Bushi
Charter Member
I started work on this repaint so long ago I can't remember when it was!
I had wanted to do it, and it was on my list for Kirk Olsen's Sabre, (before the great computer crash that cost me so many unique airplanes and repaints... some of which I shall never redo), but after downloading the very lovely Section 8 F-86, AND paint kit with it's rather convincing polished metal textures, and being inspired when I saw Grant MacLean's interpretation, I decided to bite the bullet and do it!
To say it's been a bit of a challenge is an understatement! I've put it aside on many occasions with other projects and well.. life.. seeming to get in the way. but with a very old friend who used to fly these airplanes not getting any younger, I pushed ahead to give him something to make him smile!
For starters, Section 8 states that a 'camouflage' paint scheme isn't advisable using their photo-real polished aluminium paint kit, and this also goes for large areas of 'painted' surface, as in that large blue chevron. My usual technique in photoshop to obtain the correct colours had to be tweaked quite a bit to get what I found acceptable A lot of work and rework. and replace details,, and mess with alpha channels.. and find errors.. and do it again...
And to top this off, the actual flight sim models polygon placement and some texture mapping um...issues.... meant a few compromises, and a couple of..okay.. can't make this work... 'this is as good as it's going to get' hours of trial and error.
But I think I've captured the essence of this 1954 Sabre Mk 2 in the Squadron Commanders aircraft... serial number 19434... a suitable aircraft to carry the code BR 434... of 434 Squadron. (it's not often serials and 'buzz' numbers coincide on aircraft of this time period)
I am also aware that Section 8 had originally planned a Canadair Sabre to compliment this North American built one, but have never seen it, so assume it was never done...... so... just went ahead with this.. (leaving the .air file alone with respects to the engine output)
When I get the 'read me' finished for the upload, I'll outline what the issues are with the paint... what I've done, why I did it, and make reference to the well.. lack of reference photos I had of this airplane, only having a few black and white photos, and the VERY hazy time eroded recollections of a squadron member.
cheers....
ps.. if the "487" airplane shows up in this message, that was my old friends ride.. and an inaccurate rendition I had done along the way...
lol..... 
