Scale Aircraft Conversions (SAC) manufactures white metal landing gear that is a direct replacement for the kits plastic landing gear. The metal landing gear offer greater strength over the kit parts as well as having most of the mold lines removed. At times, the metal will be bent out of shape but that is easily corrected by bending it back to the correct shape.

This set includes six parts, the two main gear assemblies, bracing arms for the main gear and nose gear with separate bracing arm. All the parts are exact copies of the kit parts with a small amount of mold lines or “flash”. The Main gear still has the kits sprue, with identifying number. Note that the kit part F5 has been moved to the same sprue as part F2. The main gear bracing struts are free from the sprue and not numbered.

This set is designed to be used on Fujimi’s F-14 Tomcat kits. The set consists of 2 resin ramps, replacing the kit’s molded on ramps. The title states that the parts are the ECS (environmental control system) exhaust grills, however, in reality they are the fixed bleed doors which allow excess air to be vented out of the intakes, especially at higher airspeeds when the movable ramps deploy to restrict the airflow down the intakes and keep the air subsonic when it hits the front of the engines.

The parts are exceptionally thin and crisply cast. However, as the bleed doors are molded as part of the upper fuselage on the kit, you will need to break out a razor saw or a new Xacto blade to remove the kit parts and install these replacements. I recommend the removal surgery be completed before you join the upper and lower fuselage halves, but you should hold off on installing the doors until right before painting to avoid damaging them.

The T-34 is known to just about anyone with knowledge of WWII battles and the Eastern Front in particular. While it had some teething issues, it was an unpleasant surprise to the Germans who came against it and the KV series of tanks. It quickly became apparent that the typical early Panzers were outmatched and outgunned. This led to development of the Tiger and the Panther, which derived much of its design from experiences with the T-34. This new book from Greenhill Books gives an excellent account of the design, development, and battlefield performance of this workhorse of the Red Army. After a foreword called Stalin’s Saviour by Anthony Tucker-Jones, we delve right in.