SR-71/YF-12 Blackbird Landing Gear
The SR-71/YF-12 Blackbird needs no introduction and has been produced by a number of manufacturers over the years in both 1/72 and 1/48. Testors produced both a YF-12 kit and an SR-71 kit in 1/72 scale a number of years ago, which was also released under the Italeri label. Earlier this year Scale Aircraft Conversions released a replacement set for kit landing gear for the 1/72 scale kits. The set is comprised of five parts: two main landing gear struts, two main gear retraction actuators, and the nose gear strut.
As with Scale Aircraft’s other sets, the parts are a drop in replacements for the kit parts. As each of the Blackbird’s main gear has three wheels, like the kit parts, SAC’s main gear struts include the center wheel for each side. The main gear struts also mimic the kit’s attachment points to ensure that you get the correct strut on the correct side. After removing a slight molding seam on the parts, I polished them using a wire wheel in my battery operated Dremel tool at low speed. This works very well and results in a nice uniform finish to all of the parts.
As the retraction struts are attached after the main struts are installed, there is no separate assembly that needs to be undertaken after the parts are cleaned up and prepped, so it was on to painting everything. After a primer coat of Tamiya white primer, I painted the parts according to the kit’s instructions, using Testors’ enamels for better adhesion. The main color is FS 36231 Dark Gull Grey with chrome silver for the oleo sections and the landing light on the nose strut. The tires on the main gear struts were painted with Tamiya NATO Black. As with other white metal parts, super glue must be used to assemble or attach the parts.
It is nice to see Scale Aircraft Conversions making sets for some of the less modern kits out there and given the number of them in my stash of kits, I hope they continue to do so. Highly recommended.
Thanks to Scale Aircraft Conversions for the review set and to IPMS/USA for letting me review it.

Comments
Add new comment
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Similar Reviews