Sabrejet

One should never say 'never', but it looks a way off...

Not odd: open slats; open speed brakes; separate control surfaces. Where to end? The aftermarket will do something I'm sure. I'm not a fan of open gun bays since they aren't ubiquitous. Open canopy, speed brakes or dropped flaps more so.

I haven't tried assembling the slats, but the wing leading edges (without slats) are separate parts, so adjustment of any gaps shouldn't be difficult. I'd imagine that if you leave out the wing leading edge part and glue the slats directly to the wing, you'd get a pretty decent 'slats closed' config. The kit allows for lots of options without much hassle. The gun blast panels are another example of intelligent design: there is a backing piece (inserted from inside the fuselage) which forms the inner part of the 'open muzzle' version, with the blast panels then attached externally.

They are doing some resin for this kit, but not sure if it's 3D-printed.

I've had a chance to put the seat together today: looks great! Note that this is with minimal clean-up so any rough edges are mine.

There are two blast panel versions in the kit (only two on the actual aircraft): there are in fact five parts per 'open' blast panel: three gun muzzles, the external panel and a backing piece.

Both types of blast panels are in the kit.

4th FIG has been covered reasonably well in kits/aftermarket, but there are entire F-86A squadrons that have never been covered! (15th FIS, 469th FIS etc). There are MANY colour schemes to choose from and I suspect those early-war Korean schemes will be dealt with pretty quickly. My aim will be to try and get the 'meanwhile, back at home' USAF colour schemes done.

It was suggested, believe me! I think that some of these schemes are seen as too 'niche', even for enterprising manufacturers. It's a shame, because I just love a great colour scheme no matter where it's from or who flew it. It'll probably have to wait for the aftermarket to catch it. 🤔

I assume you haven't read the thread, or understand my inputs in various F-86 kits, aftermarket and decal sheets to date...

"The H never flew in combat..." - an observation, along with, "The F-86H is not a transport aircraft". So irrelevant then.

I have to admit I hadn't noticed the fuselage curvature on the Hasegawa kit but can confirm Jeffrey is correct. I'd say it's not noticeable, having compared two completed models (Airfix and Hasegawa) earlier today. But once you see something.... Anyway the Clear Prop! fuselage doesn't feature the bulge/curvature, so all good. And N-15 (15-N) is correct: hosted by Kaena Models.

A quick check of the F-86A parts against the Airfix aft section looks promising. It's not a definitive answer (I'll see if I can check on precise profiles) but the fuselage depth looks similar enough that it shouldn't be too difficult to match up and get a quick and easy (ish) F-86E.

Clear Prop! at Arena trade place 15N.

What's the obsession with 'never been in combat'? Are these types (which folks worked and often died whilst flying) somehow less worthy? It's a strange non-argument.

No surprises here at all. I've dealt with a few manufacturers on Sabre projects and they have often been stuck in a narrow-minded obsession with "hard-edge F-86F" or "F-40". I tried and tried with one mainstream manufacturer to get a narrow-chord day-fighter variant, explaining at great length that this is where the yawning gap in the market is, but to no avail. I can't explain it, and it doesn't even make business sense to me: the casual buyer (probably the major part of sales) won't care if it's a slatted wing or not, and the enthusiasts will keep coming back for more. I've yet t

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. Suffice to say, multiple subtypes will be possible via the insertion of interchangeab

Hence my comment.

The ones round here do...

Noted elsewhere: presumably a compromise of the moulds for when the U-2S arrives (which hopefully will be correct).

It really depends on what model you are trying to depict; I suspect you'll be doing an F-86F, which incorporated the change-over between overall black on the F-86A, E and early F to the overall medium grey of later F-86Fs. The first grey-coloured machines reached Korea late in 1952/early 1953. If you're doing the Sabre from 'Last Chase' then it was an ex-Luftwaffe Sabre 6 with mid-grey cockpit, Martin Baker seat and modified canopy rails. The Airfix 1/48 Sabre 4 kit gives the best starting point for that since the 'movie' aircraft also featured a Sabre 5 'hard edge' wing (included

Because this is what modellers often need! (and it's a modelling site).

I recall the Minibase Su-27 being touted as "the best [plastic] kit of all time". Has anyone built one yet? And is it the best in plastic?

Just a word of warning, the statement "Luftwaffe F-86" covers three models: Sabre 5, Sabre 6 and F-86K. As alluded to above, aside from NMF, the Sabre 5 in camo featured PRU blue (cerulean blue) undersides, in a similar scheme to RAF Sabres (but not exactly the same in terms of demarcations), rather than silbergrau.

content irrelevant: ignore