AX 365 Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 (edited) This Sabre known as 'The Wheels' was the mount of S/L Eric Smith, the CFI at CFB Chatham after he returned from his stint on secondment to the USAF in Korea. It'll be in 1/48 scale. Not sure if I'll be using a Hasegawa or an Academy kit for this. I'll be using Model Alliance decals with Alclad II paint. Our very own intrepid phantom has already done this scheme as seen here: http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=271020&view=findpost&p=2569250 No aftermarket stuff. She'll be straight out of the box. Mr. Smith told me how he, and the Sabre, became known as 'The Wheels'. That will be divulged somewhere in the build thread. Next! Mike Edited April 18, 2014 by AX 365 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcon20driver Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 I look forward to seeing your Sabre build and hearing the story of the name. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted January 2, 2014 Author Share Posted January 2, 2014 I've decided on the Academy kit. I opened the box only to realize I had started it a while ago and completely forgotten about it. I'm going to have to change my name to Al Zheimer. I have CRAFT Syndrome; Can't Remember a Friggin' Thing! I have completed the engine, intake runner and glued the gun access panels and speed brakes in place. There has been no painting done. I'll take some photos later to show what has been done. Now it's back to watch Canada (hopefully!) defeat Switzerland in the Quarter Finals of the WJHC. Go Canada Go! Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted January 16, 2014 Author Share Posted January 16, 2014 I've completed my last build, a CF-104, so now it's on to this build. Here's a few photos of what I'll be working with and progress so far. Box art of the Academy kit. Model Alliance Decals - almost impossible to get now that the company is no longer in business due to shady business practices. I've already used two sets of decals from this sheet; a 421 Sqn bird at Grostenquin and a 422 Sqn Sabre at CFB Uplands here in Ottawa. The caricature of Mr. Smith was on both sides of the aircraft as were "The Wheels". The caricature is a two piece decal in that one must be placed on top of the other to complete the look whereas "The Wheels" are a one piece decal. There are roundels and letters and numbers. There is a piece of red decal paper included to replicate the red ban around the nose. I'll paint that instead of using the decals. The red / white 422 Sqn decal striping for the vertical stabilizer was quite brittle. Lesson learned. Besides, the supplied red decal strip is straight and to achieve a really good fit and look in needs to be curved. The engine and partial cockpit assembly completed. That's it for now. More photos as progress is made. Thanks for checking in. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Nice to see some progress, Mike. Looking forward to hearing the story behind the name Wheels. Strangely enough, I seem to have the same kit in my stash - I think. It's in the garage, so I don't have it in front of me, but I do recall the Korean War era markings with the yellow band on the box art... That's one kit I plan to build OOB for this GB, so I will follow this one closely to see how much weight you use and where you put it, plus other tips from our resident Sabre-kit-building expert. Were you at the hockey game last night? That was wild! After Montreal went up 3-0, SWMBO made a comment about how it could all change very quickly, and boy was she right! The way it ended, too, was spectacular. I felt torn, knowing that you have suffered through a mediocre Senators season so far, and now they're finally on a bit of a tear, but the Habs are still my team. ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted January 18, 2014 Author Share Posted January 18, 2014 Hi ALF. Thanks for checking in. The construction of this kit will be very similar to the Hasegawa Sabres. The big difference between the two kits is that this Academy kit has a 'full' J-47 where the Hasegawa kit has no engine and this kit can be modified to display the engine while mounted in the aircraft. It also has the parts to construct a stand to support / display the rear half of the fuselage. To do so would require cutting the two fuselage pieces in half and I'm not going to do that. As for the story behind 'The Wheels'...the suspense is greater than the story. It's pretty simple actually but Mr. Smith got a big kick out of recounting it to me. Her Nibs and I were at The Carey Price Show the other night. He stole that game for them. He made some outstanding saves in the second period. When the Habs went up 3-0 in the first, the Habs fans started with their "Ole Ole Ole Ole" but they were quickly silenced when Ottawa scored the two quick ones to make it 3-2 at the end of the first. The Habs fans then really started to chirp the Habs when Ottawa went up 4-3 and a couple of Boo Birds even made an appearance. You knew that the Habs were going to come back though. As my grandfather Rolston said, "Never count Montreal out until the final buzzer." Ottawa really came out flat in the third and you could see the Habs retake the momentum but they just couldn't score...until Cowan had the puck go off his skate and into his own net. You could feel the air go out of the building. Many joked that they should have reviewed the play as it looked like a kicking motion. Subban!? What an arrogant, immature, narcissistic little clown he is. He's a good hockey player and I can understand him being excited in scoring the winner in O/T but his antics after the goal were completely classless. He should be ashamed of himself for that display of arrogance. I'm surprised nobody has proverbially kicked the snot out of him for his actions. It's not hard to see why even people in the Montreal Canadiens organization, perhaps one of the classiest organizations in all sports, dislike him. I know a leopard will not change his spots overnight but perhaps Pernell Karl could learn from Mr. Jean Beliveau a lesson in humility and how to carry yourself and respect the image of your franchise. I really am surprised they are putting up with his antics. Enough about that. We're leaving the house shortly to g see what they can do against Lundquist and the Rangers. Should be a good tilt. Will send an e-mail in the next couple of days. