Master Model of Poland produces small brass parts for detailing models, be they aircraft or ships. They have parts for aircraft in 1/32, 1/35, 1/48, 1/72, and 1/144, mostly pitot tubes, refueling probes and gun barrels.

These are 4 20mm gun barrels for Japanese WW2 fighters. I had a 1/144 Platz N1K2 “George” on the shelf, which I built for a review about 4 years ago. I selected it for the upgrade.

Removal and Replacement

Removal was a simple job. I used sprue cutters and cut the guns off the wing, as close as I could to the leading edge. The kit has fairings at the base of each gun, but I fixed that later. Once I got the plastic guns removed, I used a sanding stick to flatten the base of the kit fairings. This gave me a clean surface to drill into. The instructions call for a .4mm drill. Looking at my .4mm drill and the guns, I downgraded the drill to a .25mm. The hole was still just a little large, but .25mm is about the smallest drill I’ve got.

Hauler has been making photoetched sets in multiple scales including my favorite, 1/72^nd. This set is about as easy of a PE set as you can get. It contains 6 grills (4 of one style and 2 of another) and 15 manhole covers (5 each of 3 styles one of these is square). They literally are just cut from the fret and add to your diorama.

As such no instructions are needed but there actually was a set included with mine. Turns out it is for one of their Typhoon sets. Whoops.

I have been unable to track down what countries the manhole covers are from but pretty sure they are from Europe and should look good in a WWII setting. If anyone can find a location that fits please post the info.

All in all, a nice and easy to use accessory that will liven up that street scene.

Thanks to Hauler and IPMS/USA for the review kit.

This tome appears to be Piotr Witkowski’s second book in English and it’s a follow up to Volume one of his Operational Market Garden Paratroopers that focused on uniforms, equipment and personal use items. The positive feedback he received from Volume 1 encouraged him to move fast on this volume to get it published. You can find the review on Volume I at the IPMS USA Review website. I’ve found two prior books in Polish: Polskie jednostki powietrzno-desantowe na zachodzie (Bellona, 2009) and a second edition of this book titled: Spadochroniarze Sosabowskiego : Dzieje polskich jednostekpowietrznodesantowych 1939-1945 (Bellona, 2012). Volume 3 is in preparation by Piotr Witkowski and will focus on Transports used in Operation Market Garden.