Metal Landing Gear for the Zoukei-Mura F-4J Phantom II

Published on
February 7, 2017
Review Author(s)
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$16.95
Product / Stock #
48322
Base Kit
Zoukei-Mura
Provided by: Scale Aircraft Conversions - Website: Visit Site
In the distinct SAC package

Many thanks to Mr. Ross MacMillan of Scale Aircraft Conversions and the IPMS Reviewer Corps for allowing me to try this neat substitute and replacement set for the newly-released Zoukei-Mura F-4J Phantom II. I am pleased to report on another sweet add-on and upgrade from this company. The target kit has excellent detail and complexity making it a bit heavier than most, and having strong metal “legs” really helps!

The 7 white-metal parts arrived in a blister pack, backed by the distinctive SAC company logo. The weight of the parts is very noticeable. All parts are free of sprues and are nearly ready for priming and painting. The parts require very little buffing, cleanup and polishing. There are some barely-noticeable seams that readily retreat at the advance of a #11 blade!

The SAC gear parts directly replace equivalent Phantom kit parts. Parts of the retractor arms required a little bit of “truing” or straightening. Gentle pressure with needle-nose pliers did the trick. The one piece scissor link on the nose strut also requires a little bit of adjusting. This widening is easy to overdo, so be cautious. The link replaces 2 kit parts. I found one piece to be convenient during assembly. A nice characteristic of the SAC parts are the absence of sprue attachment points (those annoying nubs) and any significant flash. The replacement parts are as clean as the kit parts and in several places the rivet or pin detail is slightly crisper.

Other than polishing, tweaking alignments and fixing my mistakes, the parts are ready to drop in and fit very well with the kit. I believe it is very possible to retrofit a completed ZM F-4J with these SAC parts if you should choose to do so. I recommend this add-on to enhance an excellent base kit.

Again, my sincerest gratitude to both Mr. Ross MacMillan of Scale Aircraft Conversions and the IPMS Reviewer Corps for providing me this conversion set for review. It is a great privilege, thank you!

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