Subject: Re: Article Submission: PHILIPPINE AIR FORCE F-86F
From: "Submissions for ARC" <[email-masked]>
To: "Michael Paul Reysio-Cruz" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2008 00:23:17 -0700

Hi,
I just wanted to let you know your article went on ARC today.  Thanks again for sending it in.

Steve Bamford
Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com

Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you've never been hurt.
Work like you don't need the money.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Michael Paul Reysio-Cruz 
  To: Steve Bamford ARC 
  Sent: Sunday, August 17, 2008 8:07 PM
  Subject: Article Submission: PHILIPPINE AIR FORCE F-86F

    
  "1/72 Philippine Air Force F-86" 

  by "Micah Reysio-Cruz"
  --------------------

        Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 01.jpg here  

  Turn the clock back twenty-five years, if you please. Back then, my Dad used to take me to the annual airshow at Villamor airbase South of Manila, where I could see the Philippine Air force inventory of F-5As and F-8 Crusaders doing awesome flybys of the base operations ramp. The concrete beneath them would be full of the PAF's inventory, which then included C-47s, dozens of Hueys, T-34 Mentors, T-28 Trojans and even T-33s. It was amazing, and did so much to shape the airplane-nut I am today.  Then, after the displaying jets landed (in formation, of course!) , and  we had our fill of hotdogs and cotton candy, Dad and I would retire to the shady area across the road, and take shelter at what was then the PAF museum. More often than not, we used to sit under the wings of a not too long ago-retired jet fighter mounted on a concrete pylon. It was on one of those days that Dad first told me that the jet fighter towering above us was the North American F-86. My run-ins with the Sabre did not end there, fortunately. A few years later, an art teacher of mine invited me and Dad to pass by the art room at my school. He said he noticed how all I ever drew were airplanes, and might have something interesting to show me. When he opened the door, I saw the complete cockpit of an F-86F, which my art teacher had painstakingly put together from bits of retired PAF Sabres. Even today, I am dumbstruck by that event, and the F-86 is a sentimental favorite. 

  Click on images below to see larger images

         Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 03.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 03.jpg   Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 04.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 04.jpg  

  When I saw the locally-produced "Haribon Decals" PAF Sabre decal set being sold at my favorite retailer, I just had to grab it, of course. Although it was quite iffy trying to figure out what kit would be closest to the ground attack F-86F block 40s flown by the PAF, I finally settled on the Academy F-86E, since it at least had leading edge slats. Everything else that could not be matched with my reference photos would be left to the imagination (yours, as well as mine).  After doing an a basically OOB build, I gave it an overall aluminum finish, a soap and acrylic sludge wash, and sealed everything with future. The decals were a bit of a shock, as the very, very thin carrier film caused the letters in "PHIL. AIR FORCE" to go floating away separately. A lot of patience and my "marshmallow test quotient" were used up in lining them up on the fuselage. A thin coat of future on the decal sheet prevented the other decals from making a repeat performance. The decal set has no standard stencils, so I used the kit stencil decals. PAF sabres often had less stencils than factory fresh aircraft, so reference photos are handy. After every decal was placed, another coat of future was applied to secure everything in place.  It took a four weekends to get the model done, and all I can say is it was like visiting with an old friend. The aircraft depicted was the 5th TFW Commander's ship, Basa airbase, in the late 60s/ early 70s. The PAF flew Sabres from the late 1950s until well into the 1980s.  

  Happy modelling everyone! 

        Steve Bamford will insert full sized v 

  ersion of photo 02.jpg here 
  Photos and text © by "Micah Reysio-Cruz"