Scale Aircraft Conversions | 32073 A-1 Skyraider Landing Gear (Trumpeter)
Reviewed by Ray Peterson
A recent release from Scale Aircraft Conversions is this new accessory set for the Trumpeter 1/32nd A-1 Skyraider kit. The set includes the main landing gear and the tail gear as well as separate bracing, retraction arms and the like.
This set is simply meant to be a direct replacement for the kit’s plastic landing gear, providing the modeler the option to go with white metal instead of plastic. Therefore while the casting is quite good, most of the details are unchanged and any defects of the kit parts, such as molding seams, are therefore replicated on the SAC gear. The only change I observed is some of the molded on arms on the kit legs are supplied as separate parts in the SAC set.
I still am not happy with the softness of the alloy used. Even though the SAC gear will easily bend I am confident it is as strong as the kit gear and should hold up well. However if the modeler uses a lot of resin aftermarket and significantly increases the weight of the kit, I could not guarantee the SAC gear would not sag over time. Also, some of the smaller parts may be hard to use. Clean up of seams will be difficult, and the soft alloy will bend so easily it may be hard keeping them to stay straight. The modeler may be better off using the kit parts for these smaller parts.
Recommended only as a quick and relatively low-priced replacement for the kit gear, especially if one need to replace broken kit parts.
Thanks to Scale Aircraft Conversions for the review set.
© Ray Peterson 2014
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This review was published on Thursday, January 16 2014; Last modified on Wednesday, August 31 2016