1/48 F-86A: Korean War version March 2025

[Sabrejet]

It's the one that many people have waited many years for, but it's finally almost here. The long-awaited F-86A in 1/48 will be officially announced at the Mosonshow on 20/21 April but the manufacturer has given me the OK for a sneak-peek at what's to come.

 

Manufacturer is Clear Prop! and I've been working with the amazing team there for a few years, making sure we capture all the subtleties of this landmark Sabre. So here a couple of images of the plastic: more to follow this weekend. 

 

 

 

And an impression of the CAD work that's gone into this one. Suffice to say, multiple subtypes will be possible via the insertion of interchangeable parts etc.

 

 

 

Good work Clear Prop! - you deserve to sell these in the millions!!!

[Stephen]

I cheered until I saw the open gunbay and airbrakes. Given that it's a natural metal finish I'd prefer as few open parts as possible but that aside it's great to have an F-86A at last.

[Sabrejet]

7 minutes ago, Stephen said:

I cheered until I saw the open gunbay and airbrakes. Given that it's a natural metal finish I'd prefer as few open parts as possible but that aside it's great to have an F-86A at last.

 

No open gun bays: different inserts for blast panel variations.

[VMA131Marine]

OMG! This is incredible news. I’m in for several!

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Woo hoo !!! Take my money please !! Clear prop thinking of downsizing ? Either way I think I will be getting a few of these. 

[72modeler]

YESSSSS! Thank you, Duncan, on behalf of all of us, for your efforts in making this possible! I hope also that Clear Prop will do as they have done before and  release the kit in both scales; regardless, I will certainly get the 1/48 one, as I  have always wanted to do Bruce Hinton's 'Squanee.' As you stated, they are going to sell a TON of these, and hopefully somewhere down the line,  give us an F-86E/F-10 !  Whoo hoo!

Mike

 

@SabrejetTime to begin work on getting us an Avon Sabre, Duncan, and assure your place in the Modelers Hall of Fame!

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

3 minutes ago, 72modeler said:

SabrejetTime to begin work on getting us an Avon Sabre, Duncan, and assure your place in the Modelers Hall of Fame!

And a 1/48 Sabre Hog ! Pretty please with sugar on top !!! I already have decals to do a New York ANG bird. 🙏

Edited April 15, 2024 by Corsairfoxfouruncle

[FlatlandFox]

Great news. I think that the Sabre deserves an update of the kits available in the main scales and the inclusion of some of the more neglected series like the F 86A and the F86H. And the same happens with the MiG 15.

The pics speak volumes about the quality of this kit.

Put me down for two!!!!

[franky boy]

That’s great news, I never thought we’d this one in 1/48. 
 

Thanks for sharing @Sabrejet

Any idea of a release date yet or is it tbc?

 

James

[Julien]

Really good news. I hate to say it but any chance of a 1/72 one, not that it wont stop me buying a few of these!

 

Thx Duncan

 

Julien

[Sabrejet]

23 minutes ago, franky boy said:

Any idea of a release date yet or is it tbc?

 

James

 

Hopefully to be announced this weekend.

[SAT69]

I'm in for an F-86H kit that lets us build both the block 1 (6 machine guns) and blocks 5 and 10 with the 4 cannon.

[gingerbob]

Hmm, I wonder how hard it would be to convert it to a 6-3 wing F-86F?

 

[Stefan Buysse]

Wow! 

Such great news. A really good F-86A is something I wanted but thought I'd never see.

 

Cheers, Stefan.

[Karearea]

I’ve always wanted to build a bright ANG Sabre- Alaska, Montana, not fussed. Great news! And Clear Prop! is a cast-iron guarantee of quality.

[JeffreyK]

13 hours ago, Stephen said:

I cheered until I saw the open gunbay and airbrakes. Given that it's a natural metal finish I'd prefer as few open parts as possible but that aside it's great to have an F-86A at last.

Air brakes are always open on the ground and as Duncan said, at the front those aren't gun bays but the blast panels, there were a few different setups over time.

I was sure we'd see an A kit before long, but I would have thought it would be a high pressure moulded kit by one of the mainstream mfs, .

Looking forward to it.

J

[Mycapt65]

Were 86As used in Korean War? 

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

Nice!

[Sebastien]

1 hour ago, Mycapt65 said:

Were 86As used in Korean War? 

Well, it sure seems they were:

 

 

Cheers,

 

S.

 

[Sabrejet]

4 hours ago, Mycapt65 said:

Were 86As used in Korean War? 

 

Yes: a total of 106 F-86As served in Korea, of which sixty were lost to various causes there. My hope is that the many 'non-Korea' schemes will be covered rather than retread a lot of old ground.

[bentwaters81tfw]

 

116 FIS Bentwaters

[Sabrejet]

I've supplied an 81st FIW scheme to Clear Prop!, but not one of the regular squadron birds. Time will tell. I do recall that there is a (Scalemaster?) F-86A decal sheet with a 116th scheme though.

[tempestfan]

5 hours ago, Sebastien said:

Well, it sure seems they were:

 

 

Cheers,

 

S.

 

...at least one thing MB got right with this kit 🙂

[tempestfan]

On 4/15/2024 at 5:00 PM, Sabrejet said:

 

No open gun bays: different inserts for blast panel variations.

Duncan - were the muzzle doors present on the earliest production machines, or deleted before production started? The A is somewhat underrepresented not only in plastic but also in paper; my WarbirdTech is out of reach ATM.

[TBC]

This will almost certainly turn out to be a big seller for them. Hopefully they will also do Canadair Sabres, but they would be completely different kits.