Scale Aircraft Conversions has produced replacement gear for the Hawk/Testors OV-10 Bronco kit. I have reviewed several of these sets, and have purchased a few more on my own, because in all cases they have been superior to the kit items.

The white metal replacements are a clean drop-in for the kits plastic parts. The supplied items include two main gear struts and braces and one nose gear strut. Also included are weighted tires mastered by Doug Smith of Royal Resin. The weighted wheels are a significant improvement in detail over the balloonish kit tires. The SAC tires also have tread and improved rim/lug detailing.

A side-by-side evaluation (see photos) indicates an identical strut replacement that should provide greater strength with a significantly improved weight capacity and abuse tolerance. In some cases, painting may not be necessary.

Highly recommended.

Scale Aircraft Conversions specializes in white metal replacement parts. Its line of replacement landing gear has been expanded to include a set for the Tamiya 1/48 Spitfire Mk.I/Vb.

The set includes 3 parts, two landing gear struts and tail wheel, finely molded in white metal. These parts are drop-in replacements for the plastic parts.

You can see from the pictures the parts are very cleanly molded and formed. They include the “double slot” in the struts where the plastic landing gear cover is attached, so replacement should be quick and painless.

Typically I tend to think of replacing a plastic landing gear by a white metal one when the model is large and heavy. For most single engine 1/48 scale models, weight is not an issue.

History

The Brewster F2A Buffalo series of single-engine fighters has long been maligned by aviation writers and historians, although its combat career varied widely because of the meager performance, training levels of its pilots, and the quality of the opposition. In the hands of the Finns, the airplane was highly successful, managing to score against Spitfires, Hurricanes, and other types operated by the Russians. In British and Dutch service, it fared poorly against the nimble Japanese fighters, although the war in Southeast Asia was by no means one-sided. At the Battle of Midway, a few USMC F2A-3’s suffered heavy losses against Japanese A6M2 Zero fighters, mainly because of the inexperience of the Americans facing Japanese pilots with much more combat skill.