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F/A-18A/D Hornet Landing Gear

Scale Aircraft Conversions 1/48 F/A-18A/D Hornet Landing Gear First Look

By Michael Benolkin

Date of Review September 2009 Manufacturer Scale Aircraft Conversions
Subject F/A-18A/D Hornet Landing Gear Scale 1/48
Set Number 48003 Primary Media White Metal
Pros Provides replacement gear for the Hasegawa kits Cons None noted
Skill Level Intermediate MSRP (USD) $14.95

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.

F/A-18A/D Hornet Landing Gear

This release is one of more than 60 landing gear sets available in 1/48 scale and is targeted for the Hasegawa releases of the F/A-18A, F/A-18B, F/A-18C and F/A-18D Hornets. You can see the nicely cast strut replacements for the kit landing gear and capture the trailing link landing gear under load as well as a replacement nose gear strut. These parts are drop-in fits for the Hasegawa Hornets. Granted that most (if not all) of the Hasegawa Hornets come with white metal landing gear, these are good replacements in case you lose your gear or the kit you acquire from a kit swap has had the gear removed from the box. In addition, you should be able to adapt the gear to work with the HobbyBoss and Monogram 1/48 Hornet kits as well.

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!