Fatcawthorne Posted February 24, 2019 Posted February 24, 2019 (edited) OK, we've got an Airfix Hunter currently on its way to Chez FC courtesy of eBay, however as I'm chomping at the bit to start another build now that my Blenheim WIP is coming to an end, my thoughts have turned to it's immediate predecessor, the Canadair Sabre Mk F.4, which served with the RAF as an interim solution until the Hunter entered service. Let's have a look at what we've got then. Here are the box and sprue shots: ....... and as a teaser was showing in the first photo here's the full package showing most of what we are going to add to Revell's offering (I say most as I have also used my eBay Plane TokensTM - AKA my wages! - to buy a couple of Quickboost resin seats which should arrive in the next couple of days) The Red Roo early slatted wings is a drop in replacement for the kit parts so shouldn't offer up too many difficulties, and are needed as all the three options in the EagleStrike decals sheet have these wings specified rather than the 6-3 wing that was later fitted to the RAF machines (see note below re the 4 Sqn option as it may be that Eagle Strike made a boo boo with that one, but I'm no expert so can't say for 100% either way). Small moan, I bought them from an Australian eBay trader (international Plane Tokens needed for that one) and I got nabbed by the Royal Thieving Mail with their wonderful silver card that informed me that I was to be extorted £8.00 for them to be able to collect the £3.57 of tax/duty on my behalf. I believe a de-minimis limit should apply of at least a 50-50 split between charges and duty before collection is enforced as charging someone the best part of three times what is collected does lead to a fair bit of resentment to our lovely posties. The plan is to make the middle option, a 93 Squadron machine serialled XB829 'D', based at RAFG Jever in 1955 for no other reason than I like the arrow Squadron bars, and that I can find a photo of this airframe that supports it having the slatted wings, unlike the other option I fancied doing, the 4 Sqn one! The RAF Jever website for 4 Sqn says that 4 Sqn only flew the Hard Edged version (in keeping with their reputation) and there is a photo of XB931 in a slightly different marking scheme that appears to have the 6-3 wing as evidenced by the wing fence. I quite like the way they referred to other units using the biplane version when referring to their slatted-wing airframes. Perhaps I will build one of my Academy or Italeri 6-3 Sabres as this one. Having previously built the Hasegawa RAF Sabre boxing I can confirm that all the sprues bar the wings are the same as that boxing. The Revell boxing has the longer span 6-3 slatted wings which is no good for our chosen airframe, or any other RAF scheme as far as I know. The Hasegawa boxing had the unslatted 6-3 wing suited to the modified RAF machines. Onto the build. Well since opening the box I have had the Rocky Horror's "Let's do the Time Warp" ear-worming its merry way across my consciousness, as the metallic silver styrene is like a step back in time to the 70's as it looks just like the Airfix plastic of that era that I cut my modelling teeth on. Luckilly under a coat of Halford's primer it looks OK, I've checked that as a matter of utmost importance! First step was to glue the airbrakes in the closed position. One side fitted perfectly and the other, shall we just say, didn't. As I'm doing a camouflaged rather than natural metal finish I think we'll get away with only a bit of remedial action and still look OK. Found a couple of small sub assemblies to be going on with, i.e. the fuel tanks and main wheels, and although unphotographed I gave all the cockpit and engine parts a coat of Halford's finest. I mentioned the earlier Hasegawa RAF build. That has been sitting on my Shelf of Doom for quite a few years now as the "Muck Up Fairies" managed to pull off sizeable chunks of the decals when removing some Tamiya Masking Tape whilst doing some touch ups, so if anyone has a spare set of decals from this kit (even just the 112 Sqn sharkmouth scheme decals) I would happilly relieve your spares box of their burden in return for the odd beer token or two. I will put a proper request for this in the Wanted section at some point in the build now that my memory has been jogged. OK so until the next one.... Chris Edited February 24, 2019 by Fatcawthorne Layout 12
Biggles87 Posted February 25, 2019 Posted February 25, 2019 Another slatted winged F-86! Deep joy. John 2
