A nice addition to Scale Aircraft Conversions (SAC) already impressive array of aftermarket landing gear is the set for the F/A-18 A, B, C, and D. The parts are made of white metal and include three separate landing gear pieces, as well as a metal tree with two landing gear support pieces.

A few mold seams are apparent on the shock absorbers of both the main and the nose gear, but they can easily be sanded or scraped off carefully with an X-Acto knife. Be careful to not bend the soft metal when cleaning up the parts. Also, the molded plastic nose gear cover that comes in the Hasegawa kit will have to be glued to the metal. A touch of super glue does the trick.

I primed the gear with Vallejo black primer before painting them in flat white. If no primer is used, the base color easily rubs off the metal. After the white dried, I painted the exposed shock absorbers a metallic silver, according to reference photos. Hasegawa’s wheels were then super glued to the gear pins.

After a gloss coat of Future, a black oil wash was added to the landing gear; making all the great details pop.

Installation of the gear is straight forward. It follows the same assembly process as the instruction manual states.

Overall, this product is definitely recommended to all Hornet builders who want to add an extra bit of realism. The great fit, easy assembly, and outstanding detail makes this product worth every penny.

Thank you to Scale Aircraft Conversions for providing this detail set, and to IPMS/USA for the chance to review it!