CLEAR PROP! F-86A 1/48 WITH ACADEMY J47 ENGINE

[dai phan]

Hello all,

 

This project now takes a different turn. My past 3 projects were 86s (Mk6, 86D and K) so now with the A. I decide to display the engine from the Academy F86F kit. The engine for the A/E was the J47 GE-13 and the F used the J47-GE 27. Looking at the GE-13 photos, the GE-27 engine from the Academy kit is close enough. The combustion chambers are too skinny in diameter for the GE-27 variant. It is possible the forward section (hidden in the fuse) could be different but the combustion chamber and the exhaust are the same as far as I can tell on both engine variants. The photos show the GE-13 engines being changed on the E. 

 

The bulkheads on the Academy kit are very close to the cross section of the CP kit. I had to thin down the kit's walls and did minor shimings to get good fit.  I also stripped down the paint to rescribe some lost panel lines and file down the horrible seam line between the intake lip and the intake nose cone. Note rear bulkhead is not flushed with the cross section of the fuselage but .75 mm away from the lip. This seems to be right in 1/48 scale.  The front bulkhead seems to be in line with the lip. This allows the sections to be joined together without interferences. 

 

So if you want to modify the CP kit to include the engine, use the Academy kit. This kit bashing job is pretty simple to do, Dai 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 10, 2024 by dai phan

[dai phan]

Howdy,

 

Good references on the engine/bulkheads of the A model. Dai 

 

North American F-86A Sabre - Jet & Rocket engined Aircraft - Britmodeller.com

 

 

[Scooby]

Nice work, I have one of these kits ready to go.

 

Fudekals just announced a decals sheet, you can view it over at Hyperscale.

[dai phan]

On 12/8/2024 at 10:24 PM, Scooby said:

Nice work, I have one of these kits ready to go.

 

Fudekals just announced a decals sheet, you can view it over at Hyperscale.

Yes and too bad the sheet only has one A scheme. And not very colorful. Dai

Edited December 10, 2024 by dai phan

[dai phan]

Greetings,

 

Start to shade different panels and only 50% completed. If you look at the photos there are no 2 planes that have the identical panel patterns so I just pick a photo and go at it. I discover the gun panel inserts do NOT follow the correct panel lines so if you want absolute accuracy you have to fill and sand these joint lines. I do not understand why CP does not follow the correct panel lines to save us some trouble with these inserts? I leave mine as is as  I discover the error too late and the plane is already painted. But if you do nothing you will have incorrect panel lines around the gun inserts. I find the engineering of this kit is quite appalling.  I just do not understand the thought process that goes into this kit (seams end on the surfaces rather than at the trailing edges, gun panel inserts do not folllow correct panel lines, etc...) Dai 

 

 

 

Edited December 17, 2024 by dai phan

[dai phan]

Hello all,

 

I just could not take those unscaled panel lines sticking out like sore thumbs so I carefully filled and sanded them. I left the seam lines inside the gun bay borders as with the dark steel background it is hard to see and I did not want to lose any more surface details. Dai 

 

 

Edited December 29, 2024 by dai phan

[dai phan]

Hi all,

 

Continue to work on the panels. The darker shades are from Vallejo Metal Colors Metallic Panel Dark Aluminum. Other shades are custom mixed. One common characteristic of the A model are the dark panels in the center of the fuse. I use these photos as a reference. Dai 

 

 

 

Edited December 19, 2024 by dai phan

[lgl007]

WOW ... that is looking absolutely incredible!  You are really capturing the fine nuances of the real thing... gonna be a top shelf model when done I'm sure 🙂

 

-Greg

[dai phan]

Greetings to all,

 

The plane is painted and ready to be clear coated. I did not know the A model sported a large nose wheel compared to later variants. Dai

 

Edited December 22, 2024 by dai phan

[dai phan]

Greetings friends,

 

