1:72 P-47 Thunderbolt .50 Browning M2 barrels (8pcs)

MASTER 1:72 - Browning M2 barrels for the P-47 Thunderbolt, 8 pieces

This is an accessory for a plastic kit, not an aircraft model. The set contains eight turned metal barrels of the .50 caliber (12.7 mm) Browning M2 aircraft machine gun in 1:72 scale. They replace the plastic parts on the leading edge of the wing, which in this scale are practically always thin rods with no opening. A metal barrel has a genuinely drilled bore, so the muzzle looks like a muzzle and not like a blind plastic pin.

The real subject

The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was a single-engine fighter with a radial engine and an exhaust-driven turbocharger, committed to action from 1943. It was among the heaviest single-engine fighters of its day and, besides escorting bomber formations, it was widely used for attacks on ground targets. The standard armament was eight .50 caliber machine guns spread through the wing, four on each side, and the number of parts in the set matches that.

Fitting and painting tips

Cut the plastic barrels off as close to the leading edge as possible and level the remainder with a file. Drill a hole in the resulting face to match the diameter of the pin on the metal part; drill by hand in a pin vise, not with a power drill. With eight barrels it pays to set them all dry first and only then glue them, so that the spacing and the relative projection are right. Glue with cyanoacrylate applied drop by drop, or with a slow-setting epoxy that gives time to align them. Degrease the brass with alcohol before painting and use a primer intended for metal; alternatively leave the barrels in bare metal and simply darken them with a blackening solution.

Who the set is for

• Modelers building the P-47 in 1:72 who want gun muzzles that look functional
• Those who do not want to drill eight plastic barrels by hand
• Builders combining metal accessories with photo-etched parts
• Competition builds, where the detail of the wing leading edge is judged

This is an accessory for modelers. The base kit, glue and paints are not included in the package, unless stated otherwise.