Being that this detail set is denoting the gun bay of an F-5E Tiger II, I will begin with a little history of the M39A2 cannon, which is represented in this set. This weapon was developed by the Springfield Armory in the late 1940’s, and was based upon the German Mauser MG 213. The design was a five-shot revolver firing 20mm by 102mm projectiles at a rate of 1500 rounds per minute at a velocity of 3300 feet per second. The M39A2 was first released in 1964, but the M39 guns themselves entered service in 1952, and were mounted within the F-86H, F-100, F-101A and C, as well as the F-5 variants. Ford and Pontiac are among the companies who manufactured the M39 cannons, and some 35,500 have been produced. The M39A2 itself weighs 178.5 pounds and is just over six feet in length.

This new release from Aires consists of seven resin parts that include the gun bay itself, ammunition storage box, feed belt, cannon, actuator, and two outer doors for the aircraft. The detail set is designed for the AFV Club F-5E releases, which conveniently have an opening in the left side of the aircraft to accept just such an item. I picked up my F-5E/F-5N (kit 48101) last year at a model show, as the Navy Aggressor squadron VFC-111 Sundowners markings really caught my eye. There are no kit parts to fill the void in the fuselage, but the kit does come with outer doors that have interior and exterior detail (the resin parts provided in the Aires set are a bit thinner than the kit provided parts though).

Directions are very simple for this detail set, especially as five pieces make up the gun bay itself, and the remaining two replace kit parts B1 (resin piece 5) and B3 (resin piece 4). I found a couple of excellent photographs of the gun bay online, which provided me with my color selections. I used Model Master Acryl Aircraft Gray for the gun bay proper and the inside of the covers. Model Master Metalizer Steel and Gunmetal were used for the feed belt and gun, Alclad Dull Aluminum was used for the ammunition storage box, and Alclad Chrome was used for the end of the actuator. I sealed all of the metal-colored items with Model Master Metalizer Sealer. I think that the end product looks great, and it dropped right into place in the kit without issue.

For my hits of this detail set, I will start by complimenting the level of detail with the cast resin, as everything was crisp, and accurate, right down to the clasps. There were a few small pieces of flash in the container, but only the ammunition box and feed belt required any clean up (the feed belt was cast with a thin section on the back of the piece that I removed with rotary files and a #77 drill bit using my Dremel). As the AFV Club kit comes ready to take a detail set like this, it seemed like a great idea to have the gun bay to add to mine.

My only real miss with this detail set is the lack of decals for the ammunition box, as there are a total of four that should be present. Although not a miss for me, some may prefer to have a feed belt that contains the 20mm ammunition loaded in it, rather than the empty one provided in this set. For my purposes though, it will be more realistic to show an aircraft with an empty belt.

In conclusion, I would highly recommend this detail set from Aires to anyone owning one of the AFV Club F-5E kits. As I mentioned, the kit is ready to accept this detail set with no work on the part of the modeler, so that the only skills required with involve the clean-up of resin, and painting. I did not realize that my F-5E/F-5N came with an opening, and this detail set with the empty feed belt is perfect for my Navy aggressor.

I would like to thank the folks at Aires for providing this detail set to the IPMS/USA for review, to Steve Collins, who runs the review corps, for selecting me to assess this detail set, and to you for taking the time to read my comments.