1:35 MG3 - Early Version

The postwar MG3 machine gun in the early form

Unlike the neighboring items of the range, this is not a weapon from the period of the Second World War. The MG3 is a postwar German general-purpose machine gun that continued from an older design and adapted it to the unified postwar ammunition. The name specifies the early version, that is the form from the first years after its introduction. The scale of 1:35 is given in the name.

From a wartime design to a postwar standard

The weapon took over the principle of short recoil with a roller-locked bolt, that is the solution that had proved itself with its direct predecessor, and completed it with changes in the feed mechanism and in the sights. The early forms differ from the later ones in small things that are admittedly minute in the size of 1:35 but recognizable up close. Anyone building equipment for a particular period will appreciate being able to distinguish this difference at all.

Ideas for postwar equipment

The accessory comes into its own with builds from the second half of the twentieth century, where this type of weapon appeared on the roofs of vehicles and with foot crews. In color it is interesting to play with the contrast between dark metal and the lighter surfaces of the machine the weapon is seated on. A matte surface and a fine drawing out of the edges work more reliably than a strong metallic sheen.

Recommended for

• builders of postwar and modern ground equipment
• scenes from training and peacetime service
• modelers who distinguish early and later versions
• completing the equipment around a vehicle or a crew