History Brief:

This is a “Special Edition” version of the AH-64 as seen during the Iraqi War in 2003. The aircraft was named after the North American Indian nation, the Apache from the southern Great Plains and beyond. Originally manufactured by Hughes Helicopters(1975-1984), then by McDonnell Douglas(1984-1997) and Boeing(1997-present), it was first flown on 30 September 1975, entered service with the US Army in April 1986, and is still on active duty today. The AH-64A features a 4-blade main rotor powered by twin turbine engines, a tandem cockpit, nose mounted sensor suite, upgraded electronic missile equipment system, and a state of the art 30mm (1.2 in) M230 Chain Gun weapon system. When compared to its contemporaries, the Apache is hands-down and by far the most powerful, robust, and sophisticated combat-proven attack helicopter ever devised by man.

The Product:

Scale Aircraft Conversions is a maker of metal landing gear to replace kit parts. This landing gear set is for the Hasegawa 1/48th SH-3 Sea King. Included in the set you get two main landing gear struts, two retraction actuators, two torque links (scissors), and the tail wheel.

After comparing the kit parts to SAC’s parts this is what I have come up with. SAC’s gear will give your model a firm base to sit on. However, there are also some shortcomings. The SAC gear appears to be a tad bit smaller (see the photos below). This may not be an issue because who can say that the kit gear is correct? One area that will be an issue is the retraction actuators. As you can see in the kit and SAC comparison photo, the SAC actuator is just short of contacting the gear strut.

History

What more can be said about the P-40? The P-40 was made famous by the AVG “Flying Tigers”, but was utilized by almost all of the American allies during World War II. The Warhawk was also used in almost every theater of operation during the war.

Every county involved during the war evaluated captured aircraft in some form or another, even with pressing them into service due to the lack of spare parts, such as the example of his kit.

Kit

This is a Limited Edition kit from Hasegawa, and compliments the rest of Hasegawa’s P-40 line. The kit is produced in light grey plastic. It features recessed panel lines with a minimum of flash.

As with most aircraft kits, you start with the cockpit. When complete, you have a nice representation of a P-40 cockpit. One downside is that there are no seatbelts on the seat. You will have to go aftermarket for these.

The Jan/Feb 2013 issue of Windsock Worldwide is the first issue of Volume 29, and it continues to deliver the best all-around information about modeling WWI aviation subjects to be found in any publication. The images on the cover clearly indicate that this issue focuses heavily on aircraft recently kitted by Wingnut Wings, but be assured, the publication does not slight other WWI aviation subjects.

Inside, the first regular column, the Reader’s Gallery, presents photo coverage of a 1:6 scale electric-powered flying model of a Hansa Brandenburg D.1, and a Wingnut Wings RNAS Sopwith Pup. Then, following Front Line News and Logbook Entries (that reviews three new titles), Lance Krieg continues his WWI Modeling Master Class with Chapter Eight: Details (Part 3), providing more invaluable advice on creating and adding a wide variety of small details important to any model.

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.