Mario Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 Hello modellers! Have completed another project - this time Matchbox venerable F-86A Sabre in 1/72. Actually the model was build in 1993 and since then suffered a lot of damage. There was glue on the canopy, the undercarriage was broken and the nose weight broke loose. Thought it would be a good idea to restore it and test some new ideas I had, mainly the overpainting of decals. Originally I only wanted to build a new undercarriage, do some paint touch-ups and then apply new national insignias but it turned out that the stripes on the wings were not applied symetrically in the past. So I oversprayed the whole model with Revell basic primer and sanded it as smooth as possible. As the primer dried very fast and the decals had a very good bond, it caused no problems. After several attempts to paint the stripes, I ended printing them on decal paper and apply them over a glossy white surface. Except for the national insignia, all other decals were custom printed, too. From the original undercarriage only the wheels were used. The struts were made from brass tube, nails, needles and plastic sprue. The kit comes without external fuel tanks. As I thought this looked a little boring, scratchbuilt my own gluing several layers of plastic sheet and then cutting and sanding, using the Fujimi/Hobbycraft Sabre´s tanks as references. Paints used were Humbrol polished aluminium and polished steel. The darker panels are painted with Alclad aluminium. Several coats of gauzy were applied to seal the decals. Thanks for watching Mario 40 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 Great Sabre collection and Great rebuild of this “A” 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeR Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 Nicely done! Mike. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mario Posted March 6, 2018 Author Share Posted March 6, 2018 Thank you Mike and Corsairfoxfouruncle for the kind comments! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thud4444 Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 That looks really well done. That collection though. ... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme H Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 A great restoration, and just love the line up of Sabres you have 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luis Alfonso Posted March 7, 2018 Share Posted March 7, 2018 Hi Uncle Mario!!! Congratulations for this one!!! It's nice to find this lovely kit here after a wonderful beauty treatment, both inside and outside. all the things you have done paid benefits with the "Basic Techniques-Advanced Results" work you have done here. I was thinking one day to dispose of two Old Matchbox kits of this wonderful aircraft and even thought of using parts of one f them to try my hand to make a better "A" kit as there are no other choice, but have read an article dealing with the subject saying the kit maybe would not be perfect but is the only game in town and with a little add-ons and small enhancements one with a little love for the build can get great results... but you have surpassed the expectations and with all that scratch and work along the time the build (or better say rebuild) lasted, really ended in a better place than nice. MAYBE one day I will follow you using some of your ideas and mines are nearly as yours when you took the rebuild process. Looks so nicer as the NASM one!!! Thank you very much for sharing, Cheers, Luis Alfonso 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovely Pig Posted March 7, 2018 Share Posted March 7, 2018 Fantastic result Mario, time well spent. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted March 7, 2018 Share Posted March 7, 2018 What they all said . Nothing wrong with lots of Sabres. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ c Posted March 7, 2018 Share Posted March 7, 2018 Great save there Mario and really nice collection 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted March 7, 2018 Share Posted March 7, 2018 Great collection! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mario Posted March 9, 2018 Author Share Posted March 9, 2018 Thank you very much Thud4444, Graeme H, Lovely Pig, Couragious, Cookenbacher and Nephew Luis Alfonso for the kind comments. On 07.03.2018 at 2:37 AM, Luis Alfonso said: Hi Uncle Mario!!! Congratulations for this one!!! It's nice to find this lovely kit here after a wonderful beauty treatment, both inside and outside. all the things you have done paid benefits with the "Basic Techniques-Advanced Results" work you have done here. I was thinking one day to dispose of two Old Matchbox kits of this wonderful aircraft and even thought of using parts of one f them to try my hand to make a better "A" kit as there are no other choice, but have read an article dealing with the subject saying the kit maybe would not be perfect but is the only game in town and with a little add-ons and small enhancements one with a little love for the build can get great results... but you have surpassed the expectations and with all that scratch and work along the time the build (or better say