Unlike a lot of the white metal landing gear sets produced by Scale Aircraft Conversions, this is more than just a straight replacement for the landing gear provided in the Academy/Italeri Hawker Hunter kits. This set corrects a couple of errors in the kit; namely, the undersized main wheels and the length of the main gear legs. Among the 16 parts, you are also provided with a much more detailed nose wheel, and the detail on many of the other parts is superior to that of the plastic parts. The oleo scissors are also provided as one piece, rather than the two-piece affair provided in the kit. The one-piece unit should therefore be much easier to install, especially for someone like me who is all thumbs.

There is a slight mold seam on the parts which will require some cleanup, but you would have to do that with the plastic parts anyway. Some of the smaller parts were slightly bent but, due to the softness of the white metal, they are easily straightened out. Cyanoacrylate (CA, or super glue) must be used to attach the parts, and SAC’s website suggests using a primer before painting.

One of the nice features of the metal gear that SAC produces is the fact that they are designed with the same attachment points as the kit parts. As you can see from the accompanying photos, the main gear dropped right into the hole provided in the kit wing, and the nose gear dropped into its attachment point after about 30 seconds of cleaning up the seam.

This is a very well done and comprehensive set, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who has the Academy or Italeri kit in their stash. The corrected length of the struts, combined with the accurately sized wheels and finely detailed parts should improve the look of an already good looking model. Keep up the good work, SAC!

Many thanks to Scale Aircraft Conversions for providing this excellent product to IPMS/USA for review.