Scale Aircraft Conversions

1/48 He-111 Landing Gear For the Revell/Monogram He-111

Stock Number: 48075

Reviewed By  Fred Amos, IPMS# 6672

MSRP: $18.95 Website: Scale Aircraft Conversions The 1/48 scale kit of the He-111 by Monogram, now Revell/Monogram, has always had one very weak point, the landing gear. The attachment point is a very small area on the forward bulkhead of the landing gear bay. I have built two of the Pro Modeler Versions in the last 15 years and even though I was able to glue the main gear legs to the bulkhead successfully it was a struggle. We modelers now have an alternative to the plastic landing gear, metal copies with a new method of attaching them in the gear bay. I recently started to build an He-111-Z, the five engine version, with two kits I have had laying in my stash for ten or fifteen years and a resin conversion by the now defunct KL Productions. While working on the two fuselages and the left and right wings I began to think about the weight of this heavy beast that the kits landing gear would have to hold up. I had been coming across ads and reviews for Scale Aircraft Conversions’ (SAC) various metal landing gear sets for models on some of the model oriented websites, so I sent an email asking if they had considered a metal set for the He-111 kit. The answer was that it was in development for release early in 2010. I emailed back and suggested that they look at possibly enlarging the mounting area of the main gear struts with some kind of larger surface to be glued to the front of the gear bay. And if they would, I would like to buy the first two sets from the production run. Recently I received in the mail two sets of the metal landing gear for my He-111-Z without any instructions on how to use them. The metal gear is almost flawless, with no more separation flash than you would find on the plastic parts of the kit. The attachment point is not quite what I had expected but with a little extra work I believe it is very workable. This is the method that I believe will lead to a successful build. Before the wing top and bottom are glued together, cut the bulkhead of the landing gear bay off flush with the inside facing. Then carefully glue the gear doors and interior wall in place. After this has cured, place the metal main gear where the bulkhead was, trapping the L shape under the plastic edge and secure with your favorite super glue. You may want to paint the interior of the gear door, walls and landing gear parts RLM 02 before they are glued into place. I believe any modeler with better than average ability will be able to use this conversion set as I have described. Since I have already started my He-111-Z conversion, I am not in a position to cut the bulkheads out of the landing gear bays. I will have to grind away the details on the landing gear bulkheads and superglue the SAC sets in place; however I foresee no major problems with this. You can find your conversion set through web dealers like Squadron Signal or Sprue Brothers or through your local hobby shops. A catalog of SAC products can be viewed on their website.