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F-4 Phantom II Landing Gear

Scale Aircraft Conversions 1/48 F-4 Phantom II Landing Gear First Look

By Michael Benolkin

Date of Review January 2010 Manufacturer Scale Aircraft Conversions
Subject F-4 Phantom II Landing Gear Scale 1/48
Set Number 48017 Primary Media White Metal
Pros Provides a more rugged landing gear option 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-4 Phantom II 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-4 Phantom II. Hasegawa has produced the nicest kits of the Phantom in 1/48th scale and include the F-4B/N, F-4C/D, F-4E, F-4J, F-4S, RF-4B/C, and RF-4E variants. These aircraft all shared the same landing gear and Scale Aircraft Conversions have produced a nice white metal landing gear set that will work with any of the above releases. The only kits this set will not work with are the F-4K/M, Phantom FG.1, and FGR.2, all of which are the Spey-powered British Phantoms which feature a different nosegear strut. Hasegawa has also released the Hasegawa F-4E in their boxing and this set will work with that release 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!