You never
know where the inspiration for your next model will come from…..
Until last
November I didn’t consider the F-86 to be a “top priority” project on my
to do list. There were lots of
other planes and spacecraft I was looking forward to doing.
However, that all changed when I headed down to Phoenix to visit my dad
and brothers. One of the places I
got to visit was the Champlin fighter museum.
I had a great time there, but my camera ran out of battery power so I
didn’t get many pictures. Two
months later, my dad and I got to go to Champlin again, and this time I got lots
of pictures from there, and I’ve already sent some to Steve.
One bird in
particular caught my eye. It was a
very nice, very silver, very polished F-86 Sabre that had the markings of an
aircraft – FU-371 from the 4th FIW, 334th FS, flown by
Maj. Frederick “Boots” Blesse, who later became a major general.
Shortly after I got back to Salt Lake I bought the Academy Sabre “E”
kit, almost on a whim. I then got
an email from Larry Shred, and soon after I found Boots Blesse’s autograph in
my mailbox. Thank you Larry!
(the autograph is displayed in a couple of pictures here).
The Sabre, of
course, is very well known for its role in the Korean War.
I remember a 1/48 Monogram Sabre model that my grandpa got for me when I
was a kid….I don’t remember if I built it.
I love the Sabre done up in bare metal with yellow bands (the FEAF
identification bands in Korea), that looks good to my eye.
But the Sabre also has flown in the colors of many other air forces, such
as the RCAF, RAF, SAAF, Saudi AF, ROKAF, and others, and has flown in various
camouflage schemes ranging from gray-green RAF finishes to SEA camouflage (ROKAF
birds), and served as a frontline fighter in some air forces throughout the
60’s and 70’s. So there’s a
lot out there for a modeler to choose from.
As some of you
know, I faced a disastrous situation with my February model of the month…….I
started on the Sabre to try and recover from that.
I worked on the bird from mid-February to mid-March.
THE MODEL
The Academy
Sabre is an excellent kit. For the
most part it went together without many problems.
I needed putty on the wing roots but that was about it.
The engraving is very nice and the detail is good.
Superdetailers and contest modelers might want to add a PE or resin
gunsight and belt buckles, or a resin cockpit if there is one, but the kit
cockpit is a good base to do further work.
I only added Tamiya tape to the seat to simulate seat belts (there were
none, that was the only disappointment). Also
the bird is a DEFINITE tail sitter….I added some lumps of bluetack in the nose
but that wasn’t enough, and I have to prop my bird against my phone.
A white metal nose gear or intake cover might be a very good idea for
this kit.
One nice thing
about the kit is that the slats are separate; according to my references and
pictures the Sabre’s slats were down at rest.
Also the airbrakes are separate, and the aircraft I built had its slats
and airbrakes open when I photographed it.
Be careful when you handle the wing, the slat guides are flimsy and I
broke off quite a few.
The kit’s
decals include Maj. Chuck Owens’ “El Diablo/Liza Gal” and Maj. Cliff
Jolley’s “Jolley Roger” – I used the kit stencils and yellow marking as
well as national insignia. I found
the “Pissed Pigeon” insignia from Blesse’s unit (a bird flown by M.J.
Fernandez) on a Superscale decal sheet I bought and used a couple of Sabre
sheets to make up the “FU-371” markings and the tail serial number.
I also used some yellow and red decal swaths from my Leading Edge Hornet
sheet to make up the rectangle with Maj. Blesse’s name under the canopy and a
rectangle with other names down the fuselage.
The Sabre with
Ambroid liquid mask and tape on the canopy.
I’m getting ready to spray it with primer.
I’ve set up a little workbench by my computer so I can surf ARC
and build at the same time! J |
|
THE PAINT
JOB
This was not my
first use of Alclad (the “SU-19” was, but that was a practice run more than
anything else) but the Sabre was the first kit I tried to use Alclad on to make
an accurate bare metal finish. After
I assembled the basic aircraft, I used Ambroid liquid mask on the canopy and
placed the canopy over the cockpit with tape…then I sprayed a coat of Tamiya
gray primer and that worked great. After
some sanding, I sprayed a coat of Tamiya gloss black (from the can, not
airbrushed) onto the bird. Before I
sprayed the gloss black, I masked off the middle panels of the wings to get a
different sheen for those parts, as per references.
Then came time for the Alclad polished aluminum….and a major problem.
I hadn’t shaken the bottle so I started to get runny coats…OUCH.
I shook the bottle and sprayed some parts of the a/c just fine, but other
parts were problematic.
I had to do
more sanding, and I masked off the parts already done, then sprayed primer, then
gloss black, then Alclad after proper shaking of the bottle.
This solved most of the problem and I got a better finish.
Not perfect but it would do. I
used SNJ powder to touch up some parts, and when I found scratches in a couple
of places, I brushed Future on them then sprayed Alclad, that made the area look
better. Future also became a
lifesaver when I put the decals on the bird.
I didn’t apply a gloss coat (I didn’t think I had to) and ended up
getting some “silvering”….brushing Future over the area helped.
Before I put the decals on, I masked off the gun panels and sprayed
Alclad dark aluminum over them, and also used dark aluminum and Alclad steel on
the jet pipe.
Overall, after
the initial problems, caused by my own clumsiness and inexperience, my
experience with Alclad has been very good.
I have since used Alclad on the Hornet afterburners, and would like to do
another BMF aircraft sometime not too far down the road.
CONCLUSIONS
I greatly
enjoyed this build. For one thing,
I now will use liquid mask a lot more. Also,
I’m now much more knowledgeable about the F-86, the air war in Korea, and bare
metal finishes. One of these days
I’d like to display this bird next to a North Korean Mig-15.
For now I enjoyed experimenting with model photography.
One prop I’ve acquired recently (from 2 diecast aircraft) is a foam
“runway” that came with the planes I bought.
Since the F-86 is such a tail sitter, I couldn’t use my customary
method of putting the bird on the top of my pickup and photographing it against
the mountains, so I propped it up against a wall when I photographed it outside.
I also have it on display on a flightline next to my two Corsairs, a
Spit, a Phantom, and two Hornets, and I’ve put the JSF and the Rafale in their
own “futuristic” display next to the foam runway.
I also now know
the differences between the “E” and “F” models – as I was finishing
the bird, assuming that FU-371 was an E, I took a closer look at the pictures I
took from Champlin….I wonder whether that was an F – the windshield looks
kinda long for an E. But that might
just be my inexperience talking, too. The
E and F looked so similar at first and second glance to me, but I do know my
Sabres better now. Many thanks go
to all those who responded to my queries on ARC for details on the Sabre and
decal availability/information on Boots Blesse, as well as those who commented
on the Sabre when I posted a pic of it when I first finished it.
Anyway, I hope
you all enjoy this model.
Happy modeling!
Justin
REFERENCES:
Click on
images below to see larger images
|
|
|
|
|