F-86 white lettering

[Whiskey]

So I will be participating in a F-86 Sabre group build later this year and have been putting together some decal sheets and kits for options. My main goal is to construct a representation of a camouflage Sabre that could be found amongst various nations across the globe. Originally I was going to go with something from Aztec Models Latin American Sabres or Hi-Decals Iranian Sabres. Then I came across photos of Canadair Sabre Mk. 4s being ferried to Italy and that will be my subject. It is just so unique. Anyway I am in a conundrum as I do not know what to do about the white lettering. I do not know how to create my own nor do I feel I possess the skills to create, mask, and paint this onto a kit. With that being said does anyone have any suggestions on how to approach this?

 

 

 

[Sabrejet]

content irrelevant: ignore

Edited February 17 by Sabrejet

[Illu]

The serial number and buzz number are not the NAA factory style lettering.  That aircraft had nothing to do with North American. It was built in Canada and flown in the UK.  It’s vaguely similar to the NAA style, but with significant differences.

[seawinder]

5 hours ago, Sabrejet said:

The white 'US AIR FORCE' is standard Amarillo USAF font and may even exist on aftermarket sheets. (snip)

AmarilloUSAF will get you reasonably close for the U.S. AIR FORCE, but it's not really the same. For one thing, the lettering on the plane has significantly wider strokes. Compare the "A" from the plane with the font below: the enclosed triangle is almost just a dot on the plane lettering because of the wider strokes. Also the middle stroke of the "E" is closer to the same length as the top and bottom ones (which I think are proportionally shorter), and the ends of the "C" protrude further vertically.

[KursadA]

Nothing really special here. I don't have the time this week (getting ready to send a few new designs to the printers), but it's probably a 15-20 minute project and could be a good addition to a future Caracal Sabre sheet. Perhaps next weekend? The US AIR FORCE is the standard US "block" font ("Amarillo" is a commercial name made up by a font designer years ago) and needs minor modifications to the freely available fonts. I disagree that the stroke width is different, the slightly thicker appearance is probably due to JPEG compression artifacts in the shared photo. There are larger and clearer photos that show the markings to be fairly regular.

 

The buzz number is clearly similar to the North American style used in the F-82/F-86/F-100, I did a full set of digits here and here. There are small differences here and there; and obviously both the US AIR FORCE and the buzz number need to be modified to reflect the multi-part stencil separation lines visible. The tail number is essentially a common RAF/RCAF style.

 

As I mentioned this inspired me to design the markings for a future sheet - if you can't wait, please send me an e-mail sometime next week and I will direct you to a company that I work with who can print you a set of custom markings based on the artwork I will draw.

Edited February 16 by KursadA

[Sabrejet]

content irrelevant: ignore

Edited February 17 by Sabrejet

[seawinder]

14 hours ago, KursadA said:

... I disagree that the stroke width is different, the slightly thicker appearance is probably due to JPEG compression artifacts in the shared photo. There are larger and clearer photos that show the markings to be fairly regular.

And I respectfully must disagree with you on that, but I could be convinced with the "larger and clearer photographs" you mention. Are they accessible to view online?

[Sabrejet]

content irrelevant: ignore

Edited February 17 by Sabrejet

[Sabrejet]

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Edited February 17 by Sabrejet

[Sabrejet]

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Edited February 17 by Sabrejet

[Sabrejet]

content irrelevant: ignore

 

Edited February 17 by Sabrejet

[Sabrejet]

content irrelevant: ignore

 

Edited February 17 by Sabrejet

[Illu]

21 hours ago, seawinder said:

AmarilloUSAF will get you reasonably close for the U.S. AIR FORCE, but it's not really the same. For one thing, the lettering on the plane has significantly wider strokes. Compare the "A" from the plane with the font below: the enclosed triangle is almost just a dot on the plane lettering because of the wider strokes. Also the middle stroke of the "E" is closer to the same length as the top and bottom ones (which I think are proportionally shorter), and the ends of the "C" protrude further vertically.

 

Be careful jumping to that conclusion.  What you’re perceiving as fatter strokes is really JPG artifact.

[habu2]

Illu, have a Snickers 👍

[Whiskey]

On 2/15/2024 at 10:36 PM, KursadA said:

As I mentioned this inspired me to design the markings for a future sheet - if you can't wait, please send me an e-mail sometime next week and I will direct you to a company that I work with who can print you a set of custom markings based on the artwork I will draw.

Hi Kursad, I thought about dropping this in on the future topics thread for your decals first, but figured there would be enough knowledge out here to piece it all together.

 

The group build starts in August so if you have plans for a future sheet prior to that then I’d be more than happy to wait! I’ve come across only 2-3 photos of some of the aircraft, but there was quite a few of them so having options for buzz numbers would be nice.