rebuild) lasted, really ended in a better place than nice. MAYBE one day I will follow you using some of your ideas and mines are nearly as yours when you took the rebuild process. Looks so nicer as the NASM one!!! Thank you very much for sharing, Cheers, Luis Alfonso Thank you for leaving a comment here despite the fact that you were already an eyewitness of the whole restoration process. Would really appreciate seeing a Matchbox Sabre from the other side of the pond, but reading the word "MAYBE" in capital letters makes me sceptical... Have a nice day Uncle Mario 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celt Posted March 9, 2018 Share Posted March 9, 2018 Well tidy indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andwil Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 Really nice rescue, and I love the airfield base. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairtrigger Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 Very neat and tidy, I like that 😃 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 Nice result indeed. Regarding fuel tanks - if you had Fujimi ones you could tried resin cast, perhaps it will go faster Regards J-W 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glatisant Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 Magnificent. A great bit of salvage work. The line-up is a joy to behold!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mario Posted March 10, 2018 Author Share Posted March 10, 2018 Thank you very much for the comments glatisant, Hairtrigger,Andwil, celt and Jrzy. Very much appreciated! 13 hours ago, JWM said: Nice result indeed. Regarding fuel tanks - if you had Fujimi ones you could tried resin cast, perhaps it will go faster Regards J-W Hi Jerzy! Thank you very much for the advice regarding resin casting. Without doubt would have saved a lot of time. Have already casted some fuel tanks for an P-47 Thunderbolt and other things in the past. But in this case, I didn´t want to invest too much money for new silicone and resin for a 2,50 Euro kit. Cheers, Mario Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 20 minutes ago, Mario said: Hi Jerzy! Thank you very much for the advice regarding resin casting. Without doubt would have saved a lot of time. Have already casted some fuel tanks for an P-47 Thunderbolt and other things in the past. But in this case, I didn´t want to invest too much money for new silicone and resin for a 2,50 Euro kit. Hi Mario, The main investment was your time, anyway I am just a fan of self casting in resin - this is so much useful in modelling! Cheers J-W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 Mario, Top notch salvage job on the Matchbox kit. Can't beat the early 4th FG scheme, either. I am soooo jealous of your Sabre collection! Well done, sir! Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinChipmunkfan Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 Hi Mario, Nice to see what can be done with a Matchbox kit, well done. Thank you for sharing it and your Sabre line up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mario Posted March 11, 2018 Author Share Posted March 11, 2018 19 hours ago, 72modeler said: Mario, Top notch salvage job on the Matchbox kit. Can't beat the early 4th FG scheme, either. I am soooo jealous of your Sabre collection! Well done, sir! Mike Mike, thank you very much for your kind comment. Have always been very enthusiastic about Korean War Sabres. Have some more kits in the stash. I´m planning another "El Diablo" from the Academy kit and the James Jabara aircraft with Microscale decals in the future. Have a nice day and "Remember the Alamo" Mario 17 hours ago, ColinChipmunkfan said: Hi Mario, Nice to see what can be done with a Matchbox kit, well done. Thank you for sharing it and your Sabre line up. Hi ColinChipmunkfan! You are welcome. Glad you liked it. Thank you very much for your Kind words! Cheers, Mario Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luis Alfonso Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 On 9/3/2018 at 12:02 PM, Mario said: Thank you very much Thud4444, Graeme H, Lovely Pig, Couragious, Cookenbacher and Nephew Luis Alfonso for the kind comments. Thank you for leaving a comment here despite the fact that you were already an eyewitness of the whole restoration process. Would really appreciate seeing a Matchbox Sabre from the other side of the pond, but reading the word "MAYBE" in capital letters makes me sceptical... Have a nice day Uncle Mario + Hi Uncle Mario!!! Don't be skeptical about that, as the first steps for this rebuild were done some days ago, so stay tuned and pray hard to end this one, maybe the surprise will last with you for many months... the word MAYBE was at the time I first wrote the comment... Luis Alfonso 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank083 Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 Very nice looking Sabre, congrats Frank 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FAAMAN Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 Great save, one of my fave Matchbox kits, great work and congrats on the Sabre 'traffic jam' 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now