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Sabre 2 - 434 Sqn at Uplands 1952 - DONE!


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As project number one is complete, I thought I'd start project number 2. As as Sabre fan, I'm doing another one. I know...what are the chances!? This will be the 14th Sabre I've put together. I'm using the Hasegawa Sabre 6 with CanMilAir decals. I know the '6-3' wings are wrong but I'm going for look and not overall accuracy. I will be grafting on the supplied resin wingtips to cut it down from an F-40 wing to the Sabre 6 wing to make it look a little more accurate.

I didn't know Uncle Guy had been assigned to 434 Sqn at Uplands prior to being posted to 421 Sqn at Grostenquin. I also didn't know that he had been sent back to Vampires on 438 (Reserve) Sqn in Montreal as a result of a flying infraction. Going from Sabres back to Vampires was equivalent to being sent to the penalty box. Or as many of today's parent would say, he was given a time out. After completing his three months in the sin bin, uncle Guy was transferred to 421 Sqn and shipped over to France. He had only been with 421 Sq for 4 months before he was killed. Attached are some of the documents taken from the Board of Inquiry file held at Collections Canada. I reviewed the file to learn more about his accident. They show his posting to 434 Sqn upon completion of his training at the OTU and his subsequent moves to 438 and 421 Sqns.

IMG_2587.jpg

IMG_2588.jpg

Here are the decals I will be using. Although the sheet says 1953, these are the same markings carried by the Bluenoses prior to Leapfrog 3.

http://www.canmilair.com/proddetail.asp?prod=352

Mike

Edited by AX 365
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You? Doing another Sabre? To think that I posted the P.S. in your first build before seeing this thread... be careful, my friend, of being too predictable!

In all seriousness, though, I love this subject you've picked. Reading the accident board is quite sobering, and I know how important this is to you. Looking forward to seeing another lovingly built Sabre.

ALF

Edited by ALF18
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Wow, that is quite the story, Mike. I am really looking forward to your Sword build as, you know, my father-in-law was with 434 Sqn in the mid 50's as well.

Don

Thank you, Don. The other 75 or so pages from the file are equally impressive including the testimony form all the witnesses at the Board of Inquiry.

Mike this is quite an interesting thread and look forward to the build. :salute:

Thanks for stopping in, my friend. I appreciate you visiting. Will send a little note later to touch base.

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Leading Edge stencils. A PITA to apply but very realistic finish. MUCH better than the kit stencils.

LEStencils.jpg

CanMilAir Decals. I'm not sure if Uncle Guy flew any of the serial numbers depitced on the sheet but I'm going to believe he did. And just to throw one at phantom, I'm going to probably do this one up as 19421. I'm getting 421 involved with 434. The Red Indians are leaving their mark everywhere!

CanMilAirDecals.jpg

Miscellaneous assembled parts so far and filed, semi sanded and filled vents. The vent moulded onto the top of the Hasegawa Sabre is not present on the Canadair Sabres. I've sanded it off and will fill with Tamiya putty or Fine Surfacer. Seat holes drilled out too.

FilledVentRight.jpg

IntakeExhaustsandTanks.jpg

FiledVentLeft.jpg

Seat1.jpg

IP.jpg

More in next post.

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I've found a set of Scobie-Do Sabre 6 resin wings with leading edge slats that I bought a while ago but completely forgot I had. I might use them on this build. There are a few flaws to fix with the resin but it shouldn't be impossible to do. The fit will require some sanding of the plastic where the wings join the fuselage. The wheel bays are cast as a single unit whereas the kit parts in the bays have a space in them to allow for a slot moulded onto the fuselage to slip into that slot. As said, should be no biggie. The kit supplies a bent metal pitot tube. A nice addition.

ScobieDoWings-packaging.jpg

ScobieDoWings-top.jpg

ScobieDoWings-bottom.jpg

ScobieDoWings-side.jpg

ScobieDoWings-slats.jpg

ResinTipsandPitot.jpg

Hopefully more progress over the next couple of days. I'm off Wednesday and Thursday and back to dayshift on the weekend.

Thanks for looking in.

Mike

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The cockpit has been painted, assembled and installed. A paper towel / tape seat cushion and tape belts with bent staples for buckles have been added to give a bit of detail. I was going to add the decal instrument panel but it went down the drain in the washroom sink. I was just applying the one decal and a put a bit of hot water in the sink to loosen it. Without even thinking, I puled the plug only to watch the decal go down the drain. :bandhead2: I've done some stupid things before when modeling but this is right up there. I simply used some fine grit sandpaper and lightly ran it across the instrument faces, removing the black paint from the light grey plastic underneath. No the greatest result but better then nothing and easier than dry brushing. Oh well...

