SAC’s recent release of their 1/48 Hurricane Mk I Landing Gear for the Italeri/Tamiya kit has been most timely and welcome. With over 40 years of modeling under my belly-eclipsed belt, it’s safe to say I’ve destroyed every set of injection-molded Hurricane landing gear I’ve ever built – and that’s quite a few. I was concerned about that with my latest Hurricane build – until this little set of jewels arrived in the mail.

Although nothing exotic, this set appears to be a recasting of the kit main gear struts and braces in fine white metal, and the tail wheel strut appears to be a net-new part. Detail is comparable to the kit originals, but the real value comes in the struts’ strength. Heading down the stretch during the build and photographing and handling for the review, I had no worries that the gear would hold its own against my oafish pawing – and I was right!

I highly recommend this detail set for any modeler of any skill level planning on transporting or regularly handling their model – it will save much frustration in trying to repair broken styrene struts.

Many thanks to SAC and IPMS/USA for the review sample and for giving my Hurricane a sturdy and proverbial “leg to stand on.”