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Canadair Mk 5 Sabre - 1/48, Hasegawa


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Hello Everyone!

Here's my contribution to the group build, Hasegawa's Canadair Mk 5 Sabre. This will also be my first jet build ever, hope it turns out okay. I don't like early jets (this bird included) that much and I definitely don't like silver, NMF or metallic colored birds. So I'll be building the plane on the boxart, "Carte Blanche" from 1955.

Canadair03.jpg

As with all a/c build, I started with the cockpit. The Hasegawa cockpit was a little bare and a pilot was provided to make it look busy. I decided not to use the pilot, but instead add some detailing on my own to liven things a little bit. After some research, I found out the cockpit and the seat weren't exactly accurate. Since I'm a casual modeler, I decided to make the best of what was available.

One issue here was whether the seat was bare or if it did have a matt or cushion or whatever it's called in English, so that the pilot wouldn't have an aching butt by the time he returned to base. Some of the photos and illustrations of the seat showed it bare, while others showed a cushion. I decided to have some mercy on the pilot and add one :) Don't know if it's accurate, but looks better this way.

As for the seat belts, I made some on my own, but then I decided to steal some belts from an Eduard set. They look better than mine anyways.

Canadair02.jpg

Canadair01.jpg

At this stage I was thinking whether or not the cockpit was ready. Then I realized that I could easily scratch-build the oxygen hoses. I used some copper wire and they were ready in a snap.

Canadair04.jpg

Here's the final stage of the cocpit. Inaccuracies set aside, I hope it looks okay at least. I do know the hoses actually come from inside a small box in front of the seat, but I was too lazy to build it :)

Canadair05.jpg

Canadair06.jpg

All feedback, comments and criticism is welcome.

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Accuracy - not too critical in my book. What you're doing looks really nice. Colourful and clean, and not too far from the possible kind of jet cockpit. For your first jet build, it's looking great so far!

ALF

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Accuracy - not too critical in my book. What you're doing looks really nice. Colourful and clean, and not too far from the possible kind of jet cockpit. For your first jet build, it's looking great so far!

ALF

What ALF said. :ditto:

Looking very nice so for. Don't forget to glue in some weight on top of the intake trunking ahead of the instrument panel. In my opinion, the Sabre was one of the nicest looking early jets. I've built a bunch of these Hasegawa Sabres. It builds up very nicely but there are a few tiny things to watch out for namely the fuselage joint along the spine, the nose ring and landing gear light piece joints and there may be a very narrow gap at the wing / fuselage join. If you run into any issues, I'll be more than glad to send some photos.

Good luck with the build.

Mike

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Thanks a lot for the comments!

Mike, I added as much weight as I could using the space available. When I try to balance the plane using the rear landing gear area as the center of gravity, the nose tips forward. I hope that much weight is enough. If not I'll add some more into the nose intake.

Last week, progress was very slow due to time limitations. I managed to put the fuselage together. As Mike stated, there were issues with the spine, the part in front the front landing gear and the intake. All were fixed with some sanding and some putty. After that, using a 1000 grid sanding paper, I went over all areas to create a uniform matt surface for the paint.

Canadair07.jpg

Close up of the cockpit area. This week, first I'll mask the canopy and install it. Then I'll spray primer and hope nothing serious comes up, so that I can move onto the part I love most: painting.

Canadair08.jpg

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A bit more progress.

The canopy was masked and then fixed in place last night. Tonight's task was spraying Mr Surfacer 1200 as my primer. First inspection reveals that some areas require a little more sand & putty love.

Canadair09.jpg

While the Sabre was drying in the corner, I sprayed Testors Modelmaster's Chrome Silver for the landing gears and landing gear bay doors. The rest of the night was spent trying to remove those little metal pigments from my airbrush. I finally found out that WD 40 works like a charm in such a situation!

Canadair10.jpg

So much for tonight. I won't be home tomorrow, so painting will have to wait until Thursday. Luckily, this Thursday is a Turkish National Holiday, so no work at the office means lots of time at the modelling bench!

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Finally getting some paint on the Sabre.

First, lower fuselage was painted in light grey with its relevant Gunze color. I then tried to create some different tones, but due to bad lighting and my low photoshopping skills, they aren't very visible:

Canadair11.jpg

Then I masked the lower fuselage and painted the dark grey... The Sabre seems to be coming around now:

Canadair12.jpg

Then the dark green was painted:

Canadair13.jpg

Canadair14.jpg

The real fun part will start now. I will start playing with different tones of grey and green to give some depth and a slightly weathered look to the model.

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Finally getting some paint on the Sabre.

