1:16 Vickers K (Pair)

A British flexible machine gun in a generous size

The item brings an elaborately shaped rendering of the weapon that the Royal Air Force used as defensive armament served by a gunner. The size of 1:16 allows even small things to be shown, such as the sight, the grip or the pan magazine above the receiver. The designation Pair in the name of the item suggests that this is a paired rendering.

What the Vickers K was

The weapon is also carried under the abbreviation G.O., that is Gas Operated, because it worked on the principle of tapping gases from the barrel. It came about by reworking an older infantry design for the needs of aviation, and a high rate of fire made it a favored armament of observers. Later it proved itself away from the decks of aircraft too, on light reconnaissance vehicles.

Recommended procedure for working it in

First think out the angle at which the weapon will stand on its mount, and only then glue. Thin parts such as the sights bear little, so handle them over a mat and not directly with the fingers. The surface looks credible when you complete a dark steel color with a graphite sheen on the edges. Do the wooden parts with a brown glaze over an ocher undercoat.

Who the accessory is useful for

• builders of large aircraft models with a gunner's station
• anyone interested in the equipment of the interwar and war periods
• makers of figure scenes where the armament is in the foreground
• modelers who want to replace a simplified shape
• collectors of small arms equipment in a large scale