Here is a most interesting sheet that covers some of the most colorful F-86s that I have seen. I should mention before starting in the review that the color markings placement sheet is not accurate in terms of most of the colors being used. At least the profiles are not. The description is spot on but someone at the printers really got things wrong. At the bottom of this article is a scan from the 1/72 sheet which is correct.

Late Note: Fantasy Printshop has updated the markings guide in the sheet, and it is the same as the one shown at the bottom of the page.

There are a few kits out there in 1/32; specifically the Kinetic and Hasegawa kits. The latter has the F-40 wing needed for some of the options while the Kinetic is a F-30/35 so has the shorter wing. No one does an F-86A or E in this scale so you'll need to deal with scratchbuilding or aftermarket for those.

The decals themselves are superbly printed and a separate sheet provides the metallic bits needed for a couple of the schemes.

In no particular order;

First is an overall red Canadair Sabre 5 from 1955. Apparently this was a display aircraft and a fetching scheme it is. The silver surrounds for the insignia are supplied as separate decals, a very nice touch.

Next is a Japanese F-86F-40 (you'll need the longer winged kit for this one) from 1 SQ JASDF. It has large red bands on the nose and mid-fuselage.

From 332 Sq of the Norwegian Air Force comes a very colorful display bird from the Joker Aerobatic team. The white and blue bits are provided on the sheet and the red bands will have to be painted. The decal maker guarantees that the whites are so opaque that there will be no bleed through. The nose of this plane is painted a bronze which will have to be mixed.

An overall yellow F-86A target tug from 120 FS, Montana ANG is the next plane. This will need the Cutting Edge conversion set in 1/48 and perhaps one could suffer through with the Matchbox F-86A in 1/72. The blue bands are all decals though one may wish to paint them as some cover rather convoluted surfaces.

From Edwards AFB comes a bare metal F-86E with a day-glo nose that was used during a 1951 closed course speed record attempt.

Finally, a South Korean RF-86F from around 1970. This one is in the US SEA camouflage of FS 34079, 34102 and 30219 uppers with 36622 undersides. Again, one will have to hunt up a conversion set for the RF version and probably need to use the Hasegawa kit with the F-40 wings on it as well. Check references to be sure.

Overall an excellent sheet that is rife with super schemes.

September 2020

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Thanks to Fantasy Printshop for the review sheet. You can get yours today at this link.

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