Introduction

If aircraft modellers are cut from the same cloth as armour modellers, be it a different colour, then we all share something in common. That something is the desire to improve upon models via the addition of after market products. Many modellers adorn their models with photo etch and resin parts, and even purchase after market decals for their builds. Armour modellers are very keen on turned metal barrels for their builds and it is brass barrels for aircraft models that this review looks at.

Master Reality in Miniature have a very good selection of brass barrels in five scales, 1/24th, 1/32nd, 1/35th, 1/48th and 1/72nd scale. In addition to metal barrels they also have a fair selection of pitot tubes and radar aerial assemblies.

Contents

The product is packaged in a Ziploc bag with a card sleeve and card hanger. Inside the Ziploc bag is a sealed plastic bag with the barrel parts inside. In the back of this packaging there is also an instruction sheet.

Review

There are parts for two barrels supplied with this product; this consists of two turned barrels and two preformed vented sleeves. First impressions are very good with excellent detail that in my opinion cannot be matched with injection moulded plastic. The barrel is simplicity itself to assemble, requiring the barrel be inserted into the sleeve. The injection moulded plastic barrels that are being replaced need to be cut away and a 0.8mm hole drilled into the centre of the of the guns body where the barrel was removed. All you need to do then is Cyanoacrylate adhesive (CA) be used to glue the barrel assembly in place. It is my opinion that these barrels from Master Reality in Miniature will greatly improve the appearance of any model that these machine guns are used on, this will be particularly true of aircraft where the barrel is clearly visible.

The 13mm MG-131 was used in a large number of German aircraft between 1940 and 1945. The instruction sheet lists aircraft that was armed with the MG-131 as being the Me Bf 109, Me 410, Fw 190. Ju 88, He 177 and also states that many other aircraft also used the Mg-131.

Conclusion

These machine gun barrels will greatly improve the look of weapons on any model on which they are used. They are a quick and easy improvement to utilise and as such should be suitable for modellers of all skill levels. I have tried very hard to find any faults with the product and drawn a blank. the only improvement I would have liked to see would be sets for specific aircraft to aid those who may not be sure which products they need for their model. I very highly recommend this product to you and I will be using them on one of the large scale Revell of Germany kits I have been reviewing.

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