Background

On July 25, 1909 Louis Bleriot assembled a tiny monoplane of his own design on a farm in Les Baraques, France. Weighing in at 500 lbs. and powered by a 25 HP Anzani three cylinder motorcycle engine, the airplane was the picture of utility. Still limping from a recent crash (one of many Bleriot had) he climbed into the monoplane after a short warm up flight and set out across the English Channel. 37 ½ minutes later flying at speeds up to 42 mph per hour at an altitude of 260 feet, Bleriot spotted the white cliffs of Dover and threaded his way through a gap in them to crash land on English soil. His goal in accomplishing this feat was not the prize money that totaled 20,000 dollars, but Bleriot wanted to sell airplanes and did he ever. As a result of the fame gained from the channel crossing, Bleriot would go on to build about 250 model XIs.

Furball Aero-Designs latest sheet is for the Hobbyboss 1/48 A-6A/B Intruders. This sheet has 15 different aircraft. The Intruders included are Vietnam era aircraft. Inside the package, there are 2 color back and front sheets with profiles for each of the 15 planes and includes color call outs and decal placement. A third full size sheet shows decal placement on the wing tops and the back shows a very detailed stores loading. A final single sized sheet shows stencil placement with color call outs also. You get two HUGE decal sheets with all the needed markings, numbers, wing walks and national insignia. There is also a very small sheet which has the wing markings for two aircraft. The decals are printed by Cartograf and from my previous experience with Cartograf and Furball, they are superb in application and opacity.

There are marking included for the following aircraft:

Scale Aircraft Conversions, or SAC, make replacement landing gear for a wide variety of aircraft, in all the major scales. They are cast in white metal, which is stronger than the kit’s plastic pieces. To quote the company’s website, “Some sets consist of the main gear only while others include the nose gear, tail gear and/or adjacent related components. Some inaccuracies in the original kit gear have been corrected but the mounting points remain identical to the factory parts.”

This set is made to replace the kit parts from the new tool Revell Halifax. It’s a large aircraft and will be a bit heavy when finished. Having the metal landing gear underneath will help support that weight. Additionally, they’ve changed the way the tail wheel and gear is assembled, making it simpler and making one less glue seam to remove.

Scale Aircraft Conversions, or SAC, make replacement landing gear for a wide variety of aircraft, in all the major scales. They are cast in white metal which is stronger than the plastic used in the kit’s pieces. To quote the company’s website, “Some sets consist of the main gear only while others include the nose gear, tail gear and/or adjacent related components. Some inaccuracies in the original kit gear have been corrected but the mounting points remain identical to the factory parts.”

Aires has created a new wheel bay upgrade set for the Trumpeter F-100C or F-100D. The set’s parts include the main wheel bay in the fuselage, the nose wheel bay, inserts to go into the wings, the nose gear doors and various struts, hoses, and retraction arms, along with a piece of wire to be used to replicate the hydraulic hoses for the main gear struts. In my set, the smaller pieces were broken off the casting block and all but two were missing. However, I’ve seen other copies of this set and this is not typical.

In order to install this set, you are directed to remove the kit wheel bays and the detail inside the top part of the wing. An advantage of this set is that you will not have to deal with the seam down the middle of the main bay after assembly. Additionally, there is added detail compared to the kit parts, especially in relation to the gear doors.