Scale Aircraft Conversions (SAC) is a Texas based company that has been marketing resin and white metal parts for scale model aircraft for over 20 years. They endeavor to be accurate in their moldings, claiming to correct inaccuracies if found. I have bought about a half dozen of their metal landing gear sets in the past, all of which have turned out to be excellent replacements for the plastic kit parts.

SAC’s two-piece landing gear set #72180 is labeled for the ‘60s vintage 1/72-scale Hasegawa F-104G/J, CF-104 kit but I find that the set matches the more recent 1990-issued F-104G/S landing gear as well. A comparison photo of the metal SAC main gear with the F-104G/S gear is shown herewith.

The A-26 is a lesser known twin engine bomber from World War II which got its ancestry from the A-20 Havoc. After World War II it was re-designated B-26 and also served in Korea. At first glance Hobby Boss’s 1/32 scale A-26C Invader is impressive.

The kit is molded in light gray plastic, with crystal clear transparencies and rubber tires. There are decals for two options, a night black Invader and a natural metal one. All parts were nicely wrapped in plastic but on my sample, the trim control wheel was badly damaged.

The Author: Michael Claringbould spent his formative years in Papua New Guinea in the 1960s, where he became fascinated by the many WWII aircraft wrecks which still lie around the country. He has served overseas as an Australian diplomat including South East Asia and throughout the South Pacific where he had the fortune to return to Papua New Guinea for 3 years starting in 2003. Mr. Claringbould has authored & illustrated various books (at least 15) on Pacific War aviation. His history of the Tainan Naval Air Group in New Guinea ‘Eagles of the Southern Sky’ received worldwide acclaim as the first English-language history of a Japanese fighter unit, which was also translated into Japanese.