I didn’t get much done for the MiG Alley / Bag the MiG project this weekend but have stripped the masking tape from the Tumbling Dice F-86F Sabres to reveal the yellow ID stripes on the wing upper surfaces. I wasn’t sure this was going to look that good but I’m quite pleased with the masking result. I used Tamiya tape which seems to work very well even in tiny scales like 1/600th.

I will add the black outlining soon and finish off the canopies so that they are ready for the decals, which always make the whole shebang look the biscuit, if you know what I mean? There’s a tiny bit of bleed on some of the wing stripes, where the yellow paint has channelled down the panel lines, but you can’t see it from normal viewing distance and I can easily tidy it up later.

I’ve also been thinking about marking the Sabres up as aircraft of the 336th Fighter Squadron – The Rocketeers – to match my WW2 1/285th scale P-51D Mustangs. This would mean another yellow ID stripe on the vertical stabilizer, assuming I can get the masking tape cut to size for such a small space! If it works, they will really look the part, even though I haven’t got any nose art insignia or buzz codes.