The
F-86H was the last Sabre variant built by North American Aviation and was to be
the best of the Sabre line, having a more powerful 8,900 lbst GE J73 engine
which necessitated the need for a deeper fuselage and intake due to airflow
requirements for the new engine. Firepower was improved with the
incorporation of four M39 20 mm cannons in place of the Sabre's previous six .50
calibre machine gun armament, a lesson no doubt learned from the Korean War and
Project Gunval. Instead of a sliding canopy, the H-model had a rear-hinged
clamshell canopy. The Low Altitude Bombing System (LABS, also known as "toss
bombing" or "over-the-shoulder bombing" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toss_bombing )
was incorporated which gave it a 1,200 pound "special store" atomic
capability that could be carried on pylons that were in-board of the fuel-tank
pylons. Early H-models used the '6-3' Sabre wing with fences, before
changing to the F-40 extended wing with the earlier versions being retro-fitted.
Production
was limited to 473 aircraft due to the development of the F-100 Super Sabre
which would have supersonic capability. The H-models were rapidly passed
from the active duty USAF to the Air National Guard by 1957 and all were with
the ANG by June 1958. Due to the 1961 Berlin Crisis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Crisis_of_1961 three
units (101st, 131st and 138th TFS) of the Massachusetts ANG 102nd TFW were
called back to active duty and were deployed to Phalsbourg AB, France, where
they remained until August of 1962.
The
H-model was also used as an aggressor to simulate the Mig-17 threat that F-4
Phantom pilots were facing in Vietnam towards the end of the 1960's. These
were the lowest timed airframes that were turned over to the U.S. Navy
when they had ended their time with the ANG.
My
model represents 31300 from the 101st TFS while it was based at Boston's Logan
airport. This aircraft found it's way to the Combat Air Museum (CAM) in
Topeka, KS. in the 1980's where it has since been displayed (fairly completely) in
just plain natural metal with no other markings whatsoever. I had always
wondered what markings this aircraft wore in service and thought it would be
neat if it had served with the 101st with it's colorful green shamrock markings.
I was mightily surprised when I asked the director of the museum about it one
day and he produced a black/white photo of it in Massachusetts ANG markings!...
and even more, it had two red boss bird stripes on the fuselage behind the
canopy! Thankfully, work has started to return this bird to her former
glory and with the level of work done on a recent re-paint of an F-84F in the
museum collection, I'm sure this bird will be a beauty when finished.
Click on
images below to see larger images
When
Special Hobby (SH) came out with their limited-run F-86H, I just had to
have one as I've always been intrigued by the one at CAM. There's just
something intimidatingly more "brutish" about the Hog variant than
earlier Sabres. Unfortunately the first issue of SH's kit came with
active-duty USAF markings only. Colorful as they were, I wanted the MASS
ANG and did not savor having to try to create them myself... mainly the
white/green which was causing me reason to balk. Thankfully, SH released
an ANG version that included the 101st markings in that release, HOORAY! A
quick e-mail and the gracious person that responded allowed me to purchase a set
without having to buy a complete new kit. Many thanks!
The
build of this kit did not present much difficulty, being comparable in quality
to the Hobbycraft and Fujimi F-86's in this scale, but as is typical with
limited-run kits, there was just a bit of clean-up work and additional test
fitting to make sure things would go fairly smoothly. As with the
Hobbycraft Sabres, I would highly recommend gluing the intake ring to the intake
trunking and allowing it to fully cure before installing the interior/trunking
and closing the fuselage halves. Try as I might, I still ended up with a
slight off-set to one side with the nose that resulted in some areas that took
careful filling and sanding, but it's barely apparent, so I lived with it and
moved on.
The
kit does not come with deployed slats, so I did my best to cut them out and
deploy them. It wasn't the best or most accurate job, but I'm pretty
pleased with the way they came out for being a first time attempt at doing such.
The
bulk of the markings were modified from those provided by SH, but they did a
different variation which had "MASS ANG" on the rear fuselage around
the national insignia, so I had to create "MASS AIR GUARD" and this
aircraft's associated serial number with my lazer printer. In
creating/placing the markings, I came to figure out that I believe SH may have
incorrectly located the cockpit and canopy. The panel lines on the sides
of the fuselage seem to be accurate in placement, but the canopy would seem to
sit several scale inches too far back on top of the fuselage. By the time
I realized this, it was too late in the build to have done anything and I'm not
sure I would have, had I known it going into the build anyhow, as it would be a
very complex fix. Otherwise, it appears to be a fairly accurate Hog
variant straight out of the box and with few other manufacturers rushing to
release other kits of this variant, we can't be too choosy. Although,
there is no option for an open canopy and to be more accurate, one needs to
blend the rear of the canopy with the fuselage a bit with some putty, as out of
the box it's a pretty sharp angle that is not evident in pics of the real
article.
Painting
was done with Citadel Mithril Silver, Chainmail and Bolt-gun metal acrylics.
I also used Floquil Platinum Mist enamel and Model Master Chrome Silver
enamel.
The decals provided
by SH were some of the best decals I've ever worked with in regards to how well
they snuggled down onto the surface of the model and how realistically thin they
appeared to be... but unfortunately, they're very fragile and do not slide well
at all once on the model, so a lot of care must be taken in positioning them
correctly. I don't believe I had any boo-boo's with mine in this area, but
wanted to make sure anyone building these kits is aware of the hazard that
awaits them.
On this particular
aircraft, there appeared to be a specific red armament box painted on the right
side of the nose and part of the gun-blast panel. SH does not include this
with the stencils in their kit, so I had to create this and make my own decal.
Not the best, but would've bugged me if it wasn't there.
One questionable
part of this build that I was not able to obtain the answer on, is the green
horizontal stripe on the vertical stab. In kits and pictures of other
101st birds, this always seems to be green, but has been depicted in red also.
The director at CAM informed me that they'd been told that it was a "medium
blue" while they were researching it's markings from the picture they had.
Considering that references on these birds are fairly scarce and I couldn't
find anyone that knew the correct answer, I decided to go with the green.
I suppose I could always change it if new information ever comes to light.
The Hog seems to sit
slightly nose-high/tail-low, but the kit out of the box appears to be too flat
and level. The nose-gear strut appeared too short to my eye, so I did some
surgery and extended it a bit, fitting new oleo scissors in the process.
I opted to omit the
photo-etch vortex generators on the underside of the horizontal stabs and the
sides of the rear fuselage in that same area. They were just too small to
mess with and I'm sure would've driven me in search of a stiff drink if I'd have
made the attempt!
I'm pleased with the
way in which this kit turned out and that it was a fairly hassle free build.
I'd definitely recommend this kit to anyone wanting to do the Hog variant of the
famed Sabre family.
J.C.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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