Golden Hawks Canadair Sabre

[81-er]

Here’s my entry for this GB, an Airfix 1/48 Canadair Sabre F4:

 

 

As the title probably gives away, I’m planning on building this as a Golden Hawks Sabre using these decals from Leading Edge:

 

 

They’re actually for Mk5 or Mk6 Sabres, but I think the Mk4 was near enough identical to the Mk5, other than the engine? Although I’m sure someone far more knowledgeable about Sabre variants could probably tell me if that’s true? Either way, this isn’t intended to be a slavishly accurate build, more a fun one that’ll be a bit different to the norm (which seems to be my thing if my other builds are anything to go by).

 

Sprue shots, to show it’s not started yet:

 

 

Other than the decals, I think this one’s going to be OOB. I need to finish my Do 217 for the Do 17 family GB before I start this (and probably a couple of other builds as well), so expect a start towards the end of July.

 

James

[Paul J]

Nice choice of kit and decals (especially).

[zebra]

Nice choice, and a good colourful one too.

 

The main difference between the Mk.4 and Mk.6 is the different wing - have a look at Enzo’s build thread. But it’s your model and if you’re happy to live with the difference go ahead and do it your way!

[PhantomBigStu]

rcaf Sabre 4 had the narrow chord slatted wing,  6 has the broad chord one and I think that kit has the non slatted one. Watching along as I wish I could do this one myself but not brave enough for various reasons 

Edited June 29, 2022 by PhantomBigStu

[81-er]

Thanks Stu. From what I've gleaned from the comments on Enzo’s thread it would appear I can get away with making the Mk5 aircraft from this kit. I’ve also found some photos of the Mk5 painted in the variation of the scheme that has the wide silver band on the leading edge of the wing/slats, which is the variation I prefer. I can’t guarantee that those aircraft aren’t just re-painted for display in the later scheme, but it’s good enough for me.

 

James

[RaceAddict]

What are you going to use for the gold finish on that bird?

[81-er]

My current thinking is Tamiya X-12, as I've got some. But I'm open to suggestions if you know of a closer match?

 

James

[Paul J]

Will watch this with interest especially what gold paint is used as I fancy doing this in 1/72.

[Tony Edmundson]

On 6/29/2022 at 6:18 AM, PhantomBigStu said:

rcaf Sabre 4 had the narrow chord slatted wing,  6 has the broad chord one and I think that kit has the non slatted one. Watching along as I wish I could do this one myself but not brave enough for various reasons 

The Airfix Mk4 can build into a pretty nice Mk5.  Just take away the port fuselage fuel filler and add one on the starboard side in almost the same position.

 

Tony

[Brian]

Didn’t the Mk V have the wing fences, without the leading edge slats?

[Tony Edmundson]

38 minutes ago, Brian said:

Didn’t the Mk V have the wing fences, without the leading edge slats?

Yes--just like the airfix kit of the Mk4

 

Edited July 3, 2022 by Tony Edmundson

[PhantomBigStu]

I'm a smaller scale builder, good to know the Sabre 5 has the hard wing as I have 2 spare hard winged kits in the stash, but seems there an almost complete lack of 5 decals in that scale, just one on a rather pricy Model Alliance sheet on hannants, got the airfix hawk 100 with RCAF decals also in the stash so maybe Ill enter that instead and save the sabres for RAF/USAF builds.vStill watching along, one day I may use the goldenhawks decals I have up on a Sabre 6 build.

 

 

 

[Paul J]

On 03/07/2022 at 11:05, PhantomBigStu said:

I'm a smaller scale builder, good to know the Sabre 5 has the hard wing as I have 2 spare hard winged kits in the stash, but seems there an almost complete lack of 5 decals in that scale, just one on a rather pricy Model Alliance sheet on hannants, got the airfix hawk 100 with RCAF decals also in the stash so maybe Ill enter that instead and save the sabres for RAF/USAF builds.vStill watching along, one day I may use the goldenhawks decals I have up on a Sabre 6 build.

 

 

 

I can help with Sabre 5 decals to 1/72 scale PM me if interested.

[81-er]

I finally made a start on this last night. I’ve decided to build this with the FOD covers in place, so I could really romp through. The first big chunk put together was the intake/cockpit/nosewheel bay assembly:

 

 

 

 

There’s some odd surface scoring on the back and starboard side of the cockpit tub, but I’ve left it alone as it looks like it’ll be hidden by the seat.

 

The seat cushion got a coat of olive drab, I’ll mask that for the gull grey next time. I also hit the brace that goes under the canopy with some gull grey:

 

 

There’s supposed to be a peg on the brace for (I assume) a navigation light to fix to, but this has broken off in transit. I’ll replace it with a bit of rod later.

 

Sticking with the cockpit, the stick, IP, and headrest have all had their base colours:

 

 

I’ll give the kit IP decal a try next session.

