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1/32 Kinetic F-86 conversion to CAC Sabre of Black Diamonds


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:D, Hi Julien,

You're correct there about the smoke pipes being removable. Like on the Mirages, the smoke pipe was fitted when needed. I can remember seeing the pipes being fitted to Sabres whilst on an ATC camp at Williamtown in the mid to late 1960s.

:beer4:,

Ross.

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:D, BTW Andrew,

Fantatstic Sword model there mate. Growing up only 30 km from Williamtown the Black Diamonds were a part of my younger years, especially after I joined the ATC in 1966 and during the next five years went on several camps at Williamtown. You have the sit and appearance of the Sabre looking just right mate. Beautiful work. You've even managed to show the characteristic droop of the speed brakes when in the open position.

:cheers:,

Ross.

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Cheers Ross.

Appreciate the comments. My dad painted these beaties at CAC in the late 50s doing the stencilling, roundels and numbers. He recalls one day being outside CAC having a smoke and watching a groundie walking in front of a fully run up 'sword' and getting sucked into the intake. Horrible sight he said, worse than being in Germany and watching the Me262s crashing on landing towards the end of the war.

Regards

Andrew :cheers:

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No problems, I have photos of this aircraft both with and without the pipe so I think it was removable.

I have also seen various combos of tanks & winders

Many thanks for that article, I found it a good read.

Julien

Hi Julien,

If you check the first page of my post you'll see that when Temora test flew 983 (colour pic) again the pipe wasn't attached.

Regards

Andrew :cheers:

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Cheers Ray,

Going to start that Connie soon.

Regards

Andrew

Damn, forgot about the Connie. I was going to start a couple of others using Ryan's conversion/update sets. Better pull the Connie out (well one of them :thumbsup:) and start scribing and sanding...

Edited by Trojan Thunder
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Hi Julien,

If you check the first page of my post you'll see that when Temora test flew 983 (colour pic) again the pipe wasn't attached.

Regards

Andrew :cop:

Arh Yes, never saw that.

Either way it looks cool, and I agree about not wanting to mess the finish up by putting the pipe on

Julien

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You won't notice it immediately but 983 doesn't have its original bang seat either which has been replaced with a MB seat same as those used in the Canadian Sabres. I don't know if you have any pics Julien but 983's original seat had B&W chequers on the head box and I think you'll find that the sabre you're doing had red and white chequers as per the pics attached.

fffg.jpg

IMGP3078.jpg

Regards

Andrew

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Extremely well done, Andrew. That's one to be very proud of. :pray: The 'simple' black markings on the bare metal aircraft are subtle and a great contrast. I really like it. And by the way, I got your message with the attachment. That was very generous and informative.

Thank you, brother.

Be safe!

Mike :cop:

Hi AX365,

I think you'll find that by the time Andrew's Sabre was modeled they had all been painted in silver overall paint with various coloured trim, depending on squadron. Don't forget that no matter where they were based, Australia's Sabres were never based more than a few miles from the sea and like the Mirages in their early years, corrosion quickly becomes a problem when you're an aeroplane that lives that close to salt water and that's why the Mirages were painted fairly quickly after entering service. On days of really strong easterly, south easterly or north easterly winds you could feel the salt spray coming off the water when you were out on the tarmac at Williamtown. The base at Williamtown is quite literally just a few miles down Lavis Lane and across the sand dunes of Stockton Beach from the sea.

:cheers:,

Ross.

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Great job on the Sabre. Where is the conversion and decals available from? I may have to tempt this one myself. I remember seeing this Sabre perform years ago in South Australia.

I might be tempted as well if the price was right.

Julien

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You won't notice it immediately but 983 doesn't have its original bang seat either which has been replaced with a MB seat same as those used in the Canadian Sabres. I don't know if you have any pics Julien but 983's original seat had B&W chequers on the head box and I think you'll find that the sabre you're doing had red and white chequers as per the pics attached

IMGP3078.jpg

Regards

Andrew

You mean I have to do that in 1.72! :)

I will think about it!

Julien

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Sorry guys,

Been offline for a bit. The Kinetic Sabre and conversion with decals came from Southern Sky Models in Western Australia. They also sell via Australian eBay but they haven't been advertised there for a while but Southern Sky does have a website and Roy is great to deal with.

Julien, Good luck with the padding. I'd just paint it red if I was you or see if you have a decal you could spare.

Regards

Andrew :thumbsup:

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