Scale Aircraft Conversions (SAC) is a Texas based company that makes white metal landing gear for a vast number of model aircraft in all scales.

The idea behind the use of metal over the kit supplied plastic landing gear is strength. Over time plastic can give way under the weight of heavy aircraft models.

The metal parts are contained in a clear plastic tray with an attractive color backing showing product details.

Examining each item, it was apparent that masters of the original plastic parts were copied and molded into white metal. Corrections or improvements were also made, such as removing the brake lines molded over the oleo struts.

The general molding was quite clean, but seams would need to be cleaned up. Working with the white metal and cleaning up mold seam lines is detailed on SAC’s comprehensive website.

While the metal parts showed similar molding quality to the plastic equivalent, the same could not be said about the mounting slots in the main legs for the retraction struts. These were quite rough and much filing and sanding was needed to get a decent fit.

The plastic kit main landing gear legs fit precisely into their slots in the undercarriage bay, eliminating any guesswork aligning the legs. The SAC leg tab was thinner and the fit was quite loose. In the end, after getting a good fit between the main leg slot and retraction strut tab, proper alignment was easily achieved when the retraction strut axel was inserted into its mounting hole in the undercarriage bay.

The metal wheel axel was identical to the plastic kit axel, so there were no problems attaching the wheels.

I had already built and mounted the plastic kit tail wheel when I received this set. There is no difference between the SAC white metal tail leg and the kit plastic leg.

While the kit plastic landing gear is very strong, the SAC metal gear would have the advantage in the long term.

I would like to thank Scale Aircraft Conversions and the IPMS for the opportunity of reviewing this product.