There were 13,738 P-40 Warhawks built during World War II, making it the most produced American fighter aircraft of the war. Among the multitude of 1/48 scale P-40s are the new Eduard kits of the P-40E/N. As aircraft modelers well know, aircraft models displayed on their landing gear are susceptible to damage from the weight of the model, especially on styrene landing gear.

Scale Aircraft Conversion has had the solution since 1990. Their white metal landing gear is designed to bear the weight of the model and complement the detailed non-load bearing plastic parts. Their extensive range covers white metal landing gear from 1/144 to 1/18 scale aircraft.

The Scale Aircraft Conversions P-40E/N Warhawk Landing Gear (Edu), Stock Number 48397, consists of three items in their distinctive plastic bubble and cardboard packaging consisting of the main landing gear and tail wheel. These are swap, replace and drop in holes with glue parts. It is that easy. While this set is made for the Eduard 1/48 Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (Nos. 84207, 82241, and 11185, 11187, and R0023), P-40N Warhawk (Nos. 82242, 11193, and R0025). The Eduard kits have a rectangular locating tab, thus the Scale Aircraft Conversions set has the same. This SAC set landing gear struts will fit in other 1/48 P-40E/N models with a little cutting. I tried this on the 1985 AMT/ERTL P-40E, and it works like a charm.

As you can see from the photos, the white metal parts are complete replacements, are very sturdy, and hold up well compared to their plastic kit counterparts. This is value for your well-earned money, especially as you don’t have to worry about the heavy plastic weight causing landing gear failure after the beautiful Warhawk or Kittyhawk is sitting on its wheels.

Profuse thanks to Scale Aircraft Conversions and IPMS/USA for providing the review sample.