**** DONE: 1/72 F-86F - Aircraft Nose Art GB.

[Rogi]

Username: Rogi
Name: Igor
Category: Beginer
Scale: 1/72
Manufacturer: Academy
Type: North American F-86F-30
Aftermarket: possibly decals, depends how nice the academy treats me.

I've been in love with the crazy graphics on Mike's Bird for the last little while and this 1/72 has been in my pile since it launched lol

I can't wait to make her , I'll update the thread a bit later with history and photos.


2 in 1 GB Ahhh will I finish this lol

Does anyone have experience with this kit's decals? I feel like Academy's decals are always hit or miss depending on the kit :O

 

[Catch22]

Nice, another Sabre!

 

[woody]

Nice one Igor.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Go Igor, and if the kit is as old as the plane then may I suggest a protective coat of something like Microscale's Liquid Decal Film on the decals. This should hold them together if they are a bit brittle, also when applying, soak them well until they almost seem to be lifting off the backing paper. I sometimes use tepid water to ensure this.

 

[meatloaf109]

I agree.
That is the best way to be sure you don't end up with flakey water!

 

[Wayne Little]

Reckon your right on them decals Igor so don't take chances, coat them as vic said should be ok....

 

[fubar57]

Yep.

Geo

 

[Rogi]

Ok so I sat down yesterday and base coated the bird with a black base coat for the cockpit (the color of F-86F-30s is Light Grey in the cockpit, with a lot of use the color can become a medium to dark grey, older model F-86s have a Black cockpit) during the night I couldn't sleep a wink, so I went at the light grey coat and coated all the cockpit parts with Tamiya Light Grey)
I went to bed hoping that the color would dry by the morning
At around 11am I check up on the progress and found it was sufficiently dry enough, so I laid down the cockpit details and I just finished the 3rd go at the dials. 1 or 2 more goes at her and she should be ok, I outlined the dials on the cockpit sides in white so I could see the interior a little easier (grey does some funky things with my eye sight lol) After the last coat, I'll re-apply a little grey around the dials and it should be good to go.

Here are the photos so far with current progress:
Little bit of different tones of grey on the sides of the cockpit:

Cockpit and instrument panel:

Side shot:

I have around 1 or 2 more coats and then I'll glue the last panel in and seal it up this is a must finish before the end of September


Hope you guys enjoy and thank you for the comments

 

[Catch22]

Nice!

 

[fubar57]

Nice panel Igor

Geo

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Good start!

 

[Lucky13]

Good kick off Igor!

 

[Crimea_River]

Agreed.

 

[N4521U]

I'll second that........... or would it be the t'ird????

 

[Rogi]

I ran into a slight issue, in the rear of the engine when you look right behind it, should it form a cross or an X shape?

Like if you are looking straight at the engine from the rear, some photos show a X (majority) and one or two I've seen form a t shape (or cross)

I'll post pics in a second.

Right inside here:

should it be this, a t shape:

or an X shape:

Please help guys I had a cross originally but then I hulked the portion out because I thought I made an error

Now I'm not sure which one is which

 

[fubar57]

This is as good as I could find...

Geo

 

[meatloaf109]

X.
According to a picture I found on Aircraftwalkaround.hobbyvista.com

 

[Rogi]

This is as good as I could find...

I only found 1 picture of the rear and it was an X :S

X.
According to a picture I found on Aircraftwalkaround.hobbyvista.com

I thought it was an X as well that's why I hulked it out (I have a picture in one of my walk around F-86 books) , I'll wait for a couple more replys just to make sure its the proper X one

Thank you Geo and Paul any help is greatly appreciated

Looks like its an X man and not a T crusader lol

 

[Rogi]

Small update, I decided to go with the X (a couple more members pmed me with their X-men choice )

Here is the work so far, puttied on the drop tanks and sanded away, checking with the silver, the back looks bad, the front good

I'll have to redo the application tomorrow

Here is the Fuselage, I usually putty the bottom first and then the top of the fuselage. I think this one turned out ok, just a bit of re-scribing tomorrow and it should be fine, after the silver paint check:

What do you guys use for putty? I have the usual method of leave a bit of glue to seap out, sand, apply putty on the entire surface if there is a gap. I've heard of items that melt the plastic and cover the entire surface. With little to no putty needed.

I usually have the issue of having a perfect line in the center to what you can see in the fuselage picture, sometimes it shows through when doing a small check. How could I reduce this to as little a time spent on putty as possible? Any opinions are appreciated

 

[Airframes]

Try to ensure the best, properly aligned joint as possible and allow to fully set. Then use a fine file to file the joint if needed, followed by a very fine and light sanding, followed by a polish. Any lost surface detail can then be re-engraved. No putty should be needed, unless the parts are warped, or an unavoidable 'step' is present.