QB 48-604 provides drop-fit replacements for Tumpeter’s MiG-3 (early) gun barrels and pitot tube.

As with every QB resin accessory I have ever had the pleasure of using or reviewing, these are molded in very crisp dark gray resin. There is no flash, and the ends of the gun barrels as well as the pitot tube are nicely hollowed out. There are no instructions provided, but are not really necessary as these are direct replacements for existing kit pieces.

Comparing the gun barrels to the kit pieces these are designed to replace, I noted a few differences. First of all, the kit provides 3 barrels of exactly the same length (in fact, they are all the same part number A8). The kit barrels also are essentially just small rods of plastic (with molded bands at either end), and have rather large sprue attachment points on the sides that will make clean removal a little tricky. The QB parts are attached at the non-open end to their pour stub, and (as already mentioned), are nicely hollowed out. The QB barrels are also different lengths. All 3 QB barrels are longer than the kit’s, and 1 of the 3 is even longer than the others. I assume this longer one is to represent the UBS 12.7mm heavy machine gun mounted in the center of the upper cowling, while the other two represent the 7.62mm ShKAS machine guns mounted on either side of the UBS. The longer barrel also has a slightly larger diameter to reflect the heavier bore, which is a nice touch.

The troughs in the kit cowling these are meant to drop into each have a backing plate. Since the QB barrels are longer than the kit-provided ones, the backing plate will cause them to protrude further than those in the kit. A quick review of some photos shows that these guns barely protruded from the openings, so perhaps the kit barrel length is more accurate? This can easily be rectified by simply cutting down the resin barrels. One thing I did note on every photo I saw – it is actually not the gun barrels protruding out of the cowling, but rather blast tubes. And these tubes have an oblong opening (the lower portion is longer than the top). Neither QB nor the kit properly represents this. I suppose some aircraft may not have had these fitted, but my limited research didn’t show that. I think one could try to slice the barrel at an angle and recreate the oblong design, and if the opening at the tip is deep enough this might work.

QB’s pitot tube looks to be about the same length as that provided in the kit, and again has the great improvement of a hollow tip.

I think this set is a nice enough improvement over the kit items to make it a worthwhile purchase. The open tips and general crispness of this set are an upgrade. I do wish the proper blast tube ends had been provided for the guns, but these barrels are still a step up from those provided in the kit. For further reference, have a look at the website: http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/mig3/mig3.html

The armament section of that site shows the blast tubes very clearly.

Thanks to Aires/Quickboost for providing the review sample, and to IPMS/USA for allowing me to review it!