Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 I've been stuck in a rut, I feel, with a gravitation towards WW2 single engine piston types (except for my last two completions which have been piston twins). My dad very recently gave me this F-86D, and I decided to just build it OOB. I wanted one anyway, but hadn't looked in to the origins of this kit. I assumed it was one of Monogram's classics but it's actually quite recent (relatively speaking). The instructions are typically Revell USA The parts placement is a bit vague but I do like that they call out the colours they mean, not just the nearest vaguery in a generic brand owned by the same outfit. The decal sheet looks nice. How they perform remains to be seen of course... The detailing on this kit is nicely pitched. There aren't billions of tiny, pointless pieces but it isn't barren either. The exterior detail is recessed and quite finely done. The only bits I've found worth commenting negatively against are a pair of matching sink marks. These have since been filled. They will be visible but not accessible after assembly. Anyhoo - I set about building! The instructions said to paint the cockpit Dark Gull Gray, so I did. And this is where we're up to. The undercarriage wells are built up and painted green, and the instrument panel has likewise been painted as has the jet pipe. I might get the fuselage closed up tomorrow? Maybe? Not liking to make life easy for myself, I started another long-term stash-dweller too today 🙄 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Fox Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 It is a lovely kit from 1999 one of Revell nicest. You have the pre block 45 kit so no tail parachute housing,( which could be retrofitted}. The ejection seat handles are moulded in the fired position as Revell used a museum example and it has the early instrument panel for the same reason.The wings are out by the odd degree in sweep. None of which bothers me too much hence I have 15 of them on the finished shelves at home. it is the most enjoyable kit to make so ENJOY!!!! 6 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies Posted August 20, 2018 Author Share Posted August 20, 2018 11 hours ago, Silver Fox said: It is a lovely kit from 1999 one of Revell nicest. You have the pre block 45 kit so no tail parachute housing,( which could be retrofitted}. The ejection seat handles are moulded in the fired position as Revell used a museum example and it has the early instrument panel for the same reason.The wings are out by the odd degree in sweep. None of which bothers me too much hence I have 15 of them on the finished shelves at home. it is the most enjoyable kit to make so ENJOY!!!! That's great to hear! I don't think I am going to let the inaccuracies bother me on this one. I have never clapped eyes on a real F-86D and it's unlikely I will for the foreseeable future so this kit will serve me best as a simple, honest build. I have fond memories of hankering after the Airfix kit in the 1980s boxes I grew up with, and this is an attempt to recapture some of that blissful ignorance 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Fox Posted August 20, 2018 Share Posted August 20, 2018 Jamie, Don't be so sure, if you are ever passing the North East Aviation Museum near the Nissan plan in Sunderland, just off the A19 near the Tyne Tunnel, they have the only Sabre Dog in captivity in the UK. The whole museum is well worth a visit. 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Happy Posted August 20, 2018 Share Posted August 20, 2018 Jamie, It’ s looking great so far👍 I’m looking forward to your next update 🤓 Great job, Mr. Happy (In name only) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies Posted August 20, 2018 Author Share Posted August 20, 2018 I'm never happy, Mr, Happy! Tonight I had to go weld something for a friend. Still, I have made progress tonight that I am close to being happy about (but careful now with that sort of thing). I adjusted the ejector seat handles and finished the cockpit. The instrument panel was a bit fiddly with the little auxiliary panels to join up either side. I feel they could have been engineered a little better but it's all done now and fine. I mentioned being stuck in a rut. The thing about single engine piston WW2 fighters is that almost all of them are taildraggers and the next thing doesn't really enter my head. Before closing up the fuselage though the experience starting 3 decades ago did ring an alarm bell luckily and I decided to check the instructions for the recommended nose weight since this is my first tricycle undercarriage model in a very long time. Hmm. That's unusual for a trike, even if there is air intake trunking up front to add some beef ahead of the main wheels. I read on (unheard of in men in general, but particularly in me) and spot this curious little stick from the clear sprue. Unless the F-86D was the first USAF jet to carry a glowstick for inpromptu aerial raves, this this an anti-tail sitter measure! I'm not having that, so I broke out a big box of sticky-on car wheel balance weights I bought for around £10 on eBay many years ago and stuck 25g on top of the intake trunking ahead of the cockpit. That's as much as would conveniently fit without having to think to hard or faff about filing the corners off weights etc. It feels like it will be secure on its nose wheel now. The fuselage snapped together without a fuss, and I glued it with normal polycement Then this happened: I have to say, I absolutely cannot fault the fit of the big parts. So far, I don't think any putty/filler will be required on any of the seams at all. 