Fatcawthorne Posted February 25, 2019 Author Posted February 25, 2019 7 hours ago, Biggles87 said: Another slatted winged F-86! Deep joy. John I'm quite looking forward to it too John, and want to be on the up after my Blenheim build's disappointing finale. What can go wrong here? It's not like it's the first time I've attached a whole resin wing to a styrene fuselage now!!! Doh! Well as I was concentrating on getting the Blenheim into RFI not a lot got done tonight. This morning I re-fettled the errant speed-brake before I went off to work and got most of it level with the surrounding fuselage level and only needing a shim of plastic card to fill the hole at its bottom join (now those are not words I'd have ever considered committing to print in the same sentence before!). Then the Vallejo metallics and their flow enhancer got an outing to paint the landing gear legs, hubs and inner doors (you'll have to trust me on this!) plus the intake trunking white aluminium and the jet exhaust bits got a covering of Jet Exhaust (what else eh?). The fuel tanks got a good sanding and polishing with a 4-Way nail buffer and the fins were attached with TET. Anyways that's enough for tonight. Not sure I will get anything done tomorrow as I have an evening MRI scan to have a gander at some ruptured discs in my neck and then I'm off to a Ladies Darts Night to show them some sample trophies for their presentation night in a couple of months. "Doris, you require double one" (for the 19th time) will be ringing in my ears by the end of the night - I know how to live eh?! 5 3
Fatcawthorne Posted February 28, 2019 Author Posted February 28, 2019 Still not got loads done yet this week, what with the social whirl swinging from the sublime to the rediculous as it was the ladies darts on Tuesday and then being a guest of 3 PARA yesterday to watch them trounce 4 SCOTS 8-1 in the Army Major Units Boxing Quarter-Finals. Anyways got a touch done. A few thin coats of Rubber Black, followed by German Grey and then NATO Black to try and get a bit of variation (The flash washes it all out in the photo) and then I can pick out the panels for the tub in Semi-gloss Black and the IP bezels in German Grey. This info has been interpreted from some great photos on the RAF Jever webpage which has some great Sabre info. I had a go at filling in the accessible ejector pin marks in the intake and jet exhaust trunking and filling their internal seams and then applied more Vallejo White Alu and Exhaust Manifold as appropriate. Next step is to be painting the front wheel well. Is the consensus that US interior green is the right shade for Canadair Sabre wheel wells? I also used a Future Wash to bring out the details on the turbines for the jet intake and exhausts. I also made sure the visible parts of the fuselage internals had a good coat of the appropriate colours. Again the subtle colour variations are almost impossible to pick out due to the flash. Oh, and these arrived!! I'm a bit cream-crackered after last night's shenanigans in the Mess so don't expect too much of an update 'til the weekend fellas. Keep smiling, Chris 7
Biggles87 Posted March 1, 2019 Posted March 1, 2019 I think I might invest in a Red Roo slatted wing myself. I was looking through my F-86 box yesterday and I have an Academy kit minus wings ( don't ask ) and lots of other bits and pieces. I think I feel a Korean F-86E coming on. When I was really into Sabres about 25-30 years ago I seem to remember reading that the RAF had the slats wired closed on their aircraft so I'm glad to see that you have photographic evidence to prove otherwise. That looks like a reasonable amount of work to me, In my case it would be about 2 weeks worth. John 1
Col. Posted March 2, 2019 Posted March 2, 2019 You're certainly investing plenty time and effort into getting this one correct Chris. Nice work so far 1
Wez Posted March 2, 2019 Posted March 2, 2019 93 Sqn retained their slatted wing Sabres until replaced by Hunters, XB812 in the RAF Museum is in its 93 Sqn markings that it wore in service but has the hard wing that was retro fitted once it was withdrawn from service (I think it later went to either Italy or Yugoslavia). You're right the kit wings as they come are incorrect for an RAF jet which had the standard wingspan. The Revell boxing gives you either plastic or resin wingtips to allow you to shorten the kit's span and fit replacement wingtips. The drop tanks would have had triangular finlets without endplates. Normally the airbrake doors would droop open in service but that would mean some cutting of the decals, I think most people would apply the decals over the closed doors and then cut them to have the doors open. Anyway, it's your model. Genuinely surprised to see such poor fit on a Hasegawa mould, they're supposed to be perfect every time aren't they? Great to see another RAF Sabre and in one of my favourite schemes, I shall be watching with interest especially with respect to the slatted wings. Good luck. 1
