1/48 - North American/Canadair F-86F-40 Sabre F.4 - released - new CMK sets

[Truro Model Builder]

Never mind the Sabre. Going off topic, that Zero build is magnificent.

[Truro Model Builder]

17 hours ago, Tony Edmundson said:

Call me underwhelmed, even disappointed;  from what I can see from the build photos, this is NOT better than the HasAcademy Sabres.   Yes, the nose landing gear has a proper curved shape instead of the angled mess of the Hasegawa or Academy versions, but, there are several disappointing features glaringly obvious.   The wing pylons are too far outboard for this version of Sabre, the speedbrake arms looking thin just as the 1/72 versions are, the wing fences appear to be massive 2x12 pieces of lumber, the visible seat/cockpit/under canopy  details seem chunky and Lego-like with the seat headrest being pure fiction;  and to top it off, Airfix has added the raised vent panel on the fuselage top that only was present on the F-86F.    That panel was absent from the earlier 3D renderings, I wonder why it was added when not needed.  I figure that it is another indication that a Norwegian F-86F is the next issue.   I may re-consider and cancel my pre-order, as  can find HaseAcademy Sabres on the market for cheaper than this release.

 

Cheers, Tony

 

PS; Duncan, it looks like your advice/guidance was ignored

 

Fair enough, but none of those are insurmountable issues. The pylons can be resited, the vent panel can be modified, the wing fences can be thinned, and so on. I do think the cockpit cannot be seen clearly enough to really pass judgement on. And no, while we should not HAVE to do these alterations, it does not make it 'fatally flawed' etc and neither should it herald the usual anti-Airfix rants from other contributors with an axe to grind. NOT YOU, TONY.

 

In any case, true judgement can only be passed when you have the plastic in your own hands, and it will be different for all of us. Many will happily build it out of the box, others will modify what they perceive to be wrong -as happens with every plastic kit, whether it carries the name Starfix or Wingnut Wings. For myself, I will be buying one and will doubtless alter it as I see fit.

[chrisov]

In stock at Airfix now.😀

https://uk.airfix.com/products/canadair-sabre-f4-a08109

[franky boy]

Excellent. I’ve been waiting for this one for a while.

[Max Headroom]

Who’ll be the first with a WiP?!

 

Trevor

[224 Peter]

Mine arrived today. 

First impressions: nicely tooled, very fine and actually moulded in the UK, not India! 

Both 100 and 160 gallon drop tanks are included, but there is a note that Airfix cannot find any evidence that they were used by the RAF. 

 

I'm no Saber expert, but it "looks" right and so I'll wait for an expert WIP thread.  

 

 

 

[petetasker]

They've arrived in north Cumbria - just picked these two up from Jacksons in Wigton.

 

 

[treker_ed]

Placed my order with Airfix on Saturday Afternoon! Was perusing their website for something else and noticed that it was in stock, order was placed rather sharpish. Now waiting for Airfix to process and despatch said order 😀

 

(Email received @ 16:59 due to arrive sometime tomorrow. 😁 )

Edited April 20, 2021 by treker_ed

[Harold55]

This is great to see out and if I can find a deal on it I will pick one up!  I have had an excellent experience with Airfix products so I expect this to be very good also.  There are a huge number of users so lots of choices as far as schemes.  I would expect a plethora of decals coming from aftermarket producers.  

[224 Peter]

Update: Made in India.... 

 

Transfers are Cartograf, very delicate, lots of stencil detail. 

Wing fences need thinning, they are not bad,  probably 2X scale thickness. 

The pannel lines are not as obvious as in the render illustrations. 

Markings aew 3 and 4 Squadron, both in Green/Grey and PRU Blue. An interesting combination and one reason I wanted the kit. 

10gm weight required to stand on its legs. 

Full gunbay detail and doors can be open or closed. 

There are 2 ejector seats, or rather a chair and what looks like a MB seat: this is not referenced in the instructions. 

There are intake and exhaust blanking covers, as options, but no mention of the fact that they should be red. 

The upper wings, leading edges and tips are one one sprue, the lower wing is on the same spru as the fuselage halves. This suggests other wing options are likely to be possible. . 

 

 

 

Edited April 20, 2021 by 224 Peter
typo...as ever!

[franky boy]

1 hour ago, 224 Peter said:

Update: Made in India.... 

 

Transfers are Cartograf, very delicate, lots of stencil detail. 

Wing fences need thinning, they are not bad,  probably 2X scale thickness. 

The pannel lines are not as obvious as in the render illustrations. 

Markings aew 3 and 4 Squadron, both in Green/Grey and PRU Blue. An interesting combination and one reason I wanted the kit. 

10gm weight required to stand on its legs. 

Full gunbay detail and doors can be open or closed. 

There are 2 ejector seats, or rather a chair and what looks like a MB seat: this is not referenced in the instructions. 

There are intake and exhaust blanking covers, as options, but no mention of the fact that they should be red. 

The upper wings, leading edges and tips are one one sprue, the lower wing is on the same spru as the fuselage halves. This suggests other wing options are likely to be possible. . 

 

 

 

Any chance of some sprue shots Peter😀

 

Mines somewhere between here and Hornby at Margate!

