Scale Aircraft Conversions 1/48 F6F Hellcat Landing Gear First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

Scale Aircraft Conversions (SAC) produces an impressive array of white metal replacement landing gear for a variety of models. Some of these sets correct different issues that appeared in production kits, while others are simple common sense replacements to have stronger landing gear on your model.

This release is one of more than 60 landing gear sets available in 1/48 scale and is targeted for the Eduard 1/48 scale F6F Hellcat series. These replacement main gear struts are drop-in replacements for the Eduard gear and have corrected strut lengths. Where the Eduard struts are longer and don't reflect the stance that the aircraft takes when sitting on the ground. These have been shortened on this correction to achieve the proper stance.

Update: When these stuts were being designed and casted, somehow the lower strut and axle assembly was pointing the wrong direction. These have been re-worked and reissued with the corrected axle direction and previous customers have been provided corrected struts. That's customer service!

One nice aspect of aftermarket landing gear like these from SAC is that you can make the change anytime, even after the kit's gear buckles for whatever reason. Unlike an aftermarket cockpit or other details that need to be incorporated during construction, you can easily extract the old styrene gear and plug in these replacements once you've got them primed and painted. Of course you can plan ahead and use them during your build-up and avoid the problems in the first place.

You can obtain SAC landing gear from your favorite hobby retailer or online hobby shop. If your retailer can't get these for you and you can't this set at your favorite online retailer, then you can get quick service from Scale Aircraft Conversions directly.

My sincere thanks to Scale Aircraft Conversions for this review sample!