The Aircraft

The DC-3/C-47/Li-2/L2D1 (Tabby) were built in considerable numbers; the aircraft type has stayed around a LONG time, and they’ve been everywhere. The first DC-3 was built in 1935 as the Douglas Sleeper Transport, and there are a number of them still flying.

A C-47 is the first aircraft I ever got airsick in, in 1968 on our way to Gulfport, Mississippi.

The Scale Aircraft Conversions set

The SAC set for the DC-3 consists of 5 parts, all in white metal. There are two main gear legs, which use the kit wheels, two retraction arms, and a tailwheel assembly. These parts exactly match the Roden parts.

Painting

A little detail painting to get the oleos brighter is all this needs. The DC-3 used metal gear legs, and the SAC parts look great.

Assembly

Here is where the SAC parts prove their worth. To insert the wheels in the gear, on the plastic parts you need to stretch the plastic hubs over the wheel and hope you don’t break one. The SAC gear legs can be gently “formed” (that’s what we used to call bent) to slip over the wheels, and then formed to hold the wheels on. The plus with this is that the plastic hubs usually scratch the paint off of the tires and hubs where they go over these parts.

The tail wheel exactly reproduces the Roden part. This is puzzling to me, because there’s a big lump on the end of the gear leg which has to be cut off to install the part.

Overall Evaluation

Recommended. The metal parts are more robust than the plastic ones, they fit quite nicely, and you don’t have to repair the paint job on the main gear tires.

Thanks to Scale Aircraft Conversions for providing the aftermarket parts, and IPMS/USA for giving me a chance to use them on my latest project.