Fatcawthorne Posted March 2, 2019 Author Posted March 2, 2019 (edited) On 3/1/2019 at 6:49 AM, Biggles87 said: I think I might invest in a Red Roo slatted wing myself. I was looking through my F-86 box yesterday and I have an Academy kit minus wings ( don't ask ) and lots of other bits and pieces. I think I feel a Korean F-86E coming on. When I was really into Sabres about 25-30 years ago I seem to remember reading that the RAF had the slats wired closed on their aircraft so I'm glad to see that you have photographic evidence to prove otherwise. That looks like a reasonable amount of work to me, In my case it would be about 2 weeks worth. John John, what about building this diorama and saving yourself £25 quid plus into the bargain? The aircraft was a write off following the oxygen tanks being filled up from a higher-pressured Hunter source. Ever wondered what it looks like when your oxygen tanks explode; well wonder no more: pictures from http://www.rafjever.org/4sqnpic389.htm 13 hours ago, Wez said: 93 Sqn retained their slatted wing Sabres until replaced by Hunters, XB812 in the RAF Museum is in its 93 Sqn markings that it wore in service but has the hard wing that was retro fitted once it was withdrawn from service (I think it later went to either Italy or Yugoslavia). You're right the kit wings as they come are incorrect for an RAF jet which had the standard wingspan. The Revell boxing gives you either plastic or resin wingtips to allow you to shorten the kit's span and fit replacement wingtips. The drop tanks would have had triangular finlets without endplates. Normally the airbrake doors would droop open in service but that would mean some cutting of the decals, I think most people would apply the decals over the closed doors and then cut them to have the doors open. Anyway, it's your model. Genuinely surprised to see such poor fit on a Hasegawa mould, they're supposed to be perfect every time aren't they? Great to see another RAF Sabre and in one of my favourite schemes, I shall be watching with interest especially with respect to the slatted wings. Good luck. Thanks Wez, It's always good to have someone around who knows their onions. I have purchased this but it's still on its way from the States. Oh and I paid a fraction of that price for a battered ex-library version with annotations, but I'm not fussy! It's too late for this build but as I have two Italeri, one each of Hasegawa, Academy and Revell kits left in the stash then there's a good chance I'll get one of them right! I did do a stalled 112 Sqn version using the Hasegawa kit decals and cut the roundels to fit that one's open airbrakes so that shouldn't phase me when it comes to the Squadron Bars on the next cab off the rank. Again if anyone has these Hasegawa 112 Sqn decals spare and hanging around and is willing to part with them please let me know as I'd love to get this build off the shelf of doom. Saying that the first two pictures on the Wikipedia Canadair Sabre page show two shut down Sabres with the airbrake doors shut and there is this site with a 50-50ish split of Canadian Sabres open and closed. Was it an RAF thing to leave them open or an SOP for all Sabre operators? https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canadair_Sabre_2_19104_Greek_AF_Ringway_30.03.55_edited-1.jpg#/media/File:Canadair_Sabre_2_19104_Greek_AF_Ringway_30.03.55_edited-1.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canadair_Sabre_4_19460_414_Sqn_SPK_27.03.54_edited-2.jpg#/media/File:Canadair_Sabre_4_19460_414_Sqn_SPK_27.03.54_edited-2.jpg I have to say I was disappointed with the fit. Perhaps it was Karma's way of telling me that I'd stuffed it up! Anyways Chez FC saw the arrival of a new baby this weekend so progress has been limited again. No not one of those noisy, smelly, wrinkly sleep-depriving type babies, but the glossy (but still very noisy BTW with a 100 Watt Amp) new addition to the family below (excuse the poor photo, Mrs FC is watching a Swedish Drama on BBC4 with subtitles and I didn't want to light up the front room like Blackpool Prom). I'm no good at all (son #1 picks it up so quickly it's hateful!), but I can make a better fist of it than I can with it's six-stringed cousins that I've been murdering for a tune for the best part of 40 years. The wheel wells got prepped for some interior green. Well we have now got most of the cockpit sorted too. Our start point: ...... splash on a bit of paint... A Future Wash before it got CA'd into the tub. whilst the Future Wash was open I put some on the wheels too. Used the kit decals for the IP, and it all just needs a flat coat and I can lick it and stick it to the fuselage and close it all up. I didn't go to town detailing the wheel wells as I really want to finish a GB in the time-frame for the first time so we got to this.... Once dry this got the Future Wash treatment too... This is hot of the press so as it dries the wash will hopefully calm down no end but we will have to find out what happened in the next update. Now if you can't leave them on a cliff-hanger then it's not going to be much of a drama then is it, eh? Right, I'm off to twang my G-Strings!! Chris Edited March 2, 2019 by Fatcawthorne trouble with my but 6 2
