Mosquito Landing Gear
I purchased an Airfix Mosquito kit, (A25001) in 2010 while attending the IPMS National Convention in Phoenix. After waiting for over 5 years after the purchase I decided that it was “Mossie Time”. The short version of the story is that while the Airfix kit was a fun and enjoyable project, through impatience and clumsiness I managed to trash one of the main gear to the point that it would not support the weight of the model.
Having learned a valuable lesson, and having a timely opportunity to review the 2nd release of an Airfix Mossie in 24th scale, I decided that I would incorporate the SAC gear into the Mosquito review of the Airfix A25000A kit. (The primary difference between the two Airfix kits is that the 2nd release does not contain parts for the Nightfighter version and has a different set of decals.)
One of the really nice things about the Mosquito kit is that the gear parts are molded “in scale”. They aren’t “re-designed” by the mold makers to make construction any easier or more durable. One of the really unfortunate results of this approach is that the attachment points for the main gear and supporting struts are also “in scale”. This results in a sub-assembly that an impatient and rough-fisted mediocre modeler, such as this reviewer, can destroy, and, in fact, did destroy.
I decided that not only would I use SAC gear on the model, but that even with the SAC gear I would add some metal pins to hold some of the attachment points more firmly.
Some holes were drilled (see accompanying images) and small brass rods were inserted into those holes providing more support than just the superglue used could provide. I experimented a bit with the original kit parts to see if I could drill the same sized holes into the plastic parts of the kit and achieve the same level of stability that the SAC parts were providing. I found that I could not achieve the same level of “sturdiness”. The SAC parts, being metal, were easier to drill than the kit’s plastic parts.
A side-by-side comparison of the SAC gear and the Airfix gear parts shows that to the eye, they are almost indistinguishable once painted. The SAC parts, I have found, are more durable than the plastic parts when drilling out the holes for the metal rods. Because they are an exact match for the Airfix parts, and because I found the SAC parts to be easier to assemble I suggest that if you are building the excellent Airfix kit then you go the extra monetary distance and acquire a set of the SAC gear.
I highly recommend the SAC gear for their durability, ease of use, and excellent appearance when in place. Thanks to SAC for providing this review sample.

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