Most of us are aware of how well the F-86 Sabre did during the Korean war so I won't repeat that information. What is interesting is that by the last year of the war,  all of the USAF  jet powered day fighter and many of the ground attack units were either flying the F-86 or transitioning to it. So successful was the aircraft that nearly half of the tactical squadrons were flying the type by the end of 1953.

Anyway, thanks to the increasing use of color film and the popularity of Kodachrome color slide film, especially amongst amateurs (including a lot of servicemen), we have a very good record of the aircraft that participated in the Korean War. This has led to a number of very nice decal sheets, produced by a number of people, on Korean war subjects. I can imagine that the 50th anniversary of that war has something to do with it as well!

Aeromaster has jumped on the Sabre bandwagon in a big way offering a number of sheets of Korean war birds. This particular one is Part II of many. As a general note, the sheet offers insignia and stripe outlines for two of the four aircraft on the sheet. There are no stencils included, that will have to come from another sheet or the kit decals. The recommended kits are the 1/48 Hasegawa or Monogram Sabres. Frankly, for doing a Korean War F-86, your best bet would be the Academy kit as most consider it more accurate. However, when this sheet was released in 1996, perhaps it wasn't available. You will also have to paint any of the broad yellow fuselage, wing and tail bands. Aeromaster has provided the black boarder stripes

Well, let's get down to specifics.

First on the sheet is an F-86F-10 from the 336 FIS. This aircraft has three Mig kill markings on it and was the mount of Capt. George Love.

Next is an F-86F-10 for Lt.Gen Glenn Barkus, commander of the 5th AF. The aircraft is in the markings of the 39th FIS. There are three blue stars under the cockpit.

The third Sabre is an F-86F-30 of the 12th FBS, 18th FBW in mid 1953. There are no Mig kills as Fighter Bomber Squadrons were used mostly for ground attack so rarely had the opportunity to tangle with Migs. This one has olive drab drop tanks.

The final aircraft is an F-86F-15 from the 4th FIW. This particular aircraft is actually pretty plain and boring with only the name 'Dude' painted on its fuselage. I think this was tossed in just to fill the sheet!

So there you have it. Four Korean War Sabres, all in natural aluminum with nice, yellow stripes. Any one would make a fine addition to your model collection.

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