F-86F Sabre Cockpit Detail Set
for the Airfix Kit

Pavla, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Mark Davies

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Pavla offers an extensive range of resin seats, detail and conversion sets, and vac-form canopies. They often offer different degrees of enhancement for the same kit; which I think is a most welcome approach. This set offers a full cockpit and canopy, but you can also purchase just the ejection seat or canopy if you wish. I previously reviewed these items here on HyperScale.

The green resin parts, vac-form canopy, and instructions come packaged in a clear blister pack attached to a card header. The instructional diagrams are well drawn and quite adequate to guide assembly. They have generic colour call-outs that help with painting, but I suggest using reference photos of the real thing as well. Fortunately, these are readily available. What little text there is in Czech and English.

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Thumbnail panels:

The detail set is intended for the Airfix F-86F kit, and it seems a fair bet that this is the 2011release box #A03082 with recessed panel lines, rather than the Airfix re-box of Heller’s F-86F, which dates from 1979 and has raised detail. This said, the cockpit parts should be readily adaptable to many of the 1/72 F-86 kits, although the Vac-form may be less so.

The resin parts consist of a cockpit side consoles and floor with rudder pedals, rear bulkhead and seat rails, ejection seat, instrument panel and coaming, control column, rear decking with canopy guide rail, and sliding canopy insert. These are all quality castings that will be easy to remove from their pour stubs. The cockpit coaming and decking beneath the canopy must be cut away, and is easy to do. Detail levels are a huge improvement over the kit parts and good for the scale. A nicely formed two-piece canopy caps things off.

Pavla is one of the leaders when it comes to offering a simple to use cockpit sets that instantly improve their intended subjects. Sometimes other brands may offer more elaborate cockpit sets; but Pavla’s formula of simple assembly suits most of my 1/72-scale build requirements.

This is a good quality, simple and easy to use cockpit set and canopy; it is just the thing to dress up your Airfix F-86F. I happily recommend it.

Thanks to Pavla Models for the review samples.

Review Text & Images Copyright © 2012 by Mark Davies
Page Created 21 December, 2012
Last updated 21 December, 2012

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