Ross at SAC just keeps cranking these thinks out… THANKS VERY MUCH for sending IPMS USA another of your expansive line of metal landing gear, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending it on to me to review….

This is the now-expected, much improved upgrade to the kit plastic. Consisting of 15 metal parts directly replacing the kit items, they are an easy addition to improve the longevity of your kits as they sit on display…

With the T-28, like their 1/48 counterparts, the nose gear is particularly vulnerable to damage; it is not a fork-mounted axle, but an offset arm, and this weakness usually results in strut sag/failure within a year on bigger models. …

Not much to say on this one; I glued everything together and installed on the mostly-finished airframe in about 30 minutes. The gear worked as advertised, and after adding some VERY tiny SAC details which were included for the set, it looked good and was very strong.

First up, a "Heavy duty" THANK YOU to the Furball Aero Design team for this Mask set, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending it to me to use and review…. As always we appreciate the generous support of our smaller companies who provide us great things we never knew we needed or could use, but now find harder to do without!

Masking of canopies before airbrushing is one thing I still do the hard way; apply tape, burnish down with a toothpick, and cut around the canopy. Either kabuki paper tape or Scotch magic frosted tape have been my standard mask for years. I have tried masks from vinyl from other companies, and have had limited success, mostly because they tend to be in flexible, too stiff, aggressively stick to the plastic when I don't want, and don't when I do, or just don't fit. You know…

This book covers the end of World War II in Europe from the campaign level. There is little examination of tactics or individual heroism; instead it looks at the challenges and opportunities faced by the top-level military leaders as the Third Reich neared its end.

Until I read this book, I had the concept that the Western Allies (US, Britain, France) had a pretty easy time after stopping the Ardennes Offensive in December 1944, and moved up to the Elbe River line to wait for the Russians. At the same time, I thought the Russians were pretty much beating up on the Germans and making their way toward Berlin and eventual victory. I was pretty much wrong.

The Mk. 20 Rockeye is an unguided cluster bomb weapon and has been used since 1968. With this kind of longevity and the fact it is used by Navy, Air Force and Marines, it is not unusual to find this under the wing of many types of planes including A-10’s, F-15E’s and many others.

Once again, extreme appreciation and thanks to Ross at SAC for sending us another of your expansive line of metal landing gear, and thanks also to IPMS USA leadership for sending it to me.

This is the standard SAC upgrade to the kit plastic. The set consists of 11 parts: Two main struts, two main strut actuators, and the remainder builds up into the detailed nose gear assembly of strut, nose gear fork, and steering actuators with shimmy dampers.

The SAC solution for stronger gear; superglue the upper strut and lower fork together, let it cure. The shimmy damper arm and the damper itself are cemented to the strut, and the extension/drag brace is glued into place. Then carefully glue the whole thing into the nose gear well.