C-54 Landing Gear

Published on
December 4, 2015
Review Author(s)
Scale
1/144
MSRP
$11.95
Product / Stock #
14422
Base Kit
Minicraft
Provided by: Scale Aircraft Conversions - Website: Visit Site

First, THANKS SAC and IPMS USA for another review opportunity! SAC has been around for a few years, and to my mind fills a serious need for models. As kits get more expensive, they have more detail, weigh more, and you have more invested in it.

Enter SAC. This set adds structural strength to the fragile gear on a 1/144 scale airliner-sized model, in this case the Minicraft C-54. The C-54 has a fork nose gear with one tire; the kit requires about ½ ounce of nose weight, so there is added stress to the nose gear. The gear is also scale in size, meaning it’s very fragile. Metal makes the difference between gear snapping off on provocation, or gear that withstands handling.

Use of this SAC gear is simple, four parts: two main gear, the nose gear (the fragile part of the kit), and the nose gear retraction strut. Just swap the SAC gear for kit items, and you are done!

A couple of builder notes: The mount for the main gear appears to have a slight dihedral offset built in to it to ensure the model has all four main gear sitting perpendicular to the ground, in line. This aircraft has a bit of dihedral in it as a matter of design, so pay attention there.

Also, the instructions I had showed the kit nose gear going in at the center gear mount hole, with the drag brace attaching to the rear of the well. This is not the case on the real aircraft. The C-54's nose gear is attached to the aft portion of the gear well and rakes forward… the drag/retraction brace is mounted on the forward mounting hole, and supports the front of the gear.

In the end, as usual I recommend SAC gear for all the aforementioned reasons - it’s worth every dime!… Thanks again to Ross and IPMS USA again for trusting me. Support our aftermarket companies!

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