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Hi ALF. Thanks for checking in. The construction of this kit will be very similar to the Hasegawa Sabres. The big difference between the two kits is that this Academy kit has a 'full' J-47 where the Hasegawa kit has no engine and this kit can be modified to display the engine while mounted in the aircraft. It also has the parts to construct a stand to support / display the rear half of the fuselage. To do so would require cutting the two fuselage pieces in half and I'm not going to do that. As for the story behind 'The Wheels'...the suspense is greater than the story. It's pretty simple actually but Mr. Smith got a big kick out of recounting it to me. Her Nibs and I were at The Carey Price Show the other night. He stole that game for them. He made some outstanding saves in the second period. When the Habs went up 3-0 in the first, the Habs fans started with their "Ole Ole Ole Ole" but they were quickly silenced when Ottawa scored the two quick ones to make it 3-2 at the end of the first. The Habs fans then really started to chirp the Habs when Ottawa went up 4-3 and a couple of Boo Birds even made an appearance. You knew that the Habs were going to come back though. As my grandfather Rolston said, "Never count Montreal out until the final buzzer." Ottawa really came out flat in the third and you could see the Habs retake the momentum but they just couldn't score...until Cowan had the puck go off his skate and into his own net. You could feel the air go out of the building. Many joked that they should have reviewed the play as it looked like a kicking motion. Subban!? What an arrogant, immature, narcissistic little clown he is. He's a good hockey player and I can understand him being excited in scoring the winner in O/T but his antics after the goal were completely classless. He should be ashamed of himself for that display of arrogance. I'm surprised nobody has proverbially kicked the snot out of him for his actions. It's not hard to see why even people in the Montreal Canadiens organization, perhaps one of the classiest organizations in all sports, dislike him. I know a leopard will not change his spots overnight but perhaps Pernell Karl could learn from Mr. Jean Beliveau a lesson in humility and how to carry yourself and respect the image of your franchise. I really am surprised they are putting up with his antics. Enough about that. We're leaving the house shortly to g see what they can do against Lundquist and the Rangers. Should be a good tilt. Will send an e-mail in the next couple of days. Mike You got that right about PK. I just cringed when I saw that display. Ottawa deserved to win that game; Subban was being way over the top, especially given that they were more than lucky to even be in overtime, let alone win it. Here's hoping he will mature a bit with age. Stop going to hockey games, and get back to modelling, will ya? :D Lucky dog, you... ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted January 20, 2014 Author Share Posted January 20, 2014 Stop going to hockey games, and get back to modelling, will ya? :D Lucky dog, you... ALF With the turd burger the Sens left on the ice after the Ranger's game, I just might! Who am I kidding? We'll be back. Look at my signature under my avatar! I painted the appropriate cockpit parts grey (FS 35231) this morning and have done a bit of other work on the cockpit area. This one will be completely box stock except the decals. The headrest has been painted red and a few switches and knobs have been painted red also. The instrument panel has been painted black. I'll drybrush the instrument faces white. As for how Mr. Smith came to be known as "The Wheels" and having it painted on his Sabre, the story started after he returned from his exchange with the USAF in Korea and he was the Chief Flying Instructor for Sabre pilots at CFB Chatham in New Brunswick. More details and photos later. Thanks for looking. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Emvar Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Hey hey no politics!!!! You don't see me making any comments of my beloved Maple Laughs!!! Or Leafs CondemNation :woot.gif:/> JK Emil Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 Hey hey no politics!!!! You don't see me making any comments of my beloved Maple Laughs!!! Or Leafs CondemNation JK Emil Yes dad... :D Thanks for looking in buddy. Hope all is well in your part of the province. If all goes well, I should be at the Hamilton show in March. Fingers are crossed! As promised, a bit more has been done and here are some photos. The wings and external tanks have been assembled. The J-47 and cockpit assembly have been completed and glued in place. I haven't painted the J-47 as it won't be visible. Why waste time, effort and paint on something that won't be seen. Except for building the engine which has to be done to get assemblies to line up and fit properly. The cockpit assembly. No belts. No seat cushion. Just paint and dry brushing. Finally the space above the intake runner where I will glue some weight to keep the nose on the ground. That's it for now. Thanks for looking in. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcon20driver Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Coming along nicely. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CorsairMan Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Every time you start one you make me want to do an academy sabre. One of these days... