Once again, extreme appreciation and thanks to Ross at SAC for sending us another of your expansive line of metal landing gear, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending it to me.

This is the standard SAC upgrade to the kit plastic. The set consists of 11 parts: Two main struts, two main strut actuators, and the remainder builds up into the detailed nose gear assembly of strut, nose gear fork, and steering actuators with shimmy dampers.

The SAC solution for stronger gear; superglue the upper strut and lower fork together, let it cure. The shimmy damper arm and the damper itself are cemented to the strut, and the extension/drag brace is glued into place. Then carefully glue the whole thing into the nose gear well.

To finish after installation, spray with metal primer, paint aluminum, carefully spread the nose fork out, hold the wheel and tire between the axle nibs, then carefully close the fork over the wheel hub. It stays in place and is a lot stronger than the kit item. One note: the axles face outboard, not inboard. I once saw a Mirage model at a show that obviously had won the battle of wits with the builder; everything else on the model was finished to earthly perfection, but not so the gear. Don’t fall into that trap!

The main strut is also a “simple drop fit”. Install in the kit, then superglue the side brace into the aft wheel well with the actuator strut. Glue the torque links into place. Please note they are handed, with tabs attached with a “R” and “L” respectively for right and left. Spray with metal primer, paint aluminum, and superglue the tires in place on the axle. SO simple a bear can do it (and I did)

Most excellent.

Again, I believe the SAC gear is mandatory for many kits like this, in particular the strength factor over time, as we AMS modelers tend to dump a lot of resin into our models. Easy 10 of 10 rating, thanks again SAC for taking care of this modeling niche and IPMS USA for the forum to review such items.