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies Posted August 23, 2018 Author Share Posted August 23, 2018 The day job has had too much air time this week and after some 13 hour stints earlier this week, tonight saw me finish after rush-hour started at the opposite side of town resulting in a commute home 3 times longer than is correct, and me burning up a month's worth of patience not killing the sort of useless ineffective sops who are happy to drive at between 40 and 55mph until overtaken by a pickup then suddenly they think they're Ayrton Senna trying to fight their way up a grid. As such, the poor Sabre, which should by rights be getting decals tonight is infact only just getting its seams reviewed. After a brief go with the utterly superb Infini sanding sponges (like the cutting mats, they're another thing I didn't know I needed until I had) there were a few things that might have sanded out but would have cost some recessed detail. As NMF takes no prisoners at the best of times, the best solution was a small dab of filler. That's about all I have the desire to do tonight. Thank you slow, useless, inadequate, dull witted, pointless, time wasting Aberdonian drivers. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 16 minutes ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said: That's about all I have the desire to do tonight. Thank you slow, useless, inadequate, dull witted, pointless, time wasting Aberdonian drivers. Ah, you got stuck behind my mum? Never mind mate, just tomorrow to get past... Cheers, Stew 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 The Revell F-86Ds are beautiful kits and very good value too. One note on the 'early' kit though: the rudder trim tab is based on the aircraft at the National Museum of the USAF and is non-standard. On in-service F-86Ds the trim tab (not fitted to all variants) is flush with the rudder trailing edge. It's an easy fix and can either have its gaps filled (to represent no trim tab) and the trailing edge sanded flush with the rudder trailing edge; or even easier, just sand it flush. The NMUSAF F-86D trim tab is also larger in length, but no-one will notice that. Photos may explain better so I'll post some later... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 (edited) 39 minutes ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said: and me burning up a month's worth of patience not killing the sort of useless ineffective sops who are happy to drive at between 40 and 55mph until overtaken by a pickup then suddenly they think they're Ayrton Senna trying to fight their way up a grid. Jamie, Why do you think all us Texans have gun racks inside the rear windows of our pick 'em up trucks? Hangin's too good for them thar low-down morons! Mike Edited August 23, 2018 by 72modeler corrected spelling 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBaron Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 That cockpit looks immaculate Jamie. 45 minutes ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said: not killing the sort of useless ineffective sops who are happy to drive at between 40 and 55mph In Scotland, so on Ireland. Must have been my neighbours on holiday! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 Correct trim tab: And this is the aircraft scanned by Revell: it's actually s/n 50-477, a JF-86D test a/c - hence the non-standard trim tab on this and in the kit: 2 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies Posted August 23, 2018 Author Share Posted August 23, 2018 37 minutes ago, Sabrejet said: Correct trim tab: And this is the aircraft scanned by Revell: it's actually s/n 50-477, a JF-86D test a/c - hence the non-standard trim tab on this and in the kit: Ah hah. Thank you very much for taking the time to post that. I did infact learn on Sunday that the tab was incorrect and I trimmed the chord back before joining the fuselage halves. What I had forgotten to do however was to find out what the correct span of the tab was and to make the new cut and fill the excess. You photo served well there and to contradict myself above, I have finished the job - mostly because I was afraid I'd forget again until after doing a best-yet effort on the NMF and having to ruin it! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted August 24, 2018 Share Posted August 24, 2018 Jamie, Not sure which of the kit's options you are doing, but here are a couple of photo references: F-86D-35 s/n 51-6160 of 75th FIS, Suffolk County AFB August 1953 to September 1954 (photo Bill Bradbury): F-86D-35 s/n 51-6202 of 31st FIS, Larson AFB July 1953 to October 1954 (photo Dave McLaren). 