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted February 12, 2014 Author Share Posted February 12, 2014 Thanks guys. Come on CM...you know you want to! Her Nibs and I are just back from a couple of weeks down south. I did NOT want to get on that 737 last Saturday but such is life. I'm recharged for a few months anyway. Not a lot of progress since my last post. I have glued the weights into the nose area and closed up the fuselage. The vent on the spine near the tail has been sanded down to make this a closer resemblance to the Canadair Sabre 5 than an F-86F-30. I also noted that there is a gap on both sides of the fuselage where the wing meets the fuselage. I have glued some plastic stock to the wings to fill the void before gluing the two assemblies together. I'll take some photos later to illustrate what I've done. I have also realized that I opted for the wrong drop tanks in the photos above. They have been relegated to the spares box and the proper tanks have been assembled. That's it for now. Thanks for having a look and I'll post a few photos with, or before, my next update. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted February 13, 2014 Author Share Posted February 13, 2014 More photos as promised Here's the steel fishing weight glued in place with CA. The fuselage closed up and the vent on the spine sanded off and scratches filled with Tamiya Surface Primer. It has since been wet sanded smooth with 400, 800, 1000 and 2000 grit paper. The proper wing tanks Plastic glued to the wings to reduce the gap in the wing to fuselage join. This too has since been trimmed and sanded to fir the contour of the top of the wing. More card has been glued to the fuselage around the wheel well as there will be a visible gap there too. It will be easier to finish and sand the shim on the fuselage in this spot rather than on the wing. No photos of this but I will add more later to illustrate the point. Thanks for checking in. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcon20driver Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Looking good. I was wondering what nose weights you would use since there's not much room up in the nose. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted March 12, 2014 Author Share Posted March 12, 2014 No pictures but I am making progress slowly but surely after a MAJOR setback. As I alluded to earlier, the construction of the Academy kit is almost identical to the Hasegawa kit. Almost identical...but not quite. In this kit, after gluing the fuselage together, you need to glue a small square piece onto the back of the main wing assembly. It's the part below that I've circled. Well...being so used to building Hasegawa Sabres, didn't I forget to glue this piece in place. No problem. I'll just glue it into place in the fuselage opening. Doesn't the piece fall into the fuselage and I can't get it out no matter how much I shake, shimmy, roll, prod, poke, tweeze, pray, curse, and gently tap the model in an attempt to persuade said piece to come out. Not a snowball's chance in Hades is it coming out. Had there been no J-47 engine in there, the piece would have come out like a turd after a healthy dose of laxatives. But NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Murphy's Law strikes again. In order to get this piece out (there's now a principle at stake that no tiny piece of styrene is going to get the best of AX365!) I have to start a deconstruction. Being an advocate and staunch user of Tamiya Extra Thin Cement, I applied some to one of the seams in order to loosen the bond already created by the initial application of cement and subsequent bonding of parts. Normally this approach will work to help break the join. Not so. I got the wings off without any damage to wings or fuselage. Phew! On the underside, I used a small saw blade to separate the glued seam. Not so bad as a test fit shows I haven't lost that much plastic. I'm feeling pretty good. I shake the build but no piece comes out. It's stuck in there pretty good. Dagnabbit!!! I was going to take the same approach with the join on the spine but I figured that would be more visible and possibly harder to fix so I started scribing along the join. It was slow going but I made some pretty good progress and eventually got the seam to separate in the middle of the spine where I started the process. I started to apply a bit of pressure in an attempt to increase the room inside the fuselage by prying gently. Another difference between the Academy and Hasegawa Sabres is that the Academy kits have an option to cut the fuselage pieces into front and back halves in order to display the engine mounted in the aircraft. To facilitate the cut, the styrene is thinned considerably along the cut line. You can see where this is going, can't you? Yup. Doesn't the fuselage split right along this cut line and for the most part come off in my hand. To add insult to injury, aren't there a few other breaks in the styrene that are not along the seam line. Thankfully they were relatively small. While this is all going on, and the air is black with all the expletives being hurled around the room, missing piece falls out and onto the floor. Fortunately the piece is big enough that Carpet Monster doesn't make an appearance. At that point, I placed the model and the resulting pieces on the bench, got up, turned out the light and went downstairs and started watching TV. I couldn't do anything else as I was fit to be tied at my own stupidity for not following the instructions a little more closely. Since that time, I have been able to put Humpty Dumpty together again. I needed some gap filling super glue, sheet styrene, Tamiya putty. Tamiya cement and elbow grease but she doesn't look too bad. Once I get a coat of primer on, I'll see what other work needs to be done. Other progress that has been made is putting on the intake piece. There is a large step at the bottom where the ring joins the fuselage. Lots of filler and sanding required. I have also glued the canopy and windscreen in place, after an immersion in Future and adequate curing of course. The external fuel tank pylons have also been added. The next steps include applying the canopy masks and then a coat of primer. Not sure when this will get done as tomorrow will be a busy day and then I work all weekend. Hopefully this is enough stupidity for this build. I will post some photos in my next update. Thanks for looking in. If my next post is an incoherent ramble, it's probably because I'm drunk as a result of more stupiudity. