Airfix 1/48 F-86F-40, Markings TBD

Started by George R Blair Jr · 138 · 6 months ago · . 1/48, Airfix, F-86F-40
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    George R Blair Jr said 8 months, 1 week ago:

    The Airfix 1/48 F-86F-40 is one of their newly molded kits and is supposed to be a very nice build. Although I usually only build only one model at a time, I wanted to start this kit as a way to get some relief from the problems I was having with the Academy kit.

    There are several paint schemes that I still want to do, including several Sabres in foreign markings, but the schemes that are calling to me all feature lots of natural metal surfaces along with some high visibility red. I want to do a QF-86 used either by the US Army or the US Navy as an unmanned aerial target, or an F-86F used at Edwards AFB for testing and as a chase plane. I will decided which to do in the near future.

    I got started by assessing what I had available for the plane, which included an Eduard Look set for this model, an Eduard canopy mask, as well as a resin ejection seat.

    Everything about this kit looks to be very good. The instructions feature color to highlight parts to add in each section. The build started with the cockpit and the intake. The only thing I did in the cockpit was to scrape away the raised detail on the side consoles in preparation for adding the Eduard set. I wanted to get the intake glued together and the seam eliminated. The intakke halves were pretty good, but had some ejector pin marks that I sanded away. I used the same technique to eliminate the seam on the inside of the intake that I used on my other F-86. First you glue the two halves of the intake together. Then you seal off the forward end of the intake with tape. I then thin some Vallejo Acrylic Filler with water and pour it into the intake. I leave it in the intake for about 10 or 15 minutes and then allow it to dribble out. I then ckeck the forward part of the intake for any unsmoothness or bubbles in the filler, and then let it dry. You end up with a smooth interior to the intake.

    Thanks it for today. More tomorrow.

    17 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 8 months, 1 week ago:

    Another excellent Sabre entry and great progress already, my friend @gblair! Looking forward to your next steps and your scheme choice of course!

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    Felix said 8 months, 1 week ago:

    George @gblair
    Taking a seat and watching with great interest! This kit is underrated imho, your reference picture looks enticing and i am eager to see how you get the nmf done!

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    George R Blair Jr said 8 months, 1 week ago:

    Thanks, Spiros (@fiveten): Even at this early stage, things seem to be moving forward nicely with this kit.

    Thanks, Felix (@fxrob): I have heard this is a really nice kit. I have my fingers crossed. I don't ever do all NMF, so I am also interested to see how I get it done.

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    Alfred van Paaschen said 8 months, 1 week ago:

    Love the NASA scheme!

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    John vd Biggelaar said 8 months ago:

    A wonderful choice, George @gblair
    This will for sure be an out of the ordinary one in this scheme.

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    George R Blair Jr said 8 months ago:

    Hi Alfred (@alfred) and John (@john). I like this Airfix kit, which seems to be going well. It also has multiple panels that need to be placed in the fuselage, so we will see how the fit goes. I am also leaning toward the NASA plane.

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    George R Blair Jr said 8 months ago:

    I took a little time today to assess the cockpit and its level of detail. As it comes from the box, there isn't a bunch of detail in the cockpit. The ejection seat is basically fairly accurate, but could use some more details. In preparation for the Eduard interior set, I scraped away all of the raised details on the side consoles and on the instrument panel. I sprayed everything with some Tamiya Fine Gray Primer. I planned to use a different color of gray for the cockpit, but the primer looks pretty good, so I may leave it as the final color. The last thing I did was to spray a little dark aluminum into the intake.

    3 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Eric Berg said 8 months ago:

    I’m glad you picked up this Airfix Sabre. This is the tooling I have my eyes on. This or Hasegawa. You guys kinda talked me out of Academy. Looking forward to to what you have to say, George @gblair.

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    George R Blair Jr said 8 months ago:

    Hi Eric (@eb801): I like the looks of the Airfix kit. The cockpit is a little sparse, but easy to fix with some PE or scratchbuilding. I also have the Hasegawa and I might build it following the Airfix, although I have a Tamiya A-10 that is calling me.

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    Eric Berg said 8 months ago:

    I have that new Academy A-10C. It's across my workbench staring right at me saying "When?". Not enough time is there, George @gblair?

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    George R Blair Jr said 8 months ago:

    Hi Eric (@eb801): Caracal decals released a set for early A-10s, which has some really cool paint schemes. I don't want to date myself, but I remember seeing all of these paint schemes when they were originally around. The Tamiya kit is an A-10A, so I think it will work for me. I don't do a lot of modern planes, but I can make an exception for an A-10.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 8 months ago:

    Excellent progress, my friend @gblair!

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    John vd Biggelaar said 8 months ago:

    Already some good progress on this Airfix one, George @gblair

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    Erik Gjørup said 8 months ago:

    Good job on the filler @gblair. Be sure to add the "BEWARE OF BLAST" decal. . . looks like it is a very appropriate decal on a target drone!