Cheers 

 

James

[Dave Swindell]

5 hours ago, 224 Peter said:

Both 100 and 160 gallon drop tanks are included, but there is a note that Airfix cannot find any evidence that they were used by the RAF. 

The RAF Sabres used 120 gallon drop tanks - 120 US gallons = 100 Imperial gallons {99.9209 to be precise)

A lot of the early RAF Sabre pilots were US trained, some had flown with the US in Korea, and the US terminology apparently prevailed throughout the Sabre's brief RAF career where they were always referred to as 120's

I presume the other tanks are therefore 200 US gallons?

[Sabrejet]

This version of the kit comes with 120-gal and early 200-gal tanks. The M-B seat is for a later issue.

[SAT69]

I wonder if the M-B seat points to a future Sabre 6 in Luftwaffe colors.

[Sabrejet]

8 hours ago, SAT69 said:

I wonder if the M-B seat points to a future Sabre 6 in Luftwaffe colors.

 

Not quite, but it wouldn't be difficult to do.

[224 Peter]

These are the main sprus, I didn't bother with the transparencies. 

 

The upper one in the photos has wing uppers, underside LE and tips/ailerons, plus vents on the fuselage sids and control column and instrument panel. 

 

 

Now all the small parts:

 

Bottom left is the pilot, plus two seats, one not mentioned at all in the instructions. 

 

Now the experts can weigh in with comments! 

 

 

[224 Peter]

On 08/01/2020 at 07:15, Rabbit Leader said:

True @Wez, I’ll save further commentary until the sprue images are published, however I would have thought commenting on the company’s own CAD images is not quite the same as speculating. Anyway, like you I’m looking forward to all Airfix’s 2020 aviation releases so there’s plenty to celebrate. 
 

Cheers.. Dave 

Dave, 

 

look no further, they are above! 

[SharkOwl]

36 minutes ago, 224 Peter said:

These are the main sprus, I didn't bother with the transparencies. 

 

The upper one in the photos has wing uppers, underside LE and tips/ailerons, plus vents on the fuselage sids and control column and instrument panel. 

 

 

Now all the small parts:

 

Bottom left is the pilot, plus two seats, one not mentioned at all in the instructions. 

 

Now the experts can weigh in with comments! 

 

 

Cool !

 

Am I right or wrong or the upperwing + wing tip parts separate sprue could suggest a more than probable ''slated wing'' Canadair Sabre Mk.5 and Mk.6

versions from Airfix for the future ?

🙂

SharkOwl

 

 

[224 Peter]

Could be: the ammunition doors are separate all that would be needed is a new sprue including the revised gun/ammunition covers. 

Given the number of air forces that used the Sabre I can see Airfix maximising return on their investment in tooling with further versions. 

They have already included a second seat and both sizes of drop tanks. 

 

[Vingtor]

14 hours ago, SAT69 said:

I wonder if the M-B seat points to a future Sabre 6 in Luftwaffe colors.

 

Possibly for a Norwegian aircraft. Especially since Airfix scanned a Norwegian specimen some time ago,

[SAT69]

1 hour ago, Vingtor said:

 

Possibly for a Norwegian aircraft. Especially since Airfix scanned a Norwegian specimen some time ago,

That makes sense. As I understand it, the Norwegians flew F-86Fs equipped with the Martin-Baker seat. For those countries that didn't use that seat, is the standard seat used in the Sabre Mk.4 the same as the seat used in  most F-86Fs? That opens a lot of possibilities if it is, so far as markings go.

[Sabrejet]

2 hours ago, SAT69 said:

That makes sense. As I understand it, the Norwegians flew F-86Fs equipped with the Martin-Baker seat. For those countries that didn't use that seat, is the standard seat used in the Sabre Mk.4 the same as the seat used in  most F-86Fs? That opens a lot of possibilities if it is, so far as markings go.

 

Norway operated aircraft initially with the NAA seat; later many aircraft were modified with the M-B seat and revised canopy rail. Both seats are included in the kit, as are the canopy rails. The NAA seat will do for all F-86A/E/F and Canadair Sabres, with only minor differences in colour and harness type.

[Max Headroom]

Are the wing fences in the right place? It was suggested earlier in the thread that they are too far outboard (or was it inboard?).

 

Trevor

[Sabrejet]

2 hours ago, Max Headroom said:

Are the wing fences in the right place? It was suggested earlier in the thread that they are too far outboard (or was it inboard?).

 

Trevor

 

Well they did get the right information, so they should be in the right place  From the sprue shots it would appear that they are in the correct location. I should have one in the next couple of days so will do a review at that time.

[VMA131Marine]

On 4/20/2021 at 3:42 PM, Dave Swindell said:

The RAF Sabres used 120 gallon drop tanks - 120 US gallons = 100 Imperial gallons {99.9209 to be precise)

A lot of the early RAF Sabre pilots were US trained, some

I was reading this thinking something is wrong because there are 16 fl oz in a US pint and 20 fl oz in an Imperial pint. Then I found out that the fl oz is based of the respective gallon so that a US fl oz is 4% larger than an Imperial fl oz. I’ve been doing volume conversions wrong for decades!