I’ll make F-86 Saber after a long absence. Mr. Shigeo Koike (a famous aviation artist) drew this package illustration, and Cartograf’s decal is attached. Moreover, it is fantastic to choose from 10 different markings. Many Sabers are released from Hasegawa.
I was making a cockpit and pasted the decal of the panel. There are no side panel decals. I paint them separately by myself. The fishing weight is attached to the Air-Intake with super glue.
I used the seatbelt for other models of the US Air Force. Initially, the F-86F seatbelt might be a little longer. The emergency ejection lever on the seat was molded together with a seat, and I painted the lever part.
There was a step in the parts of the nose. I think it can be corrected if cut and smoothed; I don’t remember I made such modifications when I made Canadair Sabre. I wonder if I put too much force on the joint of the left and right fuselage.
(09-August-2018)
The large step in the nose was scraped with coarse sandpaper around #200 and adjusted with fine sandpaper. The work was completed in a short time.
I pasted the fuselage and built it in the cockpit. The number of parts is not so many. The assembly will be finished soon.
I turned to a policy to attach all the parts during my process; the work that brush-painted the landing gear was useless.
(11-August-2018)
The canopy is masked and fixed to the aircraft first. I think that there are gaps and steps…
There was no particular idea, but I coated it under black.
The surface treatment was not good; there were parts where the joints were outstanding during silver paint. I corrected it with putty, only the most visible. Even with a slight scratch, it will be troublesome to emerge after silver paint.
(13-August-2018)
F-86 has been deployed as the primary fighter aircraft in Japan for many years. F-86F was deployed 485, and F-86D was deployed 122. Type D and type F are distinguishable soon because the nose is entirely different. Type D was equipped with radar for all weather conditions, and the armament of the rocket attack was the main fighter.
F-86F also has various types, such as 25, 35, and 40, but the length and shape of the main wing are slightly different. Due to this difference, fighter performance, such as in dogfights, is quite different. This time it is the final type called F-86F-40.
The nickname of the F-86F in the JASDF is Kyokko (light of the morning sun). It was active from 1955 to 1982. The Japan Air Self-Defense Force was established in 1954 and was the main fighter aircraft of the foundation.
Because it is the succeeding plane, the famed P-51D Mustang reciprocating fighter, this was a border of a propeller and jet fighter. About F-86F, the fierce battle with the MiG-15 is famous.
The maximum speed is 1,105 km/h. Sonic speed Mach 1 is 340m per second, 1,225km/h, so it is not yet a supersonic fighter. It is not an absolute figure because the sound speed changes with the air temperature and atmospheric pressure in the sky.
The Saber canopy is large enough to see the inside of the cockpit well.
I attached the red cover of the air intake and the jet engine nozzle. It is temporarily fastened with Pit-Multi; it will come off if you want to remove it. After decorating it on the shelf, I don’t move it too much.
As it is silver paint, I treated the surface as cleanly as possible. However, some parts, such as the lower of the aircraft, were not finished cleanly.
The marking is the 8th squadron of the 3rd Air Wing. It is based on the Misawa base in Aomori Prefecture, one of the Northern Air Force Air Wings.
Considering strength, I made the Pitot tube with a brass pipe combined. The wing-end navigation lights also look like good accents.
The armaments are installed with two sidewinder missiles and fuel tanks.
I thought that the tip of the sidewinder was painted with smoke, and a transparent feeling was given. It is almost the same as black. Reproducing the seeker with clear parts and a smoke coat seems better.
The decal of this kit is pretty easy to attach, and the color is vivid and perfect. I overlooked the stage of sticking decals; one of the selling points of this kit is this unique decal. I thought it was like Cartograf’s decal in an Academy kit. This was also a special edition made by Cartograf.
I did not think so deeply since I painted the base color black. A slight gradation has been given to some silver areas, and I think there is fun in the modeling. Inking is also effective. I made silver aircraft many times. The surface finish was rough; it was difficult.
(16-August-2018)
