1:72 Japanese Type 99 20mm Mark 2 gun barrels (4pcs)

The Japanese Type 99 Mark 2 cannon

The Imperial Japanese Navy built the armament of its fighters on a licensed form of a Swiss design. The version designated Mark 2 received a longer barrel and a higher muzzle velocity than the original short form, and that showed in the silhouette of the wing too: a noticeable length of tube projects from the leading edge. It is exactly this detail that tends to be the weakest point on injection-molded parts, because a mold cannot make a thin wall with an open mouth.

Fitting it to the model

Cut the original plastic barrel off as close to the surface of the wing as possible and open the hole up with a drill to the diameter of the pin. Then glue the metal part in with cyanoacrylate glue and line it up with the axis of the machine while the glue is still setting. Degrease the surface before painting, otherwise the paint will hold poorly on smooth metal.

• Contents of the package: four barrels
• 1:72 scale
• A turned metal part with an open mouth
• Intended as a replacement for the plastic barrels from a kit

The set covers the armament only, and the aircraft itself has to be obtained separately. The manufacturer also offers the same cannon in further sizes, so one machine can be built in several scales with a comparable level of detail.

What the metal adds

An injection-molded part carries a mold seam along its whole length and its mouth is usually blanked off. Once the seam has been sanded away the wall stays uneven, and drilling a hole in a thin tube tends to be a lottery. A turned piece has the cavity finished and the axis straight, which on a small model shows even from half a meter away.