F-86F-30 Sabre Finished

Well, basically I have finished the Sabre. All I am waiting for now it the etched tools that I have ordered, but as of yet have not turned up!


So onto the conclusion of this project. One of the last things I had to make was the sign seen below. It is all part of the scene and my weird humour. My idea of this model, is that the pilot has returned to his aircraft expecting it to be ready for his next flight. But he finds the Sabre still in pieces with tools lying around and a blackboard stood on the wing with chalked on it "GONE TO LUNCH!". The second photo shows the board it the position I plan to put it. Other little details include a couple of tarpaulins, one draped over the tail section of fuselage and the other over a wing. The two bombs have been left on a couple of plywood cradles next to the aircraft. 


Some slight weathering has been done, but not too much and a little heat staining on the engine and tail section has been done using Alclad. I am still not quiet happy with the figures face yet, so a little more painting will be done to that. Once the tools have arrived, they will be painted and added to the scene lying around the aircraft.

So below is the finished scene and model pending the tools waiting to be added. Once they are on the model, I will be getting my good camera out and catch up on the finished models I still need to photograph for my website.

F-86F-30 Sabre WIP #4

This week, progress on the Sabre has been a little better then I thought it would be. Finally I got all of the decals added to the fuselage. There was a few issues with some of the larger  and the thin strip decals cracking up or breaking into a few pieces. But I overcame these problems and completed the task in hand.


Painting of the pilot was also started on at the beginning of the week whilst sitting around at work. There is still more detail painting left to be done on him before I am happy with it. Figures are not my favourite thing to paint, so the need of some lessons from some friends are needed. Yesterday, I managed to get the undercarriage and gear doors fitted to the underside of the fuselage. This has given me a needed boost after the slow process of adding decals all week. 


Now what's left to be done! Well, the cockpit interior needs to be finished, the external tanks mounted, final bits and pieces to the fuselage need painting and fitting. These things are followed by some weathering on the fuselage and rear section cradle, painting of the bombs and make some trestles to stand them on. I also need to make a few tarpaulins to hang over a couple of areas on the aircraft and a sign to hang over the nose. This Sunday, I will be at the East Midlands Model Show where I hope to find some 1/48th scale tools for this model. My plan is to have it finished for the end of next week, with luck!

F-86F-30 Sabre WIP #3

Onwards with the Sabre project. Now that all of the main paintwork has been done, it is onto the application of the decals. These are from Aero Master and so far have been not too bad to add to the model. There has been a couple that have cracked whilst I was positioning them on the model. I am not sure if this was because the sheet had been bent slightly at some point since it was printed, or just the decals themselves. Anyhow, as I am laying them onto the model, I am just using Micro Sol to aid their application. 

First I started putting the markings onto the model, and will add the stencilling afterwards once the first lot are dried properly. Just as I am writing this, the last of the marking decals have been added to the front section of the fuselage. As I had done the rear section a few days ago, I will start to add the stencilling to this section tonight. 

The aircraft I am doing, is the lower one shown on the sheet below which was flown by Lt.B. B. Huffman in late 1955.

49 Mercury Custom WIP #2

With the other ongoing projects, I have only just got around to taking some photos of the Mercury project. This is a little problem I have, too many projects on the go at the same time which causes a few projects to be forgotten about for a while. 

Now back to the Mercury. The main reason it has come to a stop for a little while is the fact I am trying to work out which way this project is going to progress. I have a few ideas in my head, one concerning the paint job but before I settle for this idea, I will first test out my theory to see if it will work. Other ideas are to change things like the exhaust system, do I fit modern style rims or keep to the retro styles wheels that come with the kit! Interior colour schemes, chassis and engine colours are other things I am trying to work out too, you know how it goes.

So to wet your appetite on this project, here are a few photos I have just taken of the work carried out so far. 

This kit comes with a complete chassis assembly, unlike most car kits that will have it moulded to the underfloor assembly. This will make things easier for adding fuel and brake lines to the model. The engine has good and solid mounting points to the chassis. Detail on the engine is very good and has plenty of potential for adding extra detailing items to it.

The floor section has the interior sides, seats and dashboard fixed to it along with the bulkhead and front inner wings. Once this section is finished, it mounts on location point on the chassis positioning it correctly.

Now onto the bodyshell. This is one of the nicest and cleanest body mouldings I have seen, there was only a few fine mould lines on it that were removed without any trouble. The kit comes wit a choice of two bonnets, the stock one and the other with louvres in it. Other options for the body include a choice of bumpers, grills and other various parts.

Here is the chassis, interior and bodyshell dry fitted together. Once I have made my decision on which way this project is going, it will be onwards with the work on it. There are two other custom cars in my on-hold shelf, a 53 Chevrolet BelAir and a 53 Ford F100 Pick-up. All three of these cars will look great together when completed.