Fatcawthorne Posted March 2, 2019 Author Posted March 2, 2019 14 hours ago, Col. said: You're certainly investing plenty time and effort into getting this one correct Chris. Nice work so far Not sure correct is quite the word, going with a best attempt/good enough so as I get this one finished. Thanks Col. 1
Biggles87 Posted March 3, 2019 Posted March 3, 2019 Yes, it's a good idea for a diorama but would cost me more to build a hangar, crane etc., than the wings. 😁 I actually missed out on some Red Roo wings on eBay, I misread the finishing time and left it too late. I have since found another box of F -86 bits including some Mnogram wings which I had started to adapt to the slatted variety so that was probably the plan for the wingless Academy kit. Coming along nicely. John. 2
Peter Lloyd Posted March 3, 2019 Posted March 3, 2019 Those wheels are what I always aspire to an never achieve! This is an enjoyable build. 1
Wez Posted March 3, 2019 Posted March 3, 2019 (edited) On 01/03/2019 at 06:49, Biggles87 said: When I was really into Sabres about 25-30 years ago I seem to remember reading that the RAF had the slats wired closed on their aircraft so I'm glad to see that you have photographic evidence to prove otherwise. Never heard that before, I've seen plenty of photo's of slatted aircraft with the slats in the open position. Whilst I can see the benefit of having them wired shut in certain scenarios, the hard wing extended the chord and introduced a fence which would have been done to improve handling an provide some compensation for the loss of the slats, wiring them shut would be both something and nothing, it would have been of benefit in a combat scenario but at the expense of low speed handling. 8 hours ago, Fatcawthorne said: It's always good to have someone around who knows their onions. I know a bit having been fascinated by Sabres and in particular, the RAF's use of them but the real expert is Duncan Curtis ( @Sabrejet ). 8 hours ago, Fatcawthorne said: Saying that the first two pictures on the Wikipedia Canadair Sabre page show two shut down Sabres with the airbrake doors shut and there is this site with a 50-50ish split of Canadian Sabres open and closed. Was it an RAF thing to leave them open or an SOP for all Sabre operators? Duncan Curtis' book Sabre - the Canadair Sabre in RAF Service and Roger Lindsay's Cold War Shield 2 have lots of photos of RAF Sabre's pretty much 95% of them have the airbrakes open, I thought it was because of the bleed off of hydraulic pressure but it may simply have been they were opened up on a flight servicing to look for leaks etc and just left that way, the majority of photos of aircraft with them closed appear to be in storage or awaiting disposal (e.g. not in squadron use), so they could obviously remain closed, perhaps somebody else will know way they're usually seen open. You could always say your jet has just shut down and the Lineys haven't got to it yet. Those intakes on the fuselage just aft of the wing trailing edge are a Sabre 6 thing, they weren't present on Sabre 4's, there's some other intakes present on the kit that wouldn't be present on a Sabre 4 but it depends upon how picky you want to be. Nice work so far though, those wheels are very well done. I'm impressed with the resin ejection seat, I'll have to get some of those. IIRC, the headrest and armrest pads would be a dark grey. Keep up the good work, I'm enjoying this build Nice bass btw. Edited March 3, 2019 by Wez spelling, grammar and frankly, because the English language deserves better! 1
