F-86F Sabre

[Ian]

Kit – Academy 1:48.

Paint – Alclad lacquers, Humbrol & Xtracolour enamels, Tamiya acrylics.

Decals – Aeromaster 48-278 ‘Sabres over Korea III’

Extras – None.

North American F-86F-30 Sabre ‘Nina V’

Assigned to Col. Robert Baldwin

CO, 51^st Fighter Interceptor Group

K-13 (Suwon AB) South Korea

Summer 1953.

Not my best by a long way, but now I have a Sabre in the cabinet which is something that I’ve wanted for a l-o-n-g time. As ever please feel free to comment, ask questions or criticise constructively and thanks for taking the time to look.

Ian

[sunray]

This is one of my favourite jets and you have done it proud!

Cheers

Ian

[sean]

Very nice build, good looking set of markings as well,

Sean

[rmcclure]

That's a beauty - nice work indeed. What was the kit like to build?

Cheers,

Roger

[snapper_city]

Very nice. I also fancy a sabre in my cabinet. I have looked at the Academy kit a few times but never brought one home for some reason. One thought. I'm not sure if you would ever see the pilot in the seat with FOD covers still on. Otherwise that Alclad has worked a treat. Top build.

[Ian]

One thought. I'm not sure if you would ever see the pilot in the seat with FOD covers still on.

Completely agree. It was always going to have the FOD covers on, the pilot was a last minute thing; I was nearing the end of the build when we moved house, in the turmoil my etch seatbelts managed to make a successful bid for freedom and that cockpit looks awfully bare without some detail. So abra-cadabra, one badly painted pilot figure !!

Ian

[Stephen]

Very nice work.

Stephen

[Leonl]

Nice, want one!

[colin]

Very nice Sabre

[Enzo the Magnificent]

Oh wow! And you say it's not one of your best...

Just wish I could get my NM schemes to look like that.

[Kuro Nezumi]

NMF Sabres are always stunning, and this is no exception. Really well done!

BTW, regarding panel tonal variation, does it matter what shade select panels are or can they be whatever the modeller wishes them to be?

[somnas]

Good job!

[Ian]

BTW, regarding panel tonal variation, does it matter what shade select panels are or can they be whatever the modeller wishes them to be?

Thanks for all the responses folks, really appreciate them.

Kuro F-86's have some definite tones which you see on every aircraft. the central panel that runs the length of the wing is (almost) always a dull greyish aluminium, it could be the same aluminium lacquer that North American used on the P-51's to aid airflow, I really don't know. The other tones that you tend to see are the dull/matt gun bay access doors and darker (cordite stained ??) gun muzzle doors. The intake ring also appears to be lighter than the rest of the airframe on many but not all F-86's.

My best advice is simply study as many photos as you can and always bare in mind the climate & conditions the aircraft you are modelling 'lived' in. Korean War machines are likely to be far more 'grubby' than, say, a Wing Commanders personal ride that's attending a gunnery meet !!

Hope this helps.

Ian

[HOUSTON]

SUPERB