The F-86 Sabre was the West's answer to the MiG-15 over the skies of Korea, and the two types were evenly enough matched that the outcome usually came down to pilot skill. John Glenn — later famous as the first American to orbit the Earth — flew combat missions in Korea, initially as a Marine exchange pilot with the Air Force. In his final weeks of the war he flew with ace Dave Schilling's unit and shot down three MiGs in nine days, earning the nickname "MiG Mad Marine" from his fellow pilots.

Eduard markets this as the ultimate Sabre, though whether they mean the kit or the aircraft — and whether "ultimate" means the best or simply the last — is left somewhat open to interpretation. The foundation is Hasegawa's 1996 tooling, which is solid, but Eduard have added resin parts, photo-etched details, paint masks and their own decals on top of that. Technically a straight out-of-the-box build, then — Eduard just made sure the box came very well stocked.