I repainted the center sections as I thought the original sections are a bit too dark. The paint is use is Vallejo Metal Colors and you need to add a few drops of Vallejo Airbrush Flow Improver or else you will have annoying tip dry problem. The dried paint if needs to be removed can be done with Vallejo Airbrush Thinner without affecting the lacquer coat. Do NOT use IPA as that will remove the lacquer layer as well.  Once painted avoid touching because the paint is rather fragile. Dai

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 23, 2024 by dai phan

[dai phan]

Hi all,

 

The intake lip and the nose piece has bad fit resulting a large gap that needs to be filled and sanded. Some builders on the Net had neglected this task resulting in unslighty models.  Do not follow the kit's seam lines when you paint inside of the nose ring because that will make the width way too narrow. Some builds I have seen fell victims to this. I do not understand why the intake ring and nose cone do not have the seam lines at the correct position?   Look at the actual photo to judge the proper width. Dai 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 24, 2024 by dai phan

[dai phan]

Greetings all,

 

The plane is ready to be decaled. A few things to take note. The front windshield does not have a joint line with the fuse and blends in seamlessly on real aircraft. Therefore it should be asssembled, puttied and sanded before painting. I am contemplating on how to address the problem as I did not think of it beforehand. I did once asked someone associated with CP if this area needs to be puttied as I see the build has such smooth joint. I was told no need as the kit is designed in a way so putty is needed. Well that is not the case here. Other companies like Hasegawa, Revell, Academy molded the lower section of the windshield into the airframe to eliminate this problem. The Eduard windshield mask is slightly undersized so you need to use toothpick to remove excess paint. Better yet, use other companies' masks like the one offered by CP. The Eduard PE set I intended to add details to the underside of the slats proved to be too difficult to have the PE adhere flushed with the plastic surface so I did away with it. I may use other parts in this set however. It cost 35 USD so beware. Dai   

 

 

 

 

Edited December 31, 2024 by dai phan

[dai phan]

Hi all,

 

The scheme will be 71st Fighter Interceptor Squadron 1950. This is depicted as the first A/C on the Bullseye sheet. Dai

 

 

Edited December 30, 2024 by dai phan

[Scooby]

Awesome build and information. I love the variations in the metals.

 

I’m going to build my CP Sabre as the one Mk I the RCAF had, it was an F-86A and was the prototype to build the jigs for all Canadair Sabres. Luckily it is in the museum I volunteer at.

 

Later in service it was used for flight testing.

[dai phan]

On 1/1/2025 at 11:37 PM, Scooby said:

Awesome build and information. I love the variations in the metals.

 

I’m going to build my CP Sabre as the one Mk I the RCAF had, it was an F-86A and was the prototype to build the jigs for all Canadair Sabres. Luckily it is in the museum I volunteer at.

 

Later in service it was used for flight testing.

Please read my posts for some quirks about this kit on this thread. Here is one in the Jet Modelling Forum:

 

Hi all,

 

After much thoughts I am going to ask Duncan who has direct connection in designing this kit. But others who have built this kit can chime in also. My project is almost completed and I look forward in having this fine kit on my shelves. However I am rather very disappointed in the engineering of the kit. I find it to be very unconventional and defies logical thinking. These are some issues I have encountered on my build:

 

1. The gun panel inserts do not follow the actual panel lines. It makes sense to have them match the panel lines so there are no seams to clean up resulting loss of fine details. Rather they are away and after cleaning up the seams, all the beautiful details like fine rivets are lost. 

 

2. The slat bases need to be glued to the wings. Why can't they be molded in as by installing the slat bases you have to clean up the seams resulting in loss of fine details that I think the best of all the kits I have built. 

 

3. The vertical tail, flaps, ailerons are joined together with seam lines end on the surface rather than at leading/trailing edges. Again this requires clean up and loss of fine details. The fuselage at the tail pipe ends on the surface and it is impossible to clean up the seams without ruining the tiny raised details near the tail pipe. 

