Thanks again to Ross at SAC for providing one more of his new metal gear for the new kits; The IPMS USA on the reviewer corps appreciates your continuing to provide us review items… and as usual, thanks to the IPMS leadership for sending it my way to review!

This is an improved version of the kit’s gear; it is essentially a “form/fit/function” replacement, with the exception of the fact the SAC gear greatly improves on the kit parts…. Let’s review!

This set is for Revell Germany’s new 1/32 Spitfire Mk II, 2014 release version. I say this, because there have been at least three Revell 1/32 releases of the early Spitfires: The original 1967 release (one of three kits at the time that made all us young modellers salivate: a Spitfire, a ME-109G, and a Warhawk)… these kits had retractable gear, detail formerly unheard of in models, and were a step up toward accurate, 1/32 kits. They had a lot of flaws, BUT they came with great box art and have been re-released on occasion…

Next was the 2001 re-release of the venerable Hasegawa 1/32 Spitfire Mk V, backdated to a Mark II. The Spitfire experts freaked out over this one, as it had a few mistakes, but all in all it was a good release.

Now we have a new mold; very nicely priced, and it appears there will be future versions released. Revell Germany is to be commended for their efforts; even though the purported experts out there have already started to bash the kit, it is a reasonable price and looks good when built out of the box. Here’s where the gear comes into play:

The upper mounting bearing section is separate from the lower gear leg. Probably done this way for molding limitations, it creates a potential weak engineering point. That, and the gear will be, over time, a bit subject to “splay” and “failure” due to it being rather soft plastic.

SAC once again steps up and gives us a one-piece gear assembly. It fits right into the gear mounting point, and provides a sturdy attachment point.

The tail gear: Notice the kit’s gear fork is in two pieces (the miniscule half-fork, for which I cannot find for the pictures… ? ) The SAC gear replaces this part with a full-fork item, solving the need to cement two parts together and being inherently stronger than plastic.

End of the day: Home run for SAC. On this kit, like the Revell ME-109 before it from two years ago, the metal gear is almost mandatory for strength and display longevity. Highly recommended if you are going to “detail up” the model as well with heavy resin… Thanks again to SAC and IPMS USA for these review items!