mawz

And the 45 F4H-1F/F-4A’s were thin wing

Worth noting the MiG-31 and B-17F are just about identical in length, the wingspan of the B-17 is much greater though.

Eduard has an aftermarket set as well - EDU648577

According to Joe Baugher’s serial list, it certainly was a FIAT assembled machine, 56-4123, went to the Venezuelan AF afterwards

But the Mk2 and Mk4 are not mutually interchangeable. The first 20 Mk2's were F-86A's except for the engine with the remainder of Mk2 production actually a mix of F-86A and F-86E features. to model a Sabre 2 you really need an F-86A windscreen on an F-86E airframe for an airframe from unit 21 onwards, for the first 20 you need an F-86A model with the original stab. While the Mk4 was close to a later production F-86E.

This is not correct, the US acquired Canadair-built Mk4's on RAF retirement and called them F-86E(M)'s, All but 10 Mk4's were delivered to the RAF, 10 went to the RCAF directly (the RCAF also had loaners from the RAF while waiting for Sabre 5 deliveries to make it to Europe). The F-86E(M)'s were all being refurbished and provided as military assistance and not operated by the USAF except for ferry flights to the new owners. The F-86E-CAN's were Sabre Mk2's, of which the USAF received 60 new build units, the only Canadair Sabres the USAF ever officially had on strength.

The Sabre 6 wing is essentially identical to the F-86F-40 wing with the extension section removed (the F-40 wing is an extended span version of the Mk6 slatted 6-3 wing). So it's quite possible to do a Sabre 6 from an F-86F-40 with a tip trim, some small rescribing as described above and a set of sugar scoops. The Hasegawa kit has a plastic F-40 wing that you remove the section outboard of the ailerons and replace with resin tips, resulting in an accurate Sabre 6 wing. The Airfix F-40 IIRC includes the standard tips which can be fitted after the F-40 leading edge/tips are fitted and the

The RCAF also had Mk.4’s for a while, loaned from the RAF. the Airfix kit is fundamentally a Canadair Mk4

That's not a P-51A, but a P-51 or Mustang Mk1A so if you're looking at P-51A sheets you won't find anything. Markings were generally very plan for these aircraft in both RAF/RCAF and USAAF service. Generally all you need is serials and roundels, possibly generic codes.

Those main gear legs look really odd though, they look to have the oleo fully extended, which is wrong for anything sitting on the ground.

Would make more sense that the intake was initially painted as a unit, so whatever the length of the section would be camo. Like Gene, I can't see anything more than the lip itself making sense from a camo perspective, so the only real sense would be what's easiest for the shop.

One note is that the F-4EJ used a different seat from an early F-4B. Is it possible that the no step was for the Mk5 and the later Mk7’s allowed stepping?

And the FAC(A) mission comes down to having a GIB to spot and run the radios.

Getting an S from a J requires a fair bit of work, mostly to the wing. You can definitely get there from a J, since the originals are upgraded J's Steel Beach used to do a conversion set, but it'll probably be easier and cheaper to just buy an S kit than to track down a conversion.

I have a small gap at the front of the spine, which I suspect is at least half due to order of assembly. I think if you put the aft canopy hinge coaming on after the spine, you have minimal issues and if you do the opposite you have real issues. I had no issues with the radome, but the lower wing/nose section to nose section was challenging to get together right and has minor gaps.