IPMS/USA Reviews

Scale Aircraft Conversions (SAC) manufactures white metal landing gear that is a direct replacement for the kits plastic landing gear. The metal landing gear offer greater strength over the kit parts as well as having most of the mold lines removed. At times, the metal will be bent out of shape but that is easily corrected by bending it back to the correct shape.

This set includes six parts, the two main gear assemblies, bracing arms for the main gear and nose gear with separate bracing arm. All the parts are exact copies of the kit parts with a small amount of mold lines or "flash". The Main gear still has the kits sprue, with identifying number. Note that the kit part F5 has been moved to the same sprue as part F2. The main gear bracing struts are free from the sprue and not numbered.

SAC gear may require some cleanup for the few areas that still have still seam lines. You many also sand and prime the struts to remove some of the rough texture that appears in some areas. Installing the new gear requires CA glue or non-traditional modeling adhesives. SAC recommends that the gear is for experienced modelers that are accustomed to working with metal gear.

This set is designed to be used on Academy's new F-14Tomcat kits. The set consists of a pair of drop-in replacements for kit parts F15/F17 and F17/F18 which make up the rear part of the intake trunks immediately in front of the engines. Academy did a nice job in trying to reduce the seam between the upper and lower parts, however, the Quickboost parts eliminate the seam completely.

Both intakes are nicely molded and as the intakes are handed the pour stubs clearly indicate which the left intake is and which is the right one. I marked "L" and "R" on the resin parts with a Sharpie before removing them from the pour stubs under the KISS principal, even though I know that they will not fit if swapped, having just completed building the kit.

The parts are easily removed with razor saw and I used some 600-grit sandpaper to clean up the cut ends. The cast parts include the indentations for mounting the kit engine faces, so installation will be easy.

This is a nice set from Aires/Quickboost and I am looking forward to using it on the next Academy F-14 Tomcat that I build. Highly recommended.

This set is designed to be used on Fujimi's F-14 Tomcat kits. The set consists of 2 resin ramps, replacing the kit's molded on ramps. The title states that the parts are the ECS (environmental control system) exhaust grills, however, in reality they are the fixed bleed doors which allow excess air to be vented out of the intakes, especially at higher airspeeds when the movable ramps deploy to restrict the airflow down the intakes and keep the air subsonic when it hits the front of the engines.

The parts are exceptionally thin and crisply cast. However, as the bleed doors are molded as part of the upper fuselage on the kit, you will need to break out a razor saw or a new Xacto blade to remove the kit parts and install these replacements. I recommend the removal surgery be completed before you join the upper and lower fuselage halves, but you should hold off on installing the doors until right before painting to avoid damaging them.

As expected from Aires/Quickboost the bleed doors are very well molded and thin and could be a nice upgrade to your Fujimi Tomcat. My only concern is how difficult it will be to remove the molded-on doors from the kit.

This set is designed to be used on Hasegawa F-14 Tomcat kits. The set consists of 2 resin ramps, replacing the kit's molded on ramps. The title states that the parts are the ECS (environmental control system) exhaust grills, however, in reality they are the fixed bleed doors which allow excess air to be vented out of the intakes, especially at higher airspeeds when the movable ramps deploy to restrict the airflow down the intakes and keep the air subsonic when it hits the front of the engines.

Thank you to Phil and to Bill for all the work that you do and your support of IPMS.

The Kit

Intended for Italeri or Hasegawa 1/32 F-86 Sabre models, this Aires Aero Bonus kit includes one resin cast block and one single-sided instruction sheet with a full color illustration. They are packaged in a plastic container (for protection) inside of a plastic pouch. Prior to working on the kit, I recommend washing it in a mild detergent solution to remove any mold release residue. The resin cast has sharp detail and is flash free.

Construction

Other than the color illustration/painting guide, no instructions are provided, but they are not needed as the build is very intuitive. To begin, I used a razor saw to divide the cast into three sections: the body/seat, the arms, and the head. After I divided the cast into these pieces, I carefully trimmed them until they were all cleanly separated. Important Tip: you must use CA to adhere the parts. Other cements such as Tamiya Thin Cement or Testors liquid cement will not work.