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At the advent of the Korean War, the military discovered that compared to the fighting prowess and performance of the Russian made Mig-15's, the US air arsenal was sorely lacking.
Enter the F-86 Sabre, the successor to the incredibly successful P-51 Mustang, and the first US jet engine fighter.
Starting with the first F-86A's to enter service, and ending with the F-86F in March of 1952, the Sabre nearly single handedly reversed the air domination role, rolling up an impressive 14 to 1 kill ratio over the skies of Korea.
Spurred by the success of the new F-series Sabres, Canada began production of its own Sabres, eventually producing 1815 of the airframe from August 1949 to February 1969.
This kit replicates the Mk6 variant of Canadair's Sabre, and differs from its American cousin by the use of the Orenda 14 power plant, as well as a shortening of the main wing structure.
First Impressions
Hasegawa has chosen to use the F-86F Sabre as the basis for the kit, with the addition of resin wingtip replacements to shorten the wings, as well as a white metal pitot tube, replacing the kit's plastic part.
Optional drop tank tail planes are also provided for both variants (with stabilizers or without.)
The kit also has the options for both open and closed speed brakes.
Decals for 2 aircraft, No. 439 Squadron, October 1959, and No. 421 Squadron, round out the box contents.
The sprues are molding in light grey, with the crisp detail we've all come to expect from Hasegawa kits, complete with finely engraved panel lines on all upper and lower surfaces.
Construction
As with nearly all aircraft kits, kit construction begins with the cockpit.
I was a bit disappointed with the detail displayed on the ejection seat, including a lack of harness, and the kit could certainly benefit from an aftermarket replacement, if so desired.
The instrument panel and cockpit is also a bit lacking in detail, but with work, a decent representation of the tub can be created.
Fuselage assembly went quite smoothly, and all seams lined up perfectly, with just a bit of sanding needed to remove the seam lines.
The wing installation, however, proved to be a bit more involved, requiring a touch of surgery.
The instructions call for cutting off the extra length of each wing, and installation of new resin wingtips to replace the end caps.
However, the resin pieces did not line up to the surface detail of the plastic, and were in fact too small for the thickness of the wings.
It is not a huge amount, but definitely enough to be readily visible on the final product.
After shimming gaps with plasticard and an hour of vigorous sanding, I eventually got both sections to line up properly.
Be warned!
Painting/Decals
Painting for the airframe and all upper/lower surfaces was done via airbrush with a combination of Model Master and Polly Scale Acrylics.
Both aircraft markings use the same camouflage scheme, so the painting choices are quite simple.
Interior detail was done using a combination of Vallejo and Citadel Acrylics.
For markings, I chose to portray the No. 439 Squadron, the same as displayed on the box.
Decals include a full compliment of stencil data, and went on quite easily with just a touch of Micro Sol to snuggle everything down properly.
The only difficulties encountered were with the delicate demarcation lines (decals #54 and #59) along the wing roots.
Also, Hasegawa made an error on the supplied decal sheet, as undersurface decals #45 and #46 are inexplicably joined by decal film.
A little snip from the scissors quickly fixed that.
Conclusion
All in all, this is a fine kit in standing with Hasegawa's usual high quality.
Although there are a few small problems to work out, they are far fewer than other kits of the Sabre on the market today, and with a little work, will add an interesting variant to your Cold War Era collection without shelling out the extra bucks for a conversion set.
Highly Recommended.
Special thanks to Hasegawa and IPMS for the review kit.
References:
F-86 Sabre Fighter-Bomber Units Over Korea by Warren Thompson, Osprey Publishing
F-86 Sabre In Action, Squadron-Signal Publishing
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