Background

Specified in 1943 by the US Army to replace the aging and under-gunned M3 and M5 Stuart light tanks, the M24 Chaffee was a welcome addition to the armored corps of Allied armies in late 1944. Borrowing the M5’s power train, a new torsion bar suspension, a sleek new profile, and a lightweight 75mm gun adapted from the B-25H bomber, the M24 was a significant leap forward in fighting capability. With its late-war arrival in November 1944, the M24 saw limited action by US, British, and Free French forces, but was well received by the units which operated it in combat. Over 4,700 Chaffees were built by war’s end, and most saw service with the US Army through the Korean War and remained in service with other nations into the 1970’s.

Scale Aircraft Conversions specializes in white metal replacement parts. Its line of replacement landing gear has been expanded to include a set for the Trumpeter Vampire.

The set includes 4 parts, two landing gear struts and a two part nose 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. In particular the nose wheel replacement is more accurate is it includes a missing oleo (as you can see from the completed model, which was built using the plastic parts).

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 Bf 109E3/4/7.

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 “slot” in the struts where the plastic landing gear cover is attached, so replacement should be trivial.

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.