RCAF Sabre Mk 6

[Enzo the Magnificent]

I have wanted to build a 1/48 Sabre for some time, so this seems to be the perfect opportunity.  The Airfix 1/48 kit represents a Canadair Sabre Mk 4 straight out of the box.

 

But, of course, I'm not going to make it that easy for myself.  For a Canadian groupbuild, I just can't bring myself to build something that isn't wearing maple leaves!  The RCAF did use Sabre Mk 4s so the Airfix kit would be suitable but I don't have any Canadian decals for a Mk 4.  Only for a Mk 6.

 

The Canadair Sabre Mks 2 and 4 were very similar to their North American built counterparts.  The Mks 5 and 6 on the other hand used a different engine, the Avro Canada Orenda, and started to cherry pick various engineering features from the later marks of Sabre.  The Sabre Mk 6 is widely considered to be the best of the Sabre line.

 

The Mk 6 had leading edge slats and a 6-4 wing but without the wingtip extensions of the F-86F-40.  The second boxing of the Airfix kit has the slats, so that is what I will use for this model. 

 

 

I will remove the wingtip extensions.  The Orenda engine required vents in the belly for engine bay cooling, so these need to be added as well.   Does anyone know of any other changes required?

 

The model will be built in the colours of 439 Sqn RCAF using the Xtradecal sheet.

[arfa1983]

39 minutes ago, Enzo Matrix said:

Does anyone know of any other changes required?

I just know of the maple leaves. That's all. 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

2 hours ago, Enzo Matrix said:

Does anyone know of any other changes required?

Oh @Sabrejet I think Enzo needs your expertise. 

[Sabrejet]

You'll need to add the mid-fuselage vents (included in the Sabre 4 kit) and also the flush panel forward of the dorsal fin (also included in the Sabre 4 kit). Both mods will be easy enough to do with the parts in the 'F-40' kit.

[Paul J]

I do believe that Leading Edge have a couple good sets of decals to suit the kit. They are much more comprehensive and accurate than  Xtradecals.

[zebra]

Great choice Enzo, I’m hoping to see a few Sabres in the GB. I’m thinking of doing one myself - a Mk.5 that was re-winged with a Mk.6 wing so will be using this kit - just haven’t got round to buying the kit yet!

[81-er]

13 hours ago, Sabrejet said:

You'll need to add the mid-fuselage vents (included in the Sabre 4 kit) and also the flush panel forward of the dorsal fin (also included in the Sabre 4 kit). Both mods will be easy enough to do with the parts in the 'F-40' kit.

 

I'm building the Sabre F.4 kit as a Golden Hawks plane, but they only flew Mk5 and Mk6 planes. From what you're saying there and what I've seen elsewhere, I should be able to build my kit as a Mk5, but it has the wrong wing for a Mk6?

 

James

[Sabrejet]

38 minutes ago, 81-er said:

 

I'm building the Sabre F.4 kit as a Golden Hawks plane, but they only flew Mk5 and Mk6 planes. From what you're saying there and what I've seen elsewhere, I should be able to build my kit as a Mk5, but it has the wrong wing for a Mk6?

 

James

 

Correct. If using the Sabre 4 kit, you'll just need to make the ventral 'sugar scoop' intakes which are seen on most (but not all) Sabre 5s. IIRC GH had them!

[Enzo the Magnificent]

Let's look at the sprues.   Typical modern Airfix fare.

 

 

 

 

The previous sprues are common with the Sabre F4 kit.  This next sprue is specific to the F-86F-40 kit.  It has the wind guppersufaces and leading edges to provide a slatted 6-3 wing.  The wingtip/aileron components also have the wingtip extension.

 

 

 

[Enzo the Magnificent]

I didn't follow the instruction sequence... 

 

The first thing I did was to fit the gun bay covers, airbrake interiors and other panels.

 

 

So here is something very bizarre.  All the panels should fit flush with the fuselage surface.  Those on the starboard side fit very nicely.  Those on the port side are sunken.  Very odd indeed.  It's not a problem though.  Just file down the locating lips until the parts fit flush.

 

 

I then moved on to the wing.  The model can be built with the slats retracted or deployed.  Different components are provided for each option.  I elected to use the deployed option.

 

 

Once the wing is assembled, the wingtips are fitted.  The components are for the extended wing F-40 version.  For the Canadair Sabre Mk 6, the wing extension must be removed.

 

 

 

The leading and trailing edges of the wing have a different sweep angle, which means the wingtip does not have quite enough chord.  I chose to fit them so that the trailing edge matches the trailing edge of the aileron.

 

 

The leading edge was then built up to the correct profile.

 

 

For this, I use a UV glue.  It is a very viscous solution applied from an applicator "pen" and then set with a UV light.  It sets transparent within five seconds and is very robust.  It can then be filed and sanded to shape.  Go on to evilbay and search "5 second UV glue".  You'll see the stuff that I use.

[Enzo the Magnificent]

Back to the fuselage.  Nothing really special here.  I followed the kit instruction sequence and didn't add any extra detail. 

 

 

The instructions recommend 20g of ballast be placed forward of the cockpit.  I mamanged to fit a 5g ballast weight and about the same mass in rolled up lead flashing.  It will be difficult to get 20g in there unless you use something like depleted uranium...     So I fitted ballast weights and lead flashing wherever I could.

 

 

and we're ready for main assembly.