Sabrejet Posted March 3, 2019 Posted March 3, 2019 On 24/02/2019 at 23:48, Fatcawthorne said: Just catching up on this: looks good. Before you go too far, the intake forward of the speed brake on the right-hand side of the fuselage needs to be filled: it's only there on Sabres with TACAN fitted (generally late '50s onwards and never on RAF Sabres). My standard config for 'gear down, on the ground' Sabres is slats extended (if fitted); all doors down; flaps extended & dive brakes extended. There is a reason and exceptions for all though. In the case of the main nose gear door and the two main, main gear doors, they bleed down after engine shut-down as hydraulic pressure dissipates and unless the aircraft is left standing for just a short space of time they will always do that. Flap position is my choice: often they are up and unlike some aircraft where flaps are deliberately selected down prior to engine shut-down, I can't find any evidence that this was the case with Sabres. Slats would usually be extended on the ground but some early F-86As had a slat lock which proves an exception to that rule. And generally on Sabres with the powered tail, the speed brakes should be open because there is a hyd accumulator pressure gauge inside the RH brake well which needs to be checked on the pilot's pre-flight walk-round. Again there are exceptions and generally if the aircraft is expected to be parked for a long time they can be closed to prevent FOD, birds nests etc. 93 is a good scheme too: their old Sabre CO used to live in Australia but I haven't been in touch for a long time. I can however post some photos if that would help. 3 1
Wez Posted March 3, 2019 Posted March 3, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, Sabrejet said: 93 is a good scheme too: their old Sabre CO used to live in Australia but I haven't been in touch for a long time. I can however post some photos if that would help. Yes please! Apologies to Chris for hijacking his thread. Edited March 3, 2019 by Wez 1
Sabrejet Posted March 3, 2019 Posted March 3, 2019 OK here goes: 93 Sqn Sabres wore three main versions of colour scheme: 'early' - escutcheon badge on tail and two-letter squadron codes either side of the fuselage roundel; 'mid' - escutcheon badge on tail, squadron 'arrow' bars either side of the fuselage roundel, and yellow single-letter squadron code on mid-fuselage; and 'late' where the badge was removed from the tail. All of 93's Sabres were slatted and no 6-3 retrofit was done on any. So to the 'early' scheme: XB913 with the escutcheon badge on the tail (yellow/blue): XB874 but without escutcheon badge: not that the squadron code would be 'T-I' on the RH fuselage and 'I-T' on the left (photo R Bridgman): XB746/T-C/C-T. Note gear doors open and speed brake slightly cracked open. (photo Eric Pigdon): XB812/T-U/U-T (the RAF Museum aircraft); this is when Sqn Ldr Allen was CO (photo Desmond Browne): Then the 'mid' scheme - both tail badge and fuselage flashes. In many photos the yellow fuselage code letter does not show up, but in the original it can usually be seen. This is XB829/D; I've left dates on photos where they were appended in period, to demonstrate the evolution and timeline. By the date of this one, Desmond Browne had taken over as CO (photo DFM Browne): And XB812/U again (photo DFM Browne): XB768/T: Sqn Ldr Browne second from left. This is the squadron's 'Fleche d'Or' aerobatic team, so no drop tanks. However 93 did often operate its Sabres without drop tanks in true Cold War interceptor style. (photo DFM Browne): And finally the late version but again we have a slight variation - XB712/S but before it received its fuselage code letter: XB701/V: note how the fin badge has been crudely painted-over and the witness paint marks can be seen (photo: DFM Browne): XB768/T at Ringway just after being retired: the 'T' is actually larger that it appears: compare with the photo above. Also note the paint peeling from the painted-over fin badge (photo: Phil Butler): And XB812/U also after retirement, this time at Stansted (photo: Roger Lindsay): Finally, if I were to model a 93 Sqn Sabre, I'd do this one: the CO's bird XB893/A. Des Browne hand-coloured the first photo to show the basics, including CO's flash on the forward fuselage (port side only), 'A' code letter on mid fuselage and the 'mid' colour scheme. Just visible too on the canopy rail is the lettering, "Sqn Ldr Browne" - not many RAF Sabres carried a pilot's name. Note also the code letter is repeated on the forward nose gear door - another feature not often visible in photos. 4 3
Wez Posted March 3, 2019 Posted March 3, 2019 (edited) 16 minutes ago, Sabrejet said: XB701/V: note how the fin badge has been crudely painted-over and the witness paint marks can be seen (photo: DFM Browne): This is a good one for Chris as it shows the aircraft in the configuration e wants to model, slats out, airbrakes closed. Thanks Duncan for posting these pictures. Edited March 3, 2019 by Wez 1
Sabrejet Posted March 3, 2019 Posted March 3, 2019 1 hour ago, Wez said: This is a good one for Chris as it shows the aircraft in the configuration e wants to model, slats out, airbrakes closed. Thanks Duncan for posting these pictures. Air brakes closed and everything buttoned-up: a plugged-in ground power unit would really add context to a model. 1