 

4. The bottom of the fuse has 2 inserts (front and back). Why can't the fuselage end with both complete halves to minimize clean up? With 2 inserts you have 8 additional seams to clean. 

 

5. The intake tip and the nose piece join away from the actual panel line. There is a bad gap because of the curve does not go together well. These pieces can be easily designed to mate at the correct straight circular panel line that minimizes clean up. 

 

There are more but these are the main ones. This kit has the most beautiful fine details I have ever seen. I find it really painful to wipe away these fine details when the seams are right in the center :(. I really hate to complain because I have been waiting for the A for ages. Thank you CP/Duncan for making my wish come true. But I do not understand why the kit is engineered this way. I am sorry if I offended any one. Dai 

 

Edited January 21 by dai phan

[dai phan]

Hi all,

 

Yes I am still building the 86 and near completion. Spent last few days re-organizing the work station. Still too clustered for my taste. Dai 

 

 

 

Edited January 21 by dai phan

[Scooby]

Nice hobby room, I thought mine was nice.

[dai phan]

Hi all,

 

I have used this Eduard FE 1488 for my second 86 and I found out the side console PE are oversized in width (parts 9,10,24) making the fit of the seat impossible. I had to trim the sides of the seat to make it fit. Sanding or cutting the PE parts will not work as you will delaminate the printing. I would avoid this set and use Kelik, Quinta or Eduard Space as you can trim the sides if needed but looking at the console parts they seem to be in correct size. Dai 

 

Edited January 21 by dai phan

[dai phan]

Hello all,

 

Started to do some decals this morning as work is delayed 2 hours. It is quite odd there is no call out for numbers for the stencils or insignias, numbers. The others can be easily figured out but the stencils are not. You have to read what is on the instruction then read the stencils on the decals under magnifying glass. For those who do not have magnifying glasses, you are SOL. I personally think this is rather unacceptable. Dai 

 

Edited January 23 by dai phan

[dai phan]

Greetings,

 

I just ordered the Kelik cockpit parts for my second all white F-86A. As I mentioned before Eduard PE is oversized in the consoles making the fit the seat impossible. Dai 

 

[dai phan]

Hi all,

 

This book is recommended by Snowbird3a for the all white bird references. Although the title is somewhat misleading as I thought it is a book for technicians, restorative team.  But actual is a good book on the development of the 86 as well the restoration of the only flyable F-86A left in the world. This is the subject of my second project. It will be an easy paint job as it is all white.  It has narrow chord (identified by the wing root NOT overlaps the ammo door) but slats shut and wing fences. Now it is repainted in early Korean War scheme and plenty photos of it are available. Dai

 

 

Edited January 23 by dai phan

[dai phan]

Hello all,

 

The Bullseyes decals went on very nicely and responds well to the setting solution. The top horizontal band is a bit short but can be easily corrected with some decals of the same color. So far the dimensions are spot on when compared with the photo of what I have applied. This is very rare as it is extremely unlikely the manufacturers have the dimensions correct even with the references available at hand. Since the stencils do not have numbers assigned to them, looking for them will greatly increase placement time. Also I was not able to locate some on the decal sheet.  Dai 

 

 

Edited January 25 by dai phan

[dai phan]

Hello all,

 

Continuing with the decal process. Bullseye provides the underside of the wing for stencil placement but not the USAF position. I cannot find a good reference photo of the left wing underside so any help is appreciated ( no museum restoration please). Also they did not provide the belly diagram for the forward section for stencil placement. Dai 

 

Edited January 27 by dai phan

[dai phan]

Greetings all,

 

I have found some underside left wing that shows you the correct placement of the USAF. Dai 

 

 

Edited January 28 by dai phan

[brahio]

Please note that for all F-86A-1 and F-86A-5 up to 48-254 the flaps normal position on the ground was closed.
I don't have any photos of 48-214, but have 48-210 and 48-217. Please have a look.