White Metal Replacement Undercarriages

Scale Aircraft Conversions
1/48 and 1/32 scales

Reviewed by Brett Green

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I have to say that I had mixed feelings when I first saw Scale Aircraft Conversions' white metal replacement undercarriage sets.

On the one hand, there is a feeling of luxury when working with high quality metal parts, and a certain satisfaction at their “scale weight”, but it seemed to me that many of the items were just duplicates of plastic kit parts.

I have taken a closer look at a recent batch of 1/32 and 1/48 scale releases though, and I have noticed that a number have incorporated improvements when compared to their plastic kit counterparts.

In some instances, where the kit's plastic parts have obvious sink marks (a common situation with undercarriage legs), the metal parts are perfectly cast in these areas. In other instances, lightening holes for oleo scissors are hollowed out where no holes are moulded in the plastic parts; and of course the white metal parts do not suffer from raised seams lines – also common on plastic undercarriage legs. In some cases, SAC supplied additional nose weight for tricycle undercarriage models, while others have hydraulic lines cast in place.

I have also heard the argument that the stronger metal will hold up the weight of a model more effectively, but I think it would be very rare for a model to overload a plastic undercarriage.

I finally had the opportunity to actually use a set of Scale Aircraft Conversions' products when I was building Hasegawa's 1/48 scale Arado Ar 234 C.

SAC's metal parts were perfectly cast with very little cleanup required.

Hasegawa's plastic undercarriage legs both featured prominent sink holes near the axles and raised moulding seams on either side of the legs. The oleo scissors were simplified too, with seam lines and no lightening holes.

By comparison, SAC's parts were smoother and free from imperfections. The oleo scissors were supplied as separate parts and these were cast with lightening holes in place. I started by gluing the oleo scissors to the legs, then prepared all the metal parts with Tamiya's Grey Primer straight from the spray can.

The SAC legs were then glued into the Arado's main gear bays. The white metal medium made it easier to attach the separate retraction struts, as I could bend the attachment point without breaking the super-glue bond at the other end.

Hasegawa's parts breakdown demands that you install the undercarriage legs before the fuselage halves are closed, so the robust medium of white metal will come in very handy during later heavy handling of the model in the painting stage.

Another unexpected benefit popped up as I set the fuselage on its main gear legs. One wing was noticeably lower than the other. However, thanks to the malleable white metal medium, I was able to push one of the legs further back into the gear bay, effectively adjusting the length of the undercarriage. Try doing that with plastic gear legs!

As for the other samples in this batch, the Hawker Hunter undercarriage set also includes white metal main and nose wheels, while hydraulic lines are cast onto the PLA J-8, the TBD-1 and the 1/32 scale He 162 legs.

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Although I was initially dubious about the value of Scale Aircraft Conversions' white metal undercarriage legs, I am now more convinced. The more that I worked with the Ar 234 C white metal legs, the more that I liked them.

I would still assess the need for the white metal undercarriage on a case-by-case basis; but I can confidently report that the quality of casting is excellent, extra detail is added where required, flaws present on the plastic parts are corrected, and the white metal medium is both robust and lends itself well to adjustment after installation.

Scale Aircraft Conversions' white metal undercarriage legs will be a luxurious finishing touch for your modelling projects.

Recommended.

Thanks to Scale Aircraft Conversions for the review samples..

Review Text & Images Copyright © 2012 by Brett Green
Page Created 5 April, 2012
Last updated 6 April, 2012

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