Fatcawthorne Posted March 3, 2019 Author Posted March 3, 2019 7 hours ago, Peter Lloyd said: Those wheels are what I always aspire to an never achieve! This is an enjoyable build. Peter, like most tricks of our trade it's quite simple (else I'd really be struggling). Sometimes I paint the hubs first and then use a very very thin mix of Rubber Black paint and dot it using a very small 000 (or smaller for fiddly ones) paintbrush near to the rim and then let capillary action take the very thin mix into the edge between tyre and hub. Sometimes this needs to be done 2 or 3 times if the paint mix is extremely thin. Then I'd paint the rest of the tyre as normal with normally thinned Rubber Black, thus never needing to get too near the demarcation line. For this one I painted the hubs, and then masked using circles punched from Tamiya Tape, and sprayed the Rubber Black which got me 90% there. The added touch was the Future Wash; I cleaned out an old Tamiya Paint Pot and filled it with Future, or your bestest substitute in my case Pledge Floor Care, to which a few drops of flat black have added and mixed well. The Future has very little surface tension so the paint held in suspension within it flows into all the little crevices which in this case gives a remarkably clean demarcation between hub and tyre. Either technique gives a far superior finish to trying to follow the hard edge of the hub with a paintbrush. 5 hours ago, Sabrejet said: Just catching up on this: looks good. Before you go too far, the intake forward of the speed brake on the right-hand side of the fuselage needs to be filled: it's only there on Sabres with TACAN fitted (generally late '50s onwards and never on RAF Sabres). My standard config for 'gear down, on the ground' Sabres is slats extended (if fitted); all doors down; flaps extended & dive brakes extended. There is a reason and exceptions for all though. In the case of the main nose gear door and the two main, main gear doors, they bleed down after engine shut-down as hydraulic pressure dissipates and unless the aircraft is left standing for just a short space of time they will always do that. Flap position is my choice: often they are up and unlike some aircraft where flaps are deliberately selected down prior to engine shut-down, I can't find any evidence that this was the case with Sabres. Slats would usually be extended on the ground Wasn't aware of this TACAN intake thing so am going to chop it off chop chop. Too late for the Speedbrakes but otherwise am going for slats extended and gear doors down. As I'm using the Red Roo wing I'm not brave enought to start chopping that up to portray the flaps down so they will have been selected up for this build without a doubt. Thank you for all the pictures and advice Duncan, I do love this place. I will see if I can track down one of your tomes too. My other passion is football but I'm not very good atthat either, never progressing any further than playing in local Saturday or Sunday League teams. By some fortunate twist of fate a business contact helped me organise a match between my team and the Tottenham Hotspur legends side. You don't realise how much knowledge and skill the big boys have until you see it in the flesh and that is how I feel now. Thank you for sharing your knowledge it truly is appreciated and is not considered a hi-jack in any way shape or form and is something I would positively encourage. 4 hours ago, Wez said: This is a good one for Chris as it shows the aircraft in the configuration e wants to model, slats out, airbrakes closed. Thanks Duncan for posting these pictures. Well that gets me out of jail fellas - phew!!!! Thanks for your comments and input too Wez. 1
Fatcawthorne Posted March 3, 2019 Author Posted March 3, 2019 8 hours ago, Biggles87 said: Yes, it's a good idea for a diorama but would cost me more to build a hangar, crane etc., than the wings. 😁 I actually missed out on some Red Roo wings on eBay, I misread the finishing time and left it too late. I have since found another box of F -86 bits including some Mnogram wings which I had started to adapt to the slatted variety so that was probably the plan for the wingless Academy kit. Coming along nicely. John. It sounds like a modellers' version of Time Team, trying to recreate/decypher what happened years back from the things we dig up from our stash! Thanks John. 1
Sabrejet Posted March 3, 2019 Posted March 3, 2019 2 hours ago, Fatcawthorne said: It sounds like a modellers' version of Time Team, trying to recreate/decypher what happened years back from the things we dig up from our stash! Thanks John. I'm with you there: after my 1/48 F-86A conversion I'm left with a wingless Revell F-86D kit and a set of Eduard 6-3 wings. So I think I will eventually do a 'closed-up' F-86D once I've narrowed-down the wing and scribed the slats. Keeps us off the streets eh?
