White Metal Replacement Undercarriages

Scale Aircraft Conversions
Various scales

Reviewed by Brad Fallen

HyperScale is proudly sponsored by Squadron.com

 
Scale Aircraft Conversions continues to release sets of replacement white metal undercarriage at a prolific rate.  Over 300 lines are now available, catering for both new and older kits in all popular scales.  Well made, easy to use and often correcting errors in the original kit parts, SAC sets are deservedly popular.  However, as pointed out by Mark Davies in his April 2012 review, in some cases they are also overkill because their target kits just don’t need replacement metal undercarriage.
 
Different aspects of all of these points are relevant to the three SAC releases being reviewed here.

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The first set is for Hasegawa’s old 1/32 P-51D Mustang, which – while obviously superseded by the Tamiya kit – can still reward modelers prepared to make the necessary improvements.  One area of the kit that I understand requires work is the landing gear, which this SAC set almost entirely replaces.  In addition to the main undercarriage legs, the set includes gear doors, wheels, brake lines and a full tail wheel assembly – a very comprehensive package.  All of the parts are cleanly cast, and with a little clean up and careful painting should look very good.  The undercarriage legs and tail wheel strut will also add strength to what is a reasonably large model.
 
The second set is for Revell’s new Halifax kit, which in 1/72 scale is still a big model and so will also benefit from the strength of metal landing gear.  Halifax enthusiasts will know that two styles of undercarriage were fitted to these aircraft – Messier-built forged units and Dowty-built cast units.  This set represents the Messier type, so modelers should check their references before purchasing.  However, given that the Revell sprues contain parts for both types of undercarriage, it seems likely that SAC will release a Dowty set at some stage in the future.
 
The final set, for the HobbyBoss 1/48 F6F Hellcat family, is the one about which I’m a little dubious.  While a 1/48 Hellcat is not dainty, I’m not sure it’s sufficiently heavy to warrant replacement metal landing gear.  That said, the SAC parts look good and may appeal to modelers who move their finished kits around regularly, for example between shows, and want them to remain in one piece.
 
 

These are high quality sets that can be recommended to modelers of all skill levels. The 1/32 Mustang and 1/72 Halifax sets will add some useful robustness to their target kits. I’m less certain about the necessity of the 1/48 Hellcat set, but if you want to use it on your HobbyBoss F6F, it won’t do it any harm – and may give you some piece of mind!
 
Highly recommended.

Thanks to Scale Aircraft Conversions for the review samples..

Review Text & Images Copyright © 2012 by Brad Fallen
Page Created 20 September, 2012
Last updated 20 September, 2012

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