She looks good Steve!!! Great work!

Whoops, mis-post!

Wow, she looks sharp Steve, almost there, looking forward to seeing her done!

That's very cool. My father served with that unit after the came back from Korea crewing on Invaders.

Hey Stik,

Yes, the markings are for the 729th BS and the 452nd bomb wing.  I had to combine a few decals to get the correct plane number.   I printed my own decal for the plane name.

Steve

That looks great Steve!!!! Keep the updates coming! No matter how long it takes. Question: Are those markings for a 452nd BG Invader?

Hey Stik,

I have an update even though it's been quite a long time since I've posted to this GB.  This Invader has been fun to build but my interest has come and gone several times.  Here are some photos of where she stands.  I still have to put on a wash and finish up the napalm tanks, rockets, and gun barrels.  I've carefully cut the clamshell open so that the cockpit will be visible and need to make the slide mechanism that they open on. 

Steve

Yes it was certainly one of the more complex wars of recent history. A local civil war and at the same time part of a global idealogical war tied together, with much of the world fighting in that one locale. The Koreans and the land in the end paying the heaviest price- the peninsula devastated from end to end, millions dead, and the prior divided situation not resolved, only intesified.

Yeah, 'The Great Raid' is probably my favorite war movie and I was thinking it's about as close to a happy ending you can get. Good points made!

One other element I liked in 'TaeGukGi' is it is a KOREAN movie. They do get overrun by the Chinese and there are American tanks and aircraft but otherwise everyone you see is Korean -either South or North. The movie really hammers home that in many respects it was a civil war, with some people and families caught up in the middle.

Amazon had it in a bundle deal with two other Korean movies, 'Frontline' and 'My Way'. I'll looking forward to checking them out when I get some time.

Yes Dogfights is fun to watch! Probably far better on DVD becuase of no frquent and repetitve commercials!!! If they would just fine tune the series and cut out the CGI geek showing off the same explosion from a dozen different perspectives it would be as good as it could get.

Some war movies can have a happy ending, or at least uplifting. In "The Great Raid" and "Raid on Entebbe", where the POWs/Hostages are rescued and returned to safety are probably among the best examples of such, especially so becuase they are true. "Battleground" where the war weary 3rd platoon goes marching back to the rear calling cadence (a rather jaded one at that) so they dont "look like a bunch of WACs" to the relief troops streaming by on their way to the front line is another classic example. But the closest you get to any of that in any Korean War film that I have seen is "Pork Chop Hill" where the few survivors march down off that piece of real estate only because the high command decided to make a relief attempt. I will have to keep my eye open for that Korean film.

You know the History Channel's 'Dogfights' is sheer pure unadulterated EVIL!!! It was bad enough when it was on once a week, now that I've got the DVDs and I'm watching an episode each night it's a zillion times worse! The problem is every episode gives me an obsession THAT I MUST BUILD AT LEAST ONE AIRCRAFT FROM THE EPISODE!!! After the MiG Alley episode with the F-86s I just watched the Vietnam episode last night- and I want to build another F-4, a MiG-19 and a MiG-21!!! Help me!!!

SP: Frankly I don't think you can write a happy war movie unless it's something silly like 'Kelly's Heroes'. You do make a good point there on the 'end' of the Korean War. Since it never really ended you can't have a big victory parade and a sorta happy ending. So you have to do a bleak movie. I don't want to spoil the plot but here the hero is sorta a Korean version of Job. It seems the screenwriter just keeps dumping a big bucket of pain and misery on the poor kid. By the end I was about to scream at the screen - 'leave the poor guy alone!!!'

Bitbite: As I said it's an awesome film!  

Gamera - never heard of it but now I'm going to have to watch it.

Gamera, you know that you want to build an F-86... give in to those urges...

Considering the nature of the Korean War and its' unresolved nature continuing to echo through to this day (especially for the Koreans themselves), it is no suprise that none of the films made on that war have anything close to a happy ending. At least none that I have seen. In almost every case, mere survival of the protaganist(s), or at least some of them, is the best you get.

Sharp work Tony! Love the seatbelts and cockpit detail there.

I picked up a couple of other DVDs when I got the Korean War documentary- including 'Dogfights'. I was watching the 'MiG Alley' episode Saturday. Great episode- everything seems to be conspiring to force me to build a F-86!

