Building Clear Prop's 1/48 F-86A Sabre
By Gerry Nilles
Overview
Before I start my review there are several things I would like to note. First, I want to compliment Clear Prop for thinking out of the box when it comes to subject matter. There are actually some of us model builders that build something other than just Me-109s or P-51s. To say that the F-86A is very welcome is definitely an under statement. Next, Clear Prop advertizes their 1/48th F-86A as a kit for an advanced skilled model builder. Trust me, they are not kidding. Finally, I would like to point out that during the build process I did not encounter anything that I would consider fatal flaws.
|
|
The Build
To begin, the fit overall is a mixed bag. Specifically, I found that the areas that gave me the most challenge include getting the fuselage halves to close over the exhaust pipe assembly plus the forward bottom plate that goes over the nose wheel well area, to seat with the sides of the fuselage. I am not sure if I did something wrong, however I would strongly advise constant fit checks prior to gluing assemblies into place. On the good news side, there are areas where the fit is excellent. For me the wing to the fuselage joint is always a concern, however the fit with this kit is perfect; no filler is required on either side. This is also true for the windscreen, which fits perfectly into the fuselage. Next, I would label some of the parts as being almost microscopic and care must taken not to let the carpet monster get them. Speaking of those tiny parts, several go into the cockpit assembly, which I might add is by far one of the best F-86 kit cockpits I have seen to date.
|
|
|
|
As noted, there are a bunch of small parts; however, there are a lot of larger parts too. As such, and obviously this means that this is not a quick build. In addition, being a build review I felt obligated to follow the kit instructions as is. As it turned out, following the instructions actually slowed the building process down. What I mean by this is that the instructions have you attach small parts, especially photoetch, to the interior of the landing gear wells after the kit is almost complete. For example, Steps 39 & 40 instructs you to add PE to the walls of the main gear wheel well, which at this point is difficult to access. However, and I could be wrong, but I could find no reason why that same PE could not have been attached very easily back on step 20 during the main landing gear well assembly process. Likewise, steps 45 through 48 have a number of both plastic and PE parts that would be much easier to attach to the interior of the nose gear wheel well back on step 11. Now I am not saying that the assembly sequence is wrong or can’t be done as is but that it seems it could be a little easier if done earlier.
|
|
Conclusion
Finally, and despite getting major eyestrain due to the small parts, I was pleased with the results. I am especially happy about the fact that kit has separate flaps. North American aircraft were well known for their hydraulics bleeding off when parked and as such, the flaps were usually down. Thank you again Clear Prop. I should also note that the decals were very good quality. In fact the areas where there was connecting clear film such as the case with the large USAF that were applied to the top and bottom of the wings that film literally disappeared. So please Clear Prop keep them coming.