The Sabre started off its life as a demonstration tool during one of my public outreach exhibits. I didn't not finish it in time before the end of the two day event at a local upscale secondary school.
The 1/48 Academy Sabre was chosen because it's affordable, it's available at large department stores in Jakarta, and it's big enough to teach teenagers basic gluing and sanding techniques. It did attracted some new converts and I sold 12 boxes (the regular types - F-15s, F-16s, F-14s, Mirage IIIs - in 1/72 scale)
As I was searching to number up my builds this year, I went for the Sabre because I have already completed the construction and it fared better than the other lot (no progress on the Bearcat, the Shinmeiwa is in another town, the Kawasaki T-4 is still in the sanding phase).
Everything was done OOTB, no fancy scratchbuilding or PE or resin set. Just seat belt harnesses using masking tape was all I did.
It was effortless and event-less to say the most (a bit of a bore, honestly). The NMF was a mix of Alclad AL101, and a local chrome from a rattle can. I did not use the decals for the yellow-black band, instead they were masked and painted. Hope the results didn't bore you.
Happy Holidays from Jakarta!
Monty
