1/72 North American F-86F-1 “Beauteous Butch II”

This may be an internet “first.” If so, I will be eagerly awaiting the blue ribbon and twenty-five dollar check from the Internation Internet Community. This is a model built in 1/72 (1/6 inch equals one foot) scale. It was made from the kit produced by the Hobbycraft Company of Canada. It represents a North American F-86F-1 flown by Joe McConnell during the Korean War.

It’s a “first” because the model was painted entirely entirely by brush, using Vallejo Metal Color for the metallic aluminum color, and I have not seen that done before. Metal Color is supposedly “airbrush only” but I just ignored the instructions and this is the result.

The Vallejo product does an exceptional job. I’ve developed a few “tricks” to make the different panels looks slightly different, which is one characteristic of an unpainted aircraft’s surface.

This is my first attempt at using this product, and I guarantee you that my next effort will be a considerable improvement. I am happy with this model, though. I have just come off a year-long hiatus in my model building due to a house sale and a move.

I’ll post an article soon, along with a video (I hope) showing the techniques employed here.

The decals are from Eagle Strike.