To me the Super Sabre was always one of those aircraft that just “looked cool” – especially in its Vietnam SEA colors. The old Monogram kit was – at least at that time – no option to me. I just could not see myself engraving all those panel lines. So I went for the Trumpeter kit.
Well… I guess updating the Monogram kit would not have taken that much longer than trying to get that one to something reasonable. I used the Aires cockpit and burner cans and the True Details wheels set. The nose was fixed by cutting off the front part, re-shaping it and filling/sanding until everything looked right. The attachment points for the horizontal stabilizers were rebuilt, canopy opening mechanism, canopy interior and radar warning receivers scratchbuilt. The underwing stores came from Hasegawa, the kit’s external fuel tanks were lengthened by 15mm.
I had to use the kit decals as I was not able to find any aftermarket decals for Vietnam Super Sabres. The few stencils provided do not fit to a camouflage scheme – as I was not able to find any aftermarket stencils, she looks a bit empty. But still, I am quite happy how she turned out.
