The SAC landing gear for the Trumpeter 1/48 T-38A Talon kit is a direct “plug and play” replacement for the kit gear with one minor change. The nose gear is one piece for the SAC gear whereas the Trumpeter part is a two piece affair (the nose gear attachment point is separate from the strut itself). I am not sure why Trumpeter did this but to me it seems like it would add a natural weakness in the structure and that joint has to hold the nose of a fairly large aircraft up. The SAC gear cleaned up nicely, with just some minor cutting and filing of excess metal. The top of one main gear had a bit of a pour plug that came off with a sprue cutter and a file.

Since I was building the Trumpeter T-38A I was able to see the gear “in action.” After cleaning them up I primed them so as to get the paint to stick and then a couple coats of flat white were added to give the gear the proper color. I had very little difficulty getting them to fit into the aircraft. The nose went in with no issue at all, and the mains just needed a little extra sanding at the attachment points. The wheels attached with no issues as the axles were the right size. All parts were attached with CA glue due to the metal to plastic connection.

I would definitely recommend this aftermarket set. I really feel it adds strength to the gear, especially for the nose wheel.

My sincere thanks to Scale Aircraft Conversions for the product and to IPMS for allowing me to review the parts