I am familiar with Scale Aircraft Conversions but have never used any of their products. Having a Fine Molds Ki-43 III, I was keen to compare these metal landing gear parts to the kit parts provided by Fine Molds. The SAC landing gear provides additional strength being metal, and the ability to slightly bend the gear if needed.

Upon close inspection, the landing gear provided by Fine Molds is my preference over the metal landing gear offered by Scale Aircraft Conversions. In my sample, the metal landing gear has mold part lines, heavy pitting, and a shape that is more oval than round. One of my struts had a curve coming out of the packaging, but this was easily bent back to shape.

I spent quite a bit of time cleaning up one main landing gear leg along with the tail wheel strut, and they still are a bit rough. I sprayed a coat of Mr. Surfacer black followed by a coat of Testors Steel Metallizer, and then I applied some watercolor wash to highlight the details and what you see in the photos is what you get.

The parts are direct replacement for the kit parts and when offered up they do drop into place without any problems. Based on this sample and the extra work required, I would not use these on my model, but this set will work well if you are looking for additional strength in the landing gear. Thanks to Scale Aircraft Conversions for the review sample and to the IPMS/USA Review Corps for the opportunity to assess this set.