1/48 Hasegawa F-86E Sabre

by Miroslav Adamovic

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      Here is the biggest Cold War paradox, Sabre with red stars.  After the break up with the Soviet Union in 1948,Yugoslavia turned West for military aid.  Amongst other military equipment, the Yugoslav Air Force acquired 120 ex RAF Sabres.  
      First deliveries were taken in 1956, followed up by deliveries in 1959 and 1960.  Sabres served in Yugoslav AF for more than two decades and it flew together with the MiG-21,which was a unique occurrence in the world.

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       On July 31,1956,Colonel Nikola Lekic took his Sabre to 15 000 m and in a 90 degree dive he broke the sound barrier, making him the first Yugoslav pilot to go beyond Mach 1.  The aircraft he flew on the day was serial No 11005 and still wore British style camouflage (Dark Green/Grey upper surface and Light Blue bottom) with Yugoslav insignia painted on.
        In 1962,Yugoslav-Soviet relations improved and the Yugoslav Air Force started taking deliveries of MiG-21 F-13, state of the art Soviet interceptor at the time.  If that didn't happen, we'd probably see some F-104G Starfighters in the Yugoslav skies.

      My model was originally a Canadair Sabre Mk6, which I tried to backdate to Mk4, so the wing slats were filled in and an aerodynamic fence was added.  The model was built straight from the box with exception of excellent FlightDecs decals.
      The kit went together pretty good with only a few spots that needed some filler (wings to fuselage joint was the worst).  Model was primed with Tamiya Grey Primer and polished with Micro Mesh Polishing Cloths, gradually increasing grit.
       Model was painted with combination of Aluminium, White Aluminium and Dark Aluminium Alclad II lacquers.  After decaling, I applied Acrylic black wash to the model.

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     This was my first Alclad II try and I've learnt a lot.  I hope that you like my model.
 Special thanks to Mr Marijo Malogorski from Croatia for the tons of reference material.

Miroslav

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Photos and text © by Miroslav Adamovic