Scale Aircraft Conversions specializes in white metal landing gear replacements for scale models. This was the first time I’ve used one of their replacements and I have to say that it was very easy to use them and that I like it a lot.

This aftermarket set is designed to be a drop-in replacement for the Meng Messerchmitt 410 landing gear. You don’t need to modify any parts to make them fit to your airplane. The fit is perfect and the breakdown of the parts mimics the breakdown of the plastic parts. The replacement landing gear has good surface detail, very similar to the level of detail of the plastic parts.

The white metal parts are actually very easy to work with. I did not need to clean any seams on my parts, nor modify them in any way. They took Model Master Enamel paint very well.

Background

Arguably Germany’s premier fighter of World War I, the Fokker D.VII quickly won acceptance by its adoptive aircrews as it began to enter service in the summer of 1918. A well-balanced and stable gun platform with exceptional maneuverability and reliability, the D.VII demonstrated significant performance improvement over prior German types, including its famed older brother, the Fokker Dr.1 triplane.

In order to meet wartime demand, Fokker licensed production of the D.VII to Albatross. Albatross cranked out the D.VII at its Johannisthal (Alb) and Schneidemühl Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke (OAW) facilities. Multiple models were manufactured, incorporating running changes and three distinct powerplants – two of Mercedes origin and one from BMW.

By war’s end 2,800 D.VII’s had rolled off of the production lines.

What’s Inside

The interior set is comprised of 2 PE frets (one is pre-painted and has some self-adhesive parts), a small clear film, and a 5-page instruction sheet. There are just over 80 pieces to this set, and it is pretty nice if I say so myself! The instructions are broken down into manageable sections, starting with the cockpit floor. The radio operator’s seat support is replaced, along with the rudder pedals. They also give you the observation window between the rudder pedals (not sure why Italeri didn’t have this). Next are the side walls of the cockpit with 28 pieces. There is not a lot of cutting so far, which was nice, but, you should sand some of the raised detail off to help the self-adhesive parts stick better (notably the fuse panel and trim wheels). Not having used an Eduard set in a while, I was surprised there was no throttle quadrant, just some very small tabs to put on the levers.