Here is my latest build, the old Monogram F-86F Sabre jet. This is the recent re-issue of the venerable old early 70s kit complete with many of the issues we find in these re-releases of old molds such as this one.
The good-looking box art
So I built this as the second of a one-two punch of F-86 builds, the first being Hasegawa's awesome kit in Skyblazers livery. The old Monogram does not compare to the Hasegawa but don't take that as criticism. I go way back to the ripe old age of 3 with Monogram kits, first building their P-40B as a tyke. As a ballpark guesstimate, I'd say I have built this Monogram F-86 3 previous times. And one could say I like F-86s. The Hasegawa kit was one of the first that I built when I returned to the hobby in the mid-90s, first building it as a going-away gift for a co-worker then building a second example for myself. I currently count a Monogram boxing that also includes their MiG-15 kit, as well as the Monogram Pro-Modeler F-86D SabreDog and Kitty Hawk's F-86D SabreDog, 1/32, in my stash. Yeah, I do like this jet. It just looks fast, even sitting still.
On to the build
Having built this airplane as many times as I have, I was pretty desperate to build one in any scheme not featuring the wide yellow band that features prominently mid-fuselage on many Sabres. I like the box art and was initially going with that scheme since it at least features colors different than yellow. Then I was perusing my F-86 Sabre Walk Around book and found an interesting camouflage scheme that the 86th FDW of the 461st FDS in Europe in 1956 sported. The color scheme was sea gray, dark green and PRU blue with nary a wide yellow band in sight. I was sold! So next the obvious concern was the squadron's markings, which includes a squadron badge that features some kind of face like an actor's mask or something (sorry, not really familiar with that kind of thing). I found a set of decals for this squadron that as far as I could find was out of production, so instead I whipped out my decal paper, fired up the printer and made my own.
The decals were largely successful, to a point, but I was disappointed with the squadron badge. The issue there was likely that I printed this on the clear paper rather than the white paper, resulting in a nearly invisible badge located near the top of the fin. Well, lesson learned.
Paints were a mix of Vallejo and Model Master. I did not have any paint named "sea gray" but did have several bottles of "medium sea gray". I later found someone else had done the same build using a "dark sea gray" which I think I would have liked a little more but by then my bird was painted and decaled. I also did a first here by painting the striking yellow diamond on black striping by hand rather than relying on a decal. Turned out that was not terribly difficult and the result is far better than any decal could ever be.
Built completely out of the box. There are some fit issues that result largely from the 40+ year-old mold. The forward wheel well piece did not go in flush with the surrounding fuselage no matter every effort I applied to that task. I ended up having to sand it to be nearly flush, opting to get it close rather than risk sanding through plastic. The engine exhaust is a big problem - there is a burner can in there but unfortunately there is also a gaping hole formed by the two fuselage halves rising into the fin that is very visible if one simply looks up the Sabre's tail pipe. I solved this problem by pirating the FOD covers that came with the Hasegawa kit and I did not use on that build and shoving those into both ends of this build.
Details is actually quite good. Maybe not Tamiya good but for roughly $20 it is a good bang for the buck. Monogram gets a lot of flak for ill-fitting kits, or bad shape, or whatever, but we have all seen some real gems built out of these kits. They may take a bit of work but they are really worth the effort given the relative low cost.
Build Photos
Note on this last photograph. Anyone recognize the pilot's name? I was unable to locate many really good pictures of this squadron's aircraft, and never found any pilots' names. One build I found in an on-line review showed a big black rectangle with the pilot's name in bold yellow letters but I was unable to make out the actual name. So last Friday, after emerging from the local theater having seen Rogue One, I was reminded of the first pilot to die during the attack on the first Death Star in the first Star Wars movie, none other than Jek Porkins, and decided right then and there that this would be Porkins' Sabre. Yeah, I'm a Star Wars nut, I even know that character's first name!
That's it for 2016. I have been out of work for much of this year, which has given me a lot more time at the bench that I would ever have expected. I'm not sure when I will get back to the bench in 2017, but when I do I expect to do another dual build of AMT/Ertl's P-40 Warhawks.