This detail set from Scale Aircraft Conversions is for the Hasegawa 1/72^nd scale A-3 Skywarrior. The kit has been around for some time and although not a newer rerelease it is still available. This set is a direct replacement for the kits landing gear and has a few modifications that help improve the Hasegawa kit. This conversion set has 7 parts, which includes the main landing gear legs, the nose gear and the oleo scissors and retraction struts for the main gear. The nose gear comes complete with the wheel molded in place. This appears to be a direct copy of the kit gear. As a result you will be required to open up and clean the space between the nose gear fork and the tire.

One distinct advantage to this conversion part is the oleo strut on the nose gear leg has been shortened about 1mm. This gives the aircraft a better sit as the kit part was molded with the gear leg in retraction and is too long. Another advantage is the knock out marks on the kits nose tire has been cleaned up.

These parts are nicely molded and clean-up is relatively easy. You will need to use some care when cleaning up the parts. The white metal is soft and malleable. The nose gear is especially prone to bending because of its length, however, this is easy to correct. I cleaned up the area between the nose wheel and gear fork on both the kit and conversion parts just to see how difficult it was and how long it took to complete this task. It took about 5 minutes to clean up the SAC conversion part and about 8 minutes to clean up the kit part. I started by drilling out the space between the fork and wheel and carving the rest out with a sharp number 11 blade. I thought the white metal cleaned up easier than the plastic. Unfortunately I think this is where Scale Aircraft Conversions missed the boat. When modifying the length of the nose gear length they should have cut the wheel off and molded it separately. However, after clean up and painting it is hardly noticeable.

The main gear legs are molded without the wheel and you will need to use the kit wheels. They fit perfectly with no modifications necessary.

The SAC gear also fit in place on the model perfectly without any modification. After painting I scrapped the paint off the oleo struts for the nose and main gear legs. This polished the metal and gave a really nice natural metal look to the strut which, is normally achieved by painting.

This conversion set is a direct replacement for the kit parts. Actually the kit gear is not that bad except for the knockout marks and long nose gear oleo strut. The molding of the replacement parts is of the highest quality and clean-up is quick and easy. This update set could be used by modelers of any experience level.

If your local hobby shop doesn’t carry them you can order them direct from Scale Aircraft Conversions on their web site at http://www.scaleaircraftconversions.com.

I would like to thank Scale Aircraft Conversions for the landing gear set and IPMS/USA for allowing me to review it.