1:48 MG 81 machine gun

The Mauser that replaced the drum-fed MG 15

The MG 81 came about at the Mauser works by adapting the infantry MG 34 for the needs of the Luftwaffe, and from 1940 it gradually replaced the obsolescent MG 15 in defensive stations. The essential difference lay in the feed: instead of an unwieldy drum magazine it received a belt, and so the gunner did not lose time changing the supply at the most inconvenient moment. The rate of fire ran at around sixteen hundred rounds per minute, and in the twin form, designated by the letter Z, a pair of barrels could put a really dense screen up against an attacking fighter. The weapon appeared in the Heinkel He 111, the Junkers Ju 88, the Dornier Do 217 and in the late versions of the Ju 87 dive bomber.

Why replace the weapon from the kit

Machine guns are among the weakest places in injection molds. The parting line runs right through the barrel, the cooling holes tend to be only suggested and the sights are missing altogether. A separately produced part gets round these troubles, because it is cast in one piece and the material will hold a sharp edge even on a face smaller than a millimeter.

• the MG 81 aircraft machine gun of 7.92 mm caliber, scale 1:48
• suitable for the defensive stations of German bombers
• without a parting line across the barrel
• an accessory for a build; the model of the aircraft is bought separately

The part is separated from the casting lug with a fine-toothed saw and the trace has to be cleaned up before the weapon is seated in its mount. Before painting, a short bath in warm soapy water helps, so that the remains of the mold release agent are removed from the surface. The metallic appearance of the barrel is well captured by a dark graphite shade polished over with a dry brush.