And I also bought the Blu-Ray version of 'TaeGukGi'. Wow, what a fantastic movie!!! Depressing as hell- I don't expect a war movie to be sunshine and roses but gee it makes 'Saving Private Ryan' look like 'Mary Poppins'! Still, just what a great movie!!!

Definitely taking shape now...

Some more shots of the Sabre, it's progressing.

Cheers

Tony

Yes, perspective quite often does change depending upon an author's nationality. Many Korean War combat vets do tend to have interesting tales. Quite a fascinating subject when one starts to realy look into it.

Yeah, very true SP, just interested in a different perspective than the US. I read a book a few years ago from a British historian about the war, interesting different look at things. I wish I could remember the guys name. And General Paik Sun-Yup of the ROK wrote a very interesting history of his involvement.

Not surprising about the Chinese vets though. The more I think about it though scads of North Korean POWs defected to South Korea  and the West rather than returning home, I'd love to see some interviews with these guys.

Not that I'm complaining at all, the interviews on the DVD are riveting. One guy was there with the advisory group to the ROK at the time of the invasion. He talks about his troops firing a bazooka at advancing T-34s and watching a half a dozen rounds bounce off as he put it- like someone throwing golf balls at it.

Well most of those countries only provided small elements to the war- a few Battalions or Brigades at most. The US and the ROKs provided the lions share of ground forces in combat. Yes it would be interesting to hear the Chinese perspective, but from what I hav e read, I get the impression that many Korean War vets seem to have been purged during the Cultural Revolution.

Tony, I know the feeling of caring for your elderly mother. My mom was dying of Uterine Cancer during the first year of this GB, and among other personal issues at that time, took up a great deal of my non working hours. I wish your mother a speedy recovery.

Tony: I hope your mom has a swift and complete recovery, my folks are getting to that age too.

Nice work there on the F-86, the seams don't look too bad, I've seen a lot worse.

BTW: Funny this should come back up, I picked up a set of four DVDs entitled 'Korea: The Forgotten War' the other day thinking this was a PHS series I watched back in the late '80s. This is much more recent, excellent footage and the interviews with the vets are fantastic- well worth way more than the six bucks I paid for it. I've only watched the first DVD so far and am looking forward to the rest. My only complaint is that so far all the vets interviewed have been Americans. Seems like it wouldn't be too hard to find some British/Commonwealth vets to interview too, heck just send someone up to Canada if they didn't want to fly overseas. I'd really love to hear from some of the ROK vets or from some of the minor nations in the fighting like the Turks or Filipinos. Heck even a Chinese vet if they could get one!

Thanks Stik. My elderly mother needed to get a hip replacement done quite suddenly, so that's drawn quite a bit of my time recently. She' coming good though, which is fantastic :)

I've mainly been working on ones that were very nearly finished during that period. Didn't seem to have the concentration for too much.

Cheers

Tony

Very nice Tony. Just like this war has never really ended (cease fire only- no peace treaty, no armistace), this GB, never quite will either ;-) Take as long as you need, we will be here.

Here's my 1/72 Academy F-86F, and guess what, I forgot the weights. I guess I'll have to shove some lead down the intake and paint it to hide it. The fit isn't as perfect as I had hoped for for a bare metal aircraft, but it's OK. Just means a bit more prep. Still working on the seams.

Cheers

Tony

Looks like a real good start there Tony. I cant wait to see more! 

Here is a link to a timely news article on the legacy of the Korean War.

http://news.yahoo.com/wars-us-legacies-permanent-troops-7-900-mias-174504856.html

Here's that start, thanks for letting me go on with this fellas. I will try to post daily to hustle myself along.

Love to see her Tony, love the F-86.

Gee, has it been three years though? Time flies when you're having fun!

Tony, get the pics posted and we will grandfather it in ;-) I would love for that to close this out... I will try to finish up my F-86 in a couple weeks after my Tiger is done.

Stik, I started the interior of my inadequate little F-86  about a fortnight ago, but I didn't post a picture. I'm very happy to continue it, will take about three weeks, or if you want to close it off, I'll finish it some other time.

No excuses after three years......

Cheers

Tony

OK folks, tomorrow is the end of this GB on here- Any kits that have been started but not yet completed can be submitted after the end tomorrow for inclusion in the gallery... after all the war never really ended either... So tomorrow night at Midnight,  Pacific Standard Time, we will call this one done.