Scale Aircraft Conversions has released a set of white-metal front and rear main gear for the Academy CH-46 in 1/48 scale. The set includes three parts, a front gear strut and two main rear struts. These three parts are direct replacements for kit parts A-18, B20(r), and B21(l).

There are two deficiencies in the kit gear that are alleviated by the SAC replacements. First my kit gear had a pin hole in one of the rear supports with significant shrinkage around it. The kit front gear had a large pin ejector mark prominently in the middle of the piece. Replacing with the SAC gear eliminated having to deal with these issues.

The Fw 190 A-6 was a transition aircraft that had many of the features of the earlier versions of the Focke-Wulf fighter as well as some new items that became the norm on the later versions. As such, it required a unique set of turned-metal barrels. Why do I need turned metal barrels and pitot tube? I’ll tell you why: no seams or mold marks to clean up, your parts are perfectly round, and the brass is strong enough to resist bending and breaking.

The later versions of the Focke-Wulf 190 A series, the A-7 and A-8, were some of the most heavily armed aircraft to fly in the Luftwaffe. To that end, Master provides you with some impressive looking armament in their 1/32 scale Fw 190 A7-A9 Armament Set & Pitot Tube package.

Packaged inside a ziplock bag, the set features instructions and a separate bag with each style of armament packed separately. The benefit of turned-metal barrels is that they are perfectly round with no sprue attachment or mold seam line to remove, and they have hollow ends. The barrels are also very robust, easily avoiding bends during handling, and I need all the help I can get with that problem.

The pitot tube is mounted in different positions on the A-7 and the A-8, and Master points this out in the instructions.