Quick and dirty 439 RCAF skin

[jocko417]

Hi guys, been flying this awesome airplane and wanted to show you my first work in progress, Sabre 2 (hack) 19114 of No. 439 Sqn RCAF, Uplands, 1952, as it appeared just before 439 set off for Europe via Operation Leapfrog, the first RCAF Sabre squadron to fly across the Atlantic.



Pictured at 3 WIng, Zweibruecken, Germany (439 was actually based at 1 Wing, North Luffenham, England but the 'Zwei' scenery is the only 1st Air Division base I have for FS9), scenery by Ed Deroches.













Like I said, quick and dirty, my own template isn't finished yet but I've had some fun doing this simple skin. More details to be added and the fuse roundel needs to be moved aft.

Anybody know when the Canadair versions will be done and is there a camo repaint kit available yet?

Cheers!

[GarryJSmith]

Looks good mate - well done.

[DevilDog]

Looks good!

[JA-111]

Nice work, jocko!

Are you sure that the wing's roundels were arranged that way?
Not parallel to the lateral axis?

[jocko417]

Positive. The only time the roundels were orientated 'fore and aft' were on the Golden Hawks birds, all other Sabres, both at the training and operational level had them with the vert. axis of the roundel perpendicular to the leading edge of the wing. Good photo resources are Larry Milberry's Canadair Sabre book and Royal Canadian Air Force Aircraft Finish and Markings 1947-1968 by Patrick Martin.

About the only pics I can find online:



This is a scale model but the markings are correct:

[JA-111]

Thanks a lot for providing this detail, jocko!
And please excuse my doubts...

I must admit that I didn't pay much attention to the wing's roundels when I did my repaint on the 434 "Bluenose" Sq. #23707 below.
Just used the correct roundel version and tried to pick the approx. size and position. I took it for granted that they were orientated 'fore and aft'.

Seems like it's time for a 'fix'...

Cheers,

[jocko417]

Thing is, the majority of RCAF aircraft of the period DID have the roundels 'fore and aft', as they were predominately straight wing types like the T-33 and CF-100. Only the Sabre, with it's highly swept wings had the roundels rotated to match the leading edge sweep. This, plus the difference with the Golden Hawks roundel style (and the GH sabres were easily the most photographed, in all attitudes) would definitely lead to confusion. Other than the books I've mentioned above, it's hard to find good period pics of Sabre markings taken from all angles. Another great resource I forgot to mention is On Target Profiles 6 - North American, Canadair, and Commonwealth F-86 Sabre in RAF, RCAF, RAAF, SAAF, Pakistani and Malaysian Service by Jon Freeman.

Great job on the Bluenoser Sword, I hope Section8 does the Canadiar versions with the Orenda's performance!