Cockpit1.jpg

Cockpit2.jpg

Cockpit3.jpg

There is a terrible gap at the front of the one piece wing assembly where it joins the fuselage. Fortunately some Evergreen strip styrene will take care of that humungous trench.

WingGapBottom.jpg

I also had to do some removal of excess plastic at the wing root on the fuselage. The good thing about the resin shrinkage with these wings is that it should make for a little more realistic Sabre 2 wing. It's almost as if it's almost a slatted, non '6-3' wing.

Wingroot1a.jpg

Wingroot1b.jpg

You can also see the area where the plastic had to be removed, and also the amount, in order to facilitate that wheel bays. This was done on both sides

Fuselage1a.jpg

Fuselage1b.jpg

A little more finesse work is required with the sandpaper and filler. Once that's done, I'll super glue some weight on top of the intake trunking and close up the fuselage. That should be done later today, hopefully.

As always, constructive criticism and helpful suggestions are always welcome.

Thanks for looking in.

Mike

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Scobie-Do?????? Rearry? That's priceless. LOL.

BD

Rearry Raggy! Rooby Doo!!!!!

Bill Scobie is a member of IPMS Ottawa and he came out with these a couple of years ago. I don't know how many sets he did but I haven't seen them around for a while. I have another set in 48th and I have a set in 72nd. scale. Nice, but they're very heavy.

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Damn - there was a concern that he was weak in forced landings and perhaps that could have made the difference. Then again - a suitable piece of ground in this area can be difficult to find even if you excelled at forced landings.

I love the sabre so please keep us up to date.

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Damn - there was a concern that he was weak in forced landings and perhaps that could have made the difference. Then again - a suitable piece of ground in this area can be difficult to find even if you excelled at forced landings.

I love the sabre so please keep us up to date.

That would have been true if the crash were a result of an engine thrust loss or failure. In this case, though, it looked more like a loss of spatial orientation in cloud during the instrument descent, and a last-minute "oh no!" as he dove out of the clouds in a steep descent, and ejected too late. I was privileged to be able to read the whole report, and it was an all-too-common story of demanding flying in poor European weather, with a pilot who was working hard to keep up with the exigencies of Cold War practice sorties.

A sad tale, and one that makes us appreciate the sacrifices made by many people during that long period in our history.

ALF

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My FIL always lamented the loss of so many friends through flying accidents. He always referred to his years in the RCAF as the best of times, but there was always a "but" at the end and he would talk about the regret he felt at the losses due to the demanding flying conditions.

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ALF and Don,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts about the perils of what it was really like 'back then'. Looking at the names of the pilots listed in the Sabre Pilots Book of Remembrance and the CF-104 Starfighter cairn at the Air Force Museum in Trenton really hits home that flying during the Cold War - and even aftewards - was a risky proposition and not all fun and games.

I've attached the wings and slats. There was quite a bit of work involved and I'm not sure I've got it completely correct. As noted there was some shrinkage (insert appropriate Seinfeld monologue here!) of the resin and there was much filling and sanding to be done. I'll post a few photos later to illustrate the issues I faced. Have to run out with the Queen Bee right now to perform a few errands.

Thanks for looking.

Mike

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Some photos.

An overview of the attached wings and slats. The wings are sturdy but the litle tabs that support the slats were delicate. I didn't break any off but I came close with one of them. There are no locating holes for the drop tank pylons. I really like the look of the Sabre with tanks rather than without. I'm debating on whether to mount the pylons with super glue or not but I have a very good idea on which way I'm leaning.

Wings1.jpg

Wings2.jpg

TopRightWing.jpg

Next you can see the piece of Evergreen strip used to fill the gap at the front wing / fuselage join on the bottom. It has been filled with Testors Clear Plastic Cement and gap filling super glue.

WingBottomwithSpacer1.jpg

WingBottomewithSpacer2.jpg

Although these pictures don't really show it very well, there is a noticable step between the kit plastic and the resin wing. If I had glued the bottom of the wing level with the bottom of the fuselage, the step on the upper wing join would have been a royal PITA to fix. I chose to go with the step on the bottom as, for the most part, it will remain out of sight.

BottomAlignment2.jpg

BottomAlignment1.jpg

This photo hopefully illustrates the gap that was present between the resin and the plastic that needed to be filled with clear plastic cement and super glue. It looks good in person but I'm not sure how good it really is. A shot of light grey primer will show me how good a job I really did and if any more glue will be required to get this right.