Fatcawthorne Posted March 4, 2019 Author Posted March 4, 2019 Another couple of hours in the "Fat-Cave" and we've a little progress. Removed the TACAN Intake, backed the hole with plastic card and then filled with sprue gloop. This got sanded down once set. The cockpit/intake/nose well assembly got glued to the port fuselage half and 10g of wheel balancing weight was stuffed into a suitable crevice in the nose. The headrest and seat arms had their padding re-painted German Grey as per @Sabrejet's advices. The Red Roo wings got separated from their casting blocks a a bit of clean up undertaken. The Revell wings have a panel from the rear fuselage attached to them, so I removed this with a few swipes of my razor saw. The fuselage halves then got joined together..... And that's where we sit at the moment. Going to let that lot set up overnight and will then tidy up the fairing between the wing's leading edge and the fuselage as the earlier wing would join the fuselage 6 inches further back on the real thing. Have a good one, and see you all later. Chris 5
Sabrejet Posted March 4, 2019 Posted March 4, 2019 Chris, Good work going on here: your photo reminded me that the complex intake/vent panel at the forward base of the vertical fin needs to be removed (easy enough) - it's the oblong 'lump' just aft of the fuselage-top vent. On the Sabre 4/F-86E you just have the vent and no 'lump'. Mid fuselage differences: 2
Fatcawthorne Posted March 8, 2019 Author Posted March 8, 2019 On 3/4/2019 at 9:55 PM, Sabrejet said: Chris, Good work going on here: your photo reminded me that the complex intake/vent panel at the forward base of the vertical fin needs to be removed (easy enough) - it's the oblong 'lump' just aft of the fuselage-top vent. On the Sabre 4/F-86E you just have the vent and no 'lump'. Mid fuselage differences: Thanks Duncan, I love being in the company of folks that have a true passion for a marque. I will try to replicate these as well as my abilities will allow. Well having already removed the wings from their casting blocks it was time to prepare them for fitting to the fuselage. There are no instructions with the Red Roo set and if there had been then I might have kept the slat rails attached to the main body of the wing. Now I realise that they should be there I think a bit later in the build I will opt to get the razor saw on the openings and then re-build with styrene (or brass if I have the right size) rod. We can save that for Ron though, Later Ron! The Revell lower wing also includes a panel from the lower fuselage which is not on the Red Roo wings so this panel got snipped off with the razor saw to be attached to the fuselage. Before I could attach the wings to the fuselage I had to use squares of styrene sheet to pack out the underside of the fuselage and to add a tab to the rear wing/fuselage join. When these had gone off and I was satisfied with the fit I then CA'd the wings to the fuselage, clamping them to keep the fuselage at the rear join the same width as the wing part and as you can see it left a bit of a gap at the front join. This got a shim of plastic card, CA'd/TET'd into place and was trimmed and sanded to shape when dry. There were also quite noticable gaps between the tops of the wings/fuselage joins. The first picture doesn't quite show the extent of these but they are there. The gaps got a filling of PPP wiped off with a damp cotton bud. As you can see from this last photo I have attempted the modifications suggested in @Sabrejet's last post. I had filled the circular vent with sprue gloop but even having left it 48 hours it still made a mess of the surrounding plastic when sanded. I therefore added a very thin coat of gloop over that mess at the same time as I tidied up the square vent and filled the surrounding panel with the same. This will get left for 48 hours again as I'm off to London tomorrow after football to go to the Country to Country Festival at the O2 (it's Hunter Hayes and Lady Antebellum tomorrow so should be a cracker) and as the trains have a Rail Replacement Bus service I've booked a hotel room to stay up in town and drive back on Sunday rather than suffer the bus ride on the Vomit Comet (as our last train of the night is affectionately known). Well ye-hah pardners, catch up soon, Chris 5
Biggles87 Posted March 9, 2019 Posted March 9, 2019 Some good progress there, and some useful information stored away for future reference. When I started work in ATC there were quite a few ex-aircrew around and I worked with someone who had flown Sabres then Hunters in the RAF. He was a pretty fierce character and I was somewhat in awe of him, being a callow youth of 19 at the time so didn't ask questions, just listened. Definitely got the itch for a Sabre ( or three ) now. John 1
Col. Posted March 9, 2019 Posted March 9, 2019 Your Sabre is certainly rattling along at a good pace Chris Great work dealing with all the modifications and fitting issues. This is looking better with every update you show. 1
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