Hot on the heels of the release of Kitty Hawk Models’ 1/48 F-35B is Scale Aircraft Conversions’ metal landing gear set. The set consists of 11 pieces of white metal to replace the entire landing gear structure on the F-35. There are three gear struts, three torque links, three retracting arms, and two retraction cylinders. As you can see from the pictures, the metal castings are excellent.

For review, I installed the parts on the kit (which I am in the process of reviewing) and they fit like a charm. In one picture, you can see the nose gear torque link has snapped and, thankfully, SAC to the rescue. All it takes is a little clean up and they drop into place, providing a sturdy base to the kit. You can also polish the metal where the silver parts are and leave them bare metal for a realistic look.

This is a set of lots of US weapons that will be useful for dioramas or as stowage on vehicles. There are two bags of weapons with a complete set in each bag, contained on three sprues. There is also a sprue of canvas bags.

I built up the M2 .50 cal machine gun on a tripod, the 60mm mortar, and a bazooka. The machine gun has 20 parts and most are pretty small. But we get a highly detailed gun and very nice belt- fed ammo. The mortar has 13 parts and a couple of rounds for it. The barrels are hollowed out, but a little more drilling is needed. The stowage is as good as resin pieces, and the M1 helmets are the best I’ve seen in plastic. The only problem I see is a bent M1 carbine barrel, since there are three sprues packed in one plastic bag.

Here is a listing of what you get:

New to the Scale Aircraft Conversions line is a set of gear for a Revell F-18E/F. The set comes in five pieces with the three main gear and two small retraction links all cast in sturdy white metal. I included pictures of the gear with its plastic counterparts and the detail is good. One issue I have had building F-18 kits in 1/48 or larger scale is there sometimes is a tendency to sag based on the way the main landing gear are configured. The attachment points on this gear have a key the attaches it to the fuselage via three points of contact and, being white metal, this should prevent any long term issues. I included some shots of them on the Revell kit for reference and fit is very good.

One thing to note – these are for the Revell kit. They could be made to fit the Hasegawa offering but don't bother, just purchase set 48005, the correct gear set for Hasegawa kits.