First, lower fuselage was painted in light grey with its relevant Gunze color. I then tried to create some different tones, but due to bad lighting and my low photoshopping skills, they aren't very visible:

Then I masked the lower fuselage and painted the dark grey... The Sabre seems to be coming around now:

Then the dark green was painted:

The real fun part will start now. I will start playing with different tones of grey and green to give some depth and a slightly weathered look to the model.

What colour did you paint the underside ??? I hope it was a PRU blue.

Cheers, Tony

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I couldn't be sure about the color. Hasegawa gave the color as Light Aircraft Grey. The photos showed some of the camouflaged Canadian aircraft as PRU Blue. I got confused and decided to stick with the light grey as per instructions.

If this is wrong I might attempt to correct the color, but I need the model to be ready by Thursday so I can attend Turkish Air Force's modelling contest on Friday. By the way, does any manufacturer (like Tamiya, Hasegawa, Testors Modelmaster or Humbrol) produce PRU Blue and if so what is its number?

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Lower fuselage color corrected.

Canadair17.jpg

I also played around with the colors a little. Now I'm letting the paint cure, then I'll check for irregularities and errors. I hope to spray a gloss coat within a few hours.

Canadair16.jpg

Canadair15.jpg

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Coming along very nicely, Emre. I see Tony "The College of Knowledge" informed you of the PRU Blue underside. D'oh! I agree that Hasegawa's colour call outs are less than stellar.

As an aside, I wouldn't go too crazy with the weathering. All the RCAF Sabre pilots I know who flew them in Europe have told me that the real aircraft were kept very clean. There will be some cordite staining around the gun ports but very little else in the way of dirt and grime. Having said that, it's your Sabre and you build it whatever way you want. It'll turn out great. I look forward to the end result of your efforts.

Mike

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Coming along very nicely, Emre. I see Tony "The College of Knowledge" informed you of the PRU Blue underside. D'oh! I agree that Hasegawa's colour call outs are less than stellar.

Never been called that before, blush, however, I'm still learning small things all the time.

It might be too late, but, that scoop in front of the RH speedbrake was not on the Mk5s. It is a leftover from the Japanese F86F-40 boxing. The panel on top ahead of the fin was flush on Canadian built machines.

Love the multi-hued finish. Gives it that 3-dimensional affect versus a dirty look. Weathering for me is more like shades rather than filth. You got it !!!

Cheers, Tony

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Thanks a lot for the comments!

I learned about the scoop not being there for the Mk.5s, but it was a bit too late, the model was already painted. Since I'm rushing to complete it in two days to join a contest, I didn't have time to correct it. Of course, if it's disqualified as being inaccurate... well I can only say "fate" :)

I used to build armor until last year, when I suddenly had this urge to build aircraft. This is I think my 6th a/c. I also liked the effect the multi-hue coloring gives, it certainly gives depth and a used look at the same time. I am trying to practice about its application and I try a different thing with each model, it is getting better as I get the hang of it. Though for this Sabre, it might be slightly over-kill.

Thank you all for your feedback again. I hope by the time I'm done we all like the result.

Now back to the bench to get it done in 48 hours!

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This is looking superb. The more builds I look at here, the more I feel like I should just throw in the towel...

I can sympathize - there are times my jaw drops when I see the effort put in, and the skill that some guys have... but then I remind myself that I am building to please one person: me!

Build away, Litvyak! Don't let yourself get discouraged.

ALF

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First I sprayed on a gloss coat and let it cure.

Canadair18.jpg

Then, realizing I had very limited amount of time left, I panicked. I started to apply the decals and things started falling apart.

First of all, this plane has way too many stencils. Nearly every hatch, cover and movable plate has a stencil on it. Crazy! I estimated the decalling stage would take an hour max. It was more like 4 hours!

Canadair19.jpg

And those big yellow crosses... Really ruined the day. They wrinkled and got torn. When all was well after using liberal amounts of Microsol and Microset, the model of course slipped through my hands... and I grabbed it... and of course, I had to hold it over the crosses, just when they were the softest. The underside of the wing is a mess now. If I had another week, I would have painted those crosses instead of battling against huge decals.

Of course, the fun is not over. Parts are getting lost, bent, broken and the clock is ticking... and I'm getting more nervous, more nervous means clumsier, and yet more parts fly around and get broken... the vicious cycle.

I took a break just now. This is where I'm at.

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It's past 01.00 a.m and I must sleep, but I only have one night left, which I was planning to pack up my models. I decided that I hate last-minute rush jobs.

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Okay, it's past 2.30 am here locally, but I'm finally done!

Sorry for the photos, I had to keep the model hanging since the landing gear hasn't cured yet and they start bending if I place the model on the ground.

Canadair24.jpg

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Tomorrow I can finally pack up and take it to the competition. Another model completed... maybe not up to the expectations I had, but it was a fun and teaching experience nevertheless.

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