 

 

There is one significant question raised at this point.  Why have I never built a 48th scale Sabre before?   

[Brian]

Check out the IPMS Canada web site.  They used to have material on the Sword and how to alter kits to match the Canadian version.  Good luck

[zebra]

Very quick progress Enzo, and neat work on the wingtips. I'm thinking of doing the same conversion (actually what I have in mind is a Mk.5 that was re-winged with a Mk.6) so going to follow along.

[Viking]

Just caught up with this, great choice! I'm building the same kit and also noticed that the starboard fuselage panels all fit in flush, whilst the port ones fit recessed. Weird isn't it. Still, as you say a bit of scraping sorted that out.

Will be following with interest

 

Cheers

 

John

[81-er]

Rapid progress as ever with one of your builds, Enzo! Thanks for the warning about the port panels, I'll be aware of it when I start on mine.

 

James

[Tony Edmundson]

On 6/27/2022 at 8:55 AM, Enzo Matrix said:

I have wanted to build a 1/48 Sabre for some time, so this seems to be the perfect opportunity.  The Airfix 1/48 kit represents a Canadair Sabre Mk 4 straight out of the box.

 

But, of course, I'm not going to make it that easy for myself.  For a Canadian groupbuild, I just can't bring myself to build something that isn't wearing maple leaves!  The RCAF did use Sabre Mk 4s so the Airfix kit would be suitable but I don't have any Canadian decals for a Mk 4.  Only for a Mk 6.

 

The Canadair Sabre Mks 2 and 4 were very similar to their North American built counterparts.  The Mks 5 and 6 on the other hand used a different engine, the Avro Canada Orenda, and started to cherry pick various engineering features from the later marks of Sabre.  The Sabre Mk 6 is widely considered to be the best of the Sabre line.

 

The Mk 6 had leading edge slats and a 6-4 wing but without the wingtip extensions of the F-86F-40.  The second boxing of the Airfix kit has the slats, so that is what I will use for this model. 

 

 

I will remove the wingtip extensions.  The Orenda engine required vents in the belly for engine bay cooling, so these need to be added as well.   Does anyone know of any other changes required?

 

The model will be built in the colours of 439 Sqn RCAF using the Xtradecal sheet.

The ‘sugar scoops’ were only installed on Orenda powered Sabres until after mid-‘58, so they are not ‘required’ for a Mk6, depending on time frame.

 

Tony

[Enzo the Magnificent]

Oooh!  This thread badly needs updating!!! 

 

 

 

 

I sprayed a couple of thin coats of lacquer to provide a key for the rest of the paintwork.  I followied this with some grey car primer from a rattle can.

 

 

[Enzo the Magnificent]

Not that it shows up well, but the aircraft was the sprayed with Xtracrylix XA1004 Dark Sea Grey.

 

 

The camouflage was then masked using my usual technique of bluetak worms and masking tape squares, sealed with Copydex.

 

 

The disruptive pattern was then sprayed with Xtracrylix XA1001 Dark Green.

 

 

Although not visible in this shot, the undersurfaces were masked and sprayed with Lifecolor UA-623.

 

This scheme is almist identical with the RAF scheme used in Germany, However the demarcation line is somewhat lower on RCAF jets.

 

 

[Enzo the Magnificent]

Some detail painting completed.  The airbrake bays and slat interiors are various shades of AK Xtreme Metal.  The red fin stripe is sprayed using Vauxhall Power Red from a rattle can.

 

The decals were then applies.  The stencils are from the kit, with the main markings from Xtradecal sheet X48216

 

[Tony Edmundson]

if it's not too late;   the speedbrake wells and interiors were dark green and the slat wells were camo coloured

 

Tony

 

ps, just noticed; the wing roundels should be aligned with the wing spare, not fore/aft.

Edited August 23, 2022 by Tony Edmundson

[Enzo the Magnificent]

17 hours ago, Tony Edmundson said:

if it's not too late;   the speedbrake wells and interiors were dark green and the slat wells were camo coloured

 

Thanks Tony.  Very helpful comments.   To be honest I would have noticed them if I had followed my references correctly.  But no...   I did what I expected to be right...  

 

It's not too late.   I've already fixed the airbrake wells and roundels.    To be honest, I'm going to leave the slat wells as they are.  Photos on the web show most of them to be as you stated.  However, a small minority have them in natural metal.  As it's not beyond the realms of possibility (and I like the contrast) I'm going to leave them as they are.

 

https://ingeniumcanada.org/sites/default/files/styles/large_1/public/2019-04/aircraft_sabre6_2.jpg?itok=ZcL_qE0V

[zebra]

Your Sabre looks great Enzo. The camouflage really suits it - I much prefer this to the look of a natural metal Sabre. 

[Enzo the Magnificent]

Slow going on all my builds at the moment.  They are all at the phase where the greeblies need to be built and painted, which is always time consuming.  But the greeblies are ready for the Sabre.

 

[Tony Edmundson]

5 hours ago, Enzo Matrix said:

Slow going on all my builds at the moment.  They are all at the phase where the greeblies need to be built and painted, which is always time consuming.  But the greeblies are ready for the Sabre.

 

 

is it too late to use the other nose wheel from the kit, the Sabre 6 was rarely seen with the 'teardrop spoked' wheel.

 

Cheers, Tony

[zebra]

Looks very nice Enzo. Love the Sabre in that scheme.