Scale Aircraft Conversions has released a nice set of replacement landing gear for the Trumpeter 1/48 Sukhoi Su-11 Fishpot. The seven parts supplied include the nose gear, main gear, and gear retraction arms. A side by side evaluation of all the SAC parts shows the similarity with the kit parts. There are no supplied instructions; you simply swap out the kit provided plastic parts with the new white metal items. The SAC landing gear may need to be slightly adjusted to be straight (a benefit of using metal is that you can bend it slightly). Smooth jaw needle nose pliers work wonderfully.

I assembled the nose gear wheel bay, except for one side, to test fit the SAC nose gear. Trumpeter has a nice design where the nose gear strut fits into a round and a square hole in the sides of the nose wheel bay to make sure you get it installed correctly (If you assemble the nose gear bay correctly). The nose gear strut, along with the retraction strut, fits well into the Trumpeter wheel bay, as can be seen by the attached photographs. Keep in mind to refer to the Trumpeter instructions when building up the nose gear bay as it only fits together one way correctly. Ross McMillan has combined two parts by securing the nose gear strut to one half of the wheel yoke, eliminating a potential point of failure.

I taped the upper and lower left wing to test fit the SAC main gear. Trumpeter has a nice design where the main gear strut fits onto a knuckle with a square peg that in turn fits into the main wheel bay with a rectangular block. The only issue is that I could not get the main gear strut to line up properly with the direction the airplane would be landing. The way the Trumpeter part fits into the wheel bay, you would knock off the main gear as soon as you applied power and started down the runway as its severely toed-in. Ross McMillan has fixed this issue by combining the main gear strut with the knuckle to align properly. Check out the attached photographs and you can see it plain as day.

You will want to be careful when removing the main gear retraction struts from the sprue. I have found that by snipping the sprue at the corners, you can minimize any bending of the retraction struts. Then it’s a matter of snipping closer to the struts and then removing the rest of the sprue with an #11 razor blade. This will help assure that the retraction struts are not damaged by trying to remove the sprue from the part right off the bat.

This replacement set will provide stronger landing gear that won’t sag over time, and are somewhat adjustable if necessary to obtain proper alignment. Even with zero previous experience in using white metal parts, this set will provide an upgrade that most modelers will have no problem installing. Scale Aircraft Conversions does not use lead in their white metal mix, so the builder does not have to be concerned with that perceived hazard.

Before painting, you may wish to remove and polish the mold seam lines. I used a Dremel to polish up the parts. Although most paints will adhere to white metal alone, I would recommend that you prime the parts first. The landing gear will need to be installed with your favorite CA (super glue) or epoxy, as the normal plastic glues or solvents will not react with the white metal.

Ross McMillan has delivered a winner here by solving a major alignment issue with the main landing gear. Additionally, the SAC pieces fit quite well and are a significant improvement in strength over the original parts, and will keep your landing gear from sagging over time. My thanks to Ross MacMillan of Scale Aircraft Conversions and IPMS/USA for the chance to review this great set of replacement landing gear.

Highly recommended!