WingJoin1.jpg

These wings were moulded, I think, on the 1/48 scale Adacemy Sabre and not the Hasegawa line. I had to remove the rearmost part of the Hasegawa plastic in order to fill the void left by the gap created by the short resin wings. It's the small, square piece of plastic between the air vents on the fuselage (where the sugar scoops would be on the later Mark 5's and all Mark 6's). It was a pretty good fit requiring only a bit of clear cement and a bit of sanding.

WingBottomRear.jpg

Finally, I sanded off the raised top vent on the fuselage at the base of the fillet for the vertical stabilizer. Canadair Sabres didn't have these vents, only flush mounted vents.

VentDelete.jpg

That's it for now. As you can see, the canopy and windshield have been installed. I'll apply the EZ Masks later today and possibly prime her to see what kind of work needs to be done to the joints to get her ready for a coat of black and then the Alclad.

As always, thanks for looking and constructive criticism and comments are always welcome.

Mike

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No photos but I just sprayed the second coat of flat black as a primer. Looks good and the areas where I thought I might have issues came out quite nicely. A couple of coats of MM Gloss Coat tomorrow and then I'll be able to spray the colours. With this Sabre I might mask a few panels and spray different shades of aluminum to break up the monochromatic appearance. Maybe some SNJ Powder too. I'll post more photos once the painting is done and before I start the 100+ stencils and the decals. Nothing before Thursday at the earliest though.

Mike

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Good progress. I had a Hasegawa A-4 with leading edge slats like that, and it was tough not breaking off all those little pins.

You dealt with the fit of the wing (choice of gap at the tops or at the bottom) exactly as I would - hide it underneath!

Looking nice. :thumbsup:

ALF

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Thanks ALF and mustanger.

A bit of a setback though. Seems to be the story of my model building life these days. I had the flat black sprayed as the undercoat. I gave it a wet sanding with 2000 grit paper and had a nice smooth finish. I sprayed the Alclad without problem. This morning, I started to put some Tamiya tape on the Alclad in order to apply different shades of Alclad and some SNJ Buffing Powder to various panels. I had a couple of pieces of tape laid down and I wasn't happy with the placement of the third piece. I removed hit in order to reposition it. Most of the Alclad came off with the tape. I removed the other couple of pieces of tape and the same results; the Alclad lifted. I have NEVER had this problem before. Grrrrrrr. Tonight or tomorrow I'll work at rectifying the problem. I'll see how things turn out. I'm not a happy camper right now. Such is life.

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A bit of a setback though. Seems to be the story of my model building life these days. I had the flat black sprayed as the undercoat. I gave it a wet sanding with 2000 grit paper and had a nice smooth finish.

What would be the advantage in a flat black finish? Did you want to tone down the alclad?

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What would be the advantage in a flat black finish? Did you want to tone down the alclad?

CM,

Not tone it down per se but I just wanted to see what sheen I would get when I sprayed the Alclad. I have since used tape to remove the Alclad that didn't stick and sprayed two coats of MM very light grey, my traditional undercoat for the non high sheen finishes. A minor setback and nothing else. Lots of time left in the build.

Thanks for looking in.

Mike

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Thanks ALF and mustanger.

A bit of a setback though. Seems to be the story of my model building life these days. I had the flat black sprayed as the undercoat. I gave it a wet sanding with 2000 grit paper and had a nice smooth finish. I sprayed the Alclad without problem. This morning, I started to put some Tamiya tape on the Alclad in order to apply different shades of Alclad and some SNJ Buffing Powder to various panels. I had a couple of pieces of tape laid down and I wasn't happy with the placement of the third piece. I removed hit in order to reposition it. Most of the Alclad came off with the tape. I removed the other couple of pieces of tape and the same results; the Alclad lifted. I have NEVER had this problem before. Grrrrrrr. Tonight or tomorrow I'll work at rectifying the problem. I'll see how things turn out. I'm not a happy camper right now. Such is life.

Bummer, Mike.

My last Alclad experience was much nicer. I took some good advice and used Tamiya primer (lacquer-based) under the Alclad; it was rock solid and didn't lift. I was told that the problem had to do with the type of undercoat paint. Lacquer is good - acrylic is a no-no, because it will not prevent the Alclad lifting. What kind of paint was your black undercoat?

I've also experimented with using a black gloss (rattle can lacquer) under the Alclad, to give it a bit of a deeper sheen. Worked OK, so it's definitely not a crazy idea.

Later in this GB, I plan to do a 1/32 CF-104 natural metal with Dave Winter's decals... there will definitely be some Alclad masking going on there.

Good luck with the rework.

ALF

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