Without a doubt, the F-86 Sabre is one of the coolest looking jet aircraft ever done. It is pure jet, not bogged down with things like missile. In fact, it is probably one of the last pure gun fighters in the USAF. Despite being an inferior aircraft in several important parameters over the Mig-15 (climb, max altitude, turning), the superior training of USAF pilots and the ruggedness of the Sabre were enough to prevail and allow F-86 pilots to rack up a pretty impressive kill score in the skies over Korea.

This old Microscale sheet offers aircraft of three Korean War aces.  This sheet is designed for the old Hasegawa 1/72 F-86 Sabre and if you can recall what a pig of a kit that was you can thank Fujimi for producing a decent F-86 in 1/72 scale. The Hobbycraft kit is also a viable kit in this scale in case the Fujimi kit is not available in your area.

Well whose aircraft do we get with this sheet?

First off is the plane of Maj. James Jabara, who was the second highest ranking ace of the war. He flew with the 67 FIS / 4 FIW. 

(Reader Joe Vincent wrote me with the following comment : "I don't think the 67th FIS was part of the 4thFIW. Seems like he was in the 334FIS - the same  unit that Don Gentile flew with in WW2. It has the boxing bald eagle of  "Eagle Squadron" origin on it's emblem. It's actually visible on the decal sheet depicted here." 

I think Joe is absolutely correct about this and that Microscale got this little bit of info wrong when researching. Either that, or it is a typo)

Next is the F-86F of Maj. James Hagerstrom with the 67 FBS/18th FBW. This one has the red, white and blue tail stripe of the 18th FBW, which did include 2SQ SAAF.

Finally it Maj, Chuck Owens f-86E from the 4th FIW. Of the three, this one has the most grandiose color scheme. 

There are yellow ID bands and tail stripes for all three aircraft, but no national insignia and no USAF. Those will have to be plucked from another source. 

Overall, an old, but very usable sheet for the F-86.

Review copy courtesy of me and my wallet! 

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