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted August 24, 2018 Share Posted August 24, 2018 As everyone says it is indeed a very nice kit, I built a camouflaged Jugoslavian version years ago and still have a Promodeller kit somewhere. I'll be interested to see your NMF. Whose paints will you be using? 😁 john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k5054nz Posted August 24, 2018 Share Posted August 24, 2018 I've never been a fan of the Sabre Dog but as someone who's attempting to recover from a mojo issue, I'm rather enjoying this build. Thanks for sharing, Jamie, and I look forward to the next update. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies Posted August 25, 2018 Author Share Posted August 25, 2018 On 8/24/2018 at 7:07 AM, Biggles87 said: As everyone says it is indeed a very nice kit, I built a camouflaged Jugoslavian version years ago and still have a Promodeller kit somewhere. I'll be interested to see your NMF. Whose paints will you be using? 😁 john I'll probably go with Alclad II, because I have a lot here already from pre-owning my own paint company days and I gave the metallic test paints to Stew recently I have polished up the airframe with Infini's 4000 grit polishing sponge and it's now ready for action. Whilst waiting for small glued-on bits to dry I painted the undercarriage legs in chrome silver, then masked the oleos then sprayed the legs with Alclad's magnesium which gives a nice contrast. I then masked up the canopy and radome with tape then set about the wheel wells with Blutac. No build of mine is complete without some almighty male-chicken-up and today I managed to pop the main wheel well ceiling out into the fuselage. "Oh dear" I said... After fiddling with tweezers for a while I accepted that cutting would be required. This seemed like the least destructive solution: That allowed me to re-glue the part and draw it up into position firmly then reinstate the cut-out piece: I'm writing this post at the moment to give it some time to dry, then I will try wet tissue paper instead of Blutac to mask the main wheel wells! 7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amblypygid Posted August 25, 2018 Share Posted August 25, 2018 That looks like top surgery, Jamie. Wouldn't have known that the razor saw had been employed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies Posted August 25, 2018 Author Share Posted August 25, 2018 7 minutes ago, amblypygid said: That looks like top surgery, Jamie. Wouldn't have known that the razor saw had been employed. It's an excellent razor saw! Highly recommended Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Fox Posted August 25, 2018 Share Posted August 25, 2018 Great save on the undercarriage roof. The radome is an odd shape, sabredogs picture show it better than I can explain it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies Posted August 25, 2018 Author Share Posted August 25, 2018 It's now been shot with gloss black. I will give this 15mins to harden up then set to work with the Infini polishing sponges again. Some areas need a little bit more cutting back. I need to paint the olive anti-glare panel on the nose next then mask it up. I did the black first because the inside of the canopy framing is black 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies Posted August 25, 2018 Author Share Posted August 25, 2018 3 minutes ago, Silver Fox said: Great save on the undercarriage roof. The radome is an odd shape, sabredogs picture show it better than I can explain it. Thanks! Did you mean the little almost rectangular shapes from the chin intake that protrude into what would otherwise be a standard black radome? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Fox Posted August 25, 2018 Share Posted August 25, 2018 they look good to me. I've seen far too many Dogs and Kilo kits finished without them. The kit sheet has the white lining for the radome IIRC. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted August 25, 2018 Share Posted August 25, 2018 Good recovery on the wheel well...I bet you said a little more than "Oh dear"! The 'dog' is looking good and it's good to see you showing your pre-Alclad process as I've never used the stuff. Stuart 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies Posted August 25, 2018 Author Share Posted August 25, 2018 30 minutes ago, Silver Fox said: they look good to me. I've seen far too many Dogs and Kilo kits finished without them. The kit sheet has the white lining for the radome IIRC. I've just checked and you're correct, it does. I may spray them though - I don't know if I trust decals to perform in that role. 13 minutes ago, Courageous said: Good recovery on the wheel well...I bet you said a little more than "Oh dear"! The 'dog' is looking good and it's good to see you showing your pre-Alclad process as I've never used the stuff. Stuart I'm kinda making this one up as I go Stuart - I can't claim that natural metal finishes are something I am proficient in. Let's see how this one goes before making any judgements Anyways - last one for now: I used Colourcoats ARUS03 for this, a WW2 US Army Olive Drab. I liked the colour and it reminded me of my modelling hey-days in the mid 1990s 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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