 

The exhaust pipe was assembled along with it’s FOD cover, which was then given a coat of red along with the intake FOD cover:

 

 

Finally, the fuselage sides got some attention. The two covers for the gun bays were installed (taking note of what Enzo had said in his thread and thinning the plastic so the port ones sat flush), and I also installed the airbrakes:

 

 

James

[81-er]

Cracking on last night, I started off with getting the seat cushion masked and the rest of the seat assembled:

 

 

I got the kit decals applied to the IP and the side consoles. They’re not the best, but they’ll do for this build:

 

 

The rear FOD cover was masked, then I got the exhaust glued into the fuselage, along with the fillet that goes over it to close off the tail:

 

 

The drop tank halves were joined, these will need a LOT of filler to make good:

 

 

Lastly, I made a start on assembling the main gear bay to the lower half of the wing. I’ve left the wing on the sprue for the moment, with the hopes it’ll have a bit more support to keep everything square:

 

 

 

I think I’ll have to spray the bay before the top of the wing goes on, otherwise there’ll be some areas that will be very hard to get paint into. Unfortunately there’s some rather nasty joints to fill in first.

 

James

[81-er]

First job last night was spraying the grey on the pilot’s seat. When that was dry I added the headrest and gave it a light dry brush with silver to show some wear:

 

 

I still need to add the seatbelts (in the post), then I’ll give it a wash to add a bit of contrast/grime.

 

The cockpit tub got a little bit of dry brushing and a wash over the wiring at the back to bring out the detail a bit more. I don’t want to go too heavy on the weathering for this one:

 

 

The stick got the same treatment:

 

 

Then I glued the stick in and tried the pilot’s seat to see how things looked, and I’m happy with this:

 

 

The seat won’t be glued in until the belts are fitted.

 

I fitted the two greeblies into the main gear bays, then hit the bays with some interior green (Mr Hobby H58), as some of these areas will be impossible to get paint on once the upper wings are on:

 

 

When that had dried off, I got the rest of the wing assembled, with the exclusion of the ailerons:

 

 

 

There’s a couple of spots where glue wicked under the clamps, but they’ll be easy enough to sort.

 

While the kit is very well engineered on the whole, closing up the fuselage is an absolute pig of a job, particularly trying to get the upper seam to close up either end of the cockpit. The trouble is there’s no support at the bottom, making it very hard to get the upper edges to come together and clamp with any degree of force close to that needed to hold them together. Maybe a bulkhead, or even some struts on the starboard side of the intake would have helped. In the end, I used the assembled wing to brace the underside (which is partly why I completed that before closing the fuselage).

 

Having had my little moan, it is at least together now:

 

 

 

I forgot to take a picture, but I managed to fit two 5g self-adhesive car wheel weights on the top of the intake tunnel. One at the front under the nose, the other just behind the cockpit under the rear panel. Having had a couple come loose and rattle around inside my Ar 555, I wicked some superglue around the edges as well. I’ve also managed to get another 15g on the centre of the wing, just ahead of the landing gear bay (I’ll try to get a photo of that next time).

 

Finally, I couldn’t resist a little dry fit with the wings:

 

 

I think the next jobs will be fitting the wing fillet and sorting the fuselage seams.

 

James

[81-er]

Not much progress last night as I had dinner with some friends, but I did do a little bit when I got in.

 

Not progress as such, but this shot illustrates how little support there is for joining the fuselage without the wings in place:

 

 

If Airfix had just put another post on the opposite side of the end of the intake ducting, or just added a bulkhead somewhere in this area, it wouldn’t have been such a nasty job. Ignore the random bits of plasticard, they’re left over from a failed attempt to make some tabs to support the joint.

 

Here’s a shot of the wing showing where I managed to squeeze the weights in:

 

 

If I was building this kit again with the FOD covers in place, I’d actually glue some weights into the intake ducting before it was closed up. This (and the couple of weights in the nose) does the trick though.

 

Moving on to the actual progress, I got the fin fillet, the panel ahead of that, and the two small side panels added:

 

 

The ailerons were also removed from the sprue and cleaned up, though I didn’t feel brave enough to fit them last night:

 

 

James

[PlaStix]

Hi James. Lovely idea for a project for this GB and it looks like you are off to a good start. Your work in the cockpit looks excellent!

Kind regards,

Stix

[81-er]

Thanks Stix. After how involved some of my other projects have been, having this one built pretty much OOB is quite refreshing.

 

James

[zebra]

Looking very good James. I'll appreciate the tips on where to put weights when I get to mine!

[81-er]

Thank you. I really regret not taking a photo of the weights on the intake before I closed it up, but nevermind. I'm hoping to get the filling and sanding on the fuselage sorted and the wings attached by the end of the weekend, I just need to fit it around 8 viewings of the house, and changing the rear brakes on the car.

 

James

[Viking]

Looking good James, thanks for the tip on the close fitting forward fuselage. I've only tried dry fitting mine so far, and it all seems tight. Forewarned is forearmed now!

 

Cheers

 

John

[81-er]

Having four arms would definitely help, John 🤣

 

James

[81-er]

Some progress over the weekend in between house viewings. The wings are now glued on, though I had to get creative with the clamping arrangement:

 

 

The main wing to fuselage joints only needed a swipe of filler, but the fuselage seams and the rear panel behind the wings needed a fair bit on the underside as well:

 

 

 

I’m hoping to get that sanded back later.

 

James

[zebra]

You're making some excellent progress James. Really looking forward to my F-86F-40 arriving - on its way apparently - and getting stuck into it.