F-86F "The Huff"
1st Lt. Jim Thompson 39th FIS/ 51st FIW

Finished for Christmas. The 1:48 scale Airfix F-86F Sabre, the first of my duo Sabre builds.
This, Lieutenant Jim Thompson's F-86F "The Huff", is famed for being photographed with the most astounding nose art of any USAF fighter in Korea.

Thompson, was a wingman in the 39th Fighter Interceptor Squadron (FIS) of the 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing (FIW), at Suwon (K-13), South Korea, in 1953.

When he shot down a North Korean MiG-15 in May 1953 that had a dragon painted on its nose he convinced his Crew Chief to put a dragon on his Sabre. He must have eventually shot down another MiG as the decals come with the option of one or two kill star markings. I went with two, just three more required to make him an ace!

I am not sure why, but on the starboard side of "The Huff" there is artwork for ‘Miss Jenny" & "Bill’s Baby" with the names of JW Manney and LD Cromwell. I've yet to find any reference to why or when these were added ... so most interesting!

The kit I’ve used here is the 2022 release of Airfix’s F-86F Sabre with "The Huff" decals from the 1998 (2011 release) Academy F-86F kit. The Airfix kit does allow for the modeller to have gun covers and air brakes open and even forward wing slats extended but I wanted to show the aircraft ready for flight and use the second more detailed Academy kit as an aircraft under going maintenance. I’ve also installed Academy’s pilot which in addition to be better detailed is also more historically accurate.

Paints used were all Vallejo and the silver was their unique alcohol based Liquid Metal.