Introduction

Master Reality in Scale has released a series of products to upgrade the weapons barrels and pitot on a number of aircraft. In this review I get to take a look at a set for the Bf 109 G5-G14 K and two sets covering the FW190 A2-A5 and FW190 A7-A8 sets for 1/32nd scale models.

Review

AM-32-062 Bf 109 G5-G14 K
This product consists of 2 turned barrels in brass to replicate MG 131 machine gun barrels. The machining has been very well done, with no obvious flaws to the product. The turned brass offerings are packaged in a re-sealable plastic bag; this is in turn packaged in a Ziploc plastic bag with a card backing. Also inside the bag is an instruction sheet, which despite the simplicity of this particular set, is a nice inclusion. The Ziploc bag is secured with a card hanger, on which is all of the product information relating to the set. This set only consists of three parts and it is obvious where each part goes as each part is a direct replacement for the kit supplied parts. The only downside to this specific set is the failure to provide the required drill size for the insertion of the barrels. The instructions do state that if you wish to use the full length barrels with drilled cooling jacket, set AM-32-003 is the required product. A link to a review of that product is below.
German MG-131 barrels Live links

AM-32-063 FW 190 A2-A5
This second product from Master Reality in Scale for the Focke Wulf 190 A2-A5 is a little more involved due to the increased fire power. The product consists of;

• 2 x MG17 machine gun barrel tips
• 2 x MG FF Barrels
• 2 x MG 151 barrels
• 2 x Blast tubes
• A pitot tube

All of the items in this set are again supplied in brass and finished to a high standard. The turned brass offerings are packaged in three pockets in a re-sealable plastic bag; this is in turn packaged in a Ziploc plastic bag with a card backing. Also inside the bag is an instruction sheet, which despite the simplicity of this particular set, is a nice inclusion. The Ziploc bag is secured with a card hanger, on which is all of the product information relating to the set. This method of packaging seems to have done a good job of preventing any crush damage occurring to the various elements in the package. The barrels look to be accurate in detail and will certainly be an improvement over injection moulded plastic barrels; the pitot tube is particularly nicely replicated and should offer a much better looking result if for no other reason than there being no seams to remove. The instructions provided by Master Reality in Scale offer suggested alternatives in their range if you prefer full length barrels rather than tips, a link to one of the suggested items is below. The instructions do fail to mention what size drill bit to use for mounting the barrels, which is a pain.
German MG 151 (20mm) Live links

AM-32-065 FW190 A7-A8
This third product from Master Reality in Scale for the Focke Wulf 190 A7-A8 is again a little more involved due to the increased and different fire power. The product consists of;

• 2 x MG 131 tips
• 4 x MG 151 barrels
• 2 x Blast tubes
• A pitot tube

The quality of the turned pieces is very good, as are all of the sets I have looked at. The turned brass offerings are packaged in three pockets in a re-sealable plastic bag; this is in turn packaged in a Ziploc plastic bag with a card backing. Also inside the bag is an instruction sheet. The down side is again that no drill size has been included in the instructions. The instructions do clearly explain where the parts go and how far they should protrude forward of the wing.

Conclusion

I cannot help but be a fan of these barrel sets from Master Reality in Scale; they offer a crisp well defined direct replacement of kit parts that will make an obvious improvement, the detail also exceeds the model parts in all cases I believe. The other big pluses for me are that there are no moulding seams to clean up and they are far more resilient than plastic; why is that important? Well one moment of carelessness always resulted in broken barrels, missing pitots or a very shortened pitot. The prices of these products is also a big plus, as they are an affordable way of kitting out a large scale model far more cheaply than buying each of the needed barrels for a model.

I would have liked to see the drill bit size indicated in the instructions, or better still include the required drill bit in the packaging and thus ensuring the customer gets it right, and it should not add much if anything to the cost of the product. This is a cost effective improvement that will save the modeller a lot of time in clean up and improve the look of the finished model easily.