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcon20driver Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Mike, I'm so sorry to hear about that! I think we've all been in self induced situations before and it sucks! For future reference, I found putting a model in the freezer for a little bit really helps to pry apart pieces. I don't use Tamiya cement so I'm not sure if it would work with that? I look forward to seeing how it all turns out! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted March 13, 2014 Author Share Posted March 13, 2014 Falcon...thanks for the support. I've heard of that trick but I'm not sure if it works with Tamiya Extra Thin. IF...I should ever find myself having to deconstruct in the future, I'll give your suggestion a try and see what happens. Thanks for the assistance. Fortunately this is not an alcohol induced rant. It's not even 1000 hrs. I suppose it could be but why waste a bright, bitterly cold winter morning with 10 - 15 cms of fresh snow on the ground. But wait...maybe those ARE good reasons to turn this into an adult beverage day. But I have to work very early tomorrow morning so I better skip it. Here are a few photos of progress before and after the mishap. These are the shims I glued onto the wings cut down to match the profile of the top of the wing. These are the shims I glued on to close the gap at the rer part of the wing / fuselage join. It didn't work so well after trimming. I ended up filling the gap with white glue. Here's the progress that was made prior to the fark up referred to in my post above. Due to the number of photos of the post disaster recovery, I'll continue in another reply. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted March 13, 2014 Author Share Posted March 13, 2014 Here are the photos of the work I had to do after the deconstruction. This is where the left side fuselage split in two and the subsequent recovery with gap filling CA, filler and sanding. In photos 2 and 4, you can make out the attached wing tank pylons. Here's the step and resultant filling where the intake ring attaches to the fuselage. And finally, the canopy and windscreen attached. Thanks for looking folks. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CorsairMan Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Damn that's a nasty step under the snout! Its like the ring shrunk! Not fair at all... Good recovery on the part mishap. There really was no other way to do it. You might have to spend a little longer on the surface prep but it will look awesome. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcon20driver Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Great save! I don't think I'd have the patience to keep at it, but your doing great. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
airmechaja Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 "Good Recovery" is an understatement. I think it looks great after the mishap. Knowing me, after adult beverages, I would have filed it in the round file. I have built both the Academy & the Hasegawa F-86, and the Hase goes together much better than the Academy. Dean Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted March 22, 2014 Author Share Posted March 22, 2014 Thanks guys. I have done more filling and sanding and I think the results aren't too bad. About 30 mins ago I sprayed some flat black along the repair work I've done to see how noticeable my 'handiwork' was and how well I did in my efforts on the save. I've also got the canopy glass on and masked with EZ Masks. The three masks for the windscreen are okay but the masks for the bubble canopy are a bit too long. That's okay. I can save that after the painting is done. I'll post a few photos later or ion my next post. Thanks for looking. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ALF18 Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 OUch! I just got caught up on your tribulations. Now that I think about it, Max's ears did perk up at some point on that day - I'm sure he heard you screaming! SWMBO must think you're a real star... Don't worry, my wife also thinks I am a pro at self-induced pain. Good recovery. Bon courage, mon ami! ALF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted March 27, 2014 Author Share Posted March 27, 2014 Hiya buddy. Thanks for checking in. They say a dog's hearing is so much better than a human's. I was swearing so hard that day I'm sure that Huskies in Rankin Inlet and Iqaluit heard me. I've laid down two light coats of gloss black. The second coat was shot about 5 hours ago and continues to cure. I gave it a light sanding between the two coats to get rid of some of the flecks and bits of dust that settler on the paint. I might even shoot a third mist coat. Although the attached photos don't do it justice, my save and extra work on the busted seams and plastic turned out really well. I'm pretty impressed if I do say so myself. Without further ado, here are some photos. There will be two posts to show them all. As bigasshammm alluded to in his post for his P-38, shooting gloss black is a bit difficult. That's a Bic pen stuck up the tail pipe. It's an exact fit and makes a great holder for painting and taking photos. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.