turkey flew Orenda engined Canadairs before... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Craik Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 The Heller kit was/is a Canadair Mk.6 with the 6-3 wing (slats molded closed). Supposedly, Heller tooled their kit based on a Turkish(?) Sabre, which was ex-Luftwaffe (a Canadair Mk.6). To make a Mk2 or Mk.4 (as originally delivered to the RAF by the RCAF), you'll need to cut the wing down to it's 'pre-6-3' form, but retain the slats. Scott The Turkish sabres were ex R.C.A.F.Mk2s F-86E (M) with the 6/3 non slatted wing.I can't believe when reading through this thread how much false information there is on the Canadair sabre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennings Heilig Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 I can't believe when reading through this thread how much false information there is on the Canadair sabre. I'm doing my best to thwart it James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 I think we all are Jennings! both yourself and James are fonts of sabre knowledge and I am gradually catching up. Like has been said there are lots of incorrect info out there. Julien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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