When you look at any of Master Model’s brass gun barrels, you always marvel at what you see. The detail is remarkable regardless of the scale, and the price is hard to believe because it is so low. One of the things that always bothersed me in German WWI aircraft, almost as much as rigging, was annealing and rolling that stupid cooling jacket on Spandau machine guns. And when I finally get it rolled, I had to join it somehow. Soldering is supposed to be how you do it, but I have yet to be successful. So, I ended up with a very soft brass roll that was barely held together on the bottom by superglue. It was guaranteed, at some time during the build, to get dented or just plain squashed. Master Model comes to the rescue with one-piece, turned and perforated cooling jackets and exquisite muzzle and flash suppressor, plus a gun barrel that cannot be duplicated by stretched sprue or brass rod or plastic rod. They say to solder the pieces together, but until I learn how, these I can use epoxy or superglue on and be very, very happy. The photo etch sheet contains the cooling jacket front, front and rear sights, and the mounting bracket. Wisely, you get an extra of each. These are definitely fiddly bits that can be launched into oblivion. All you need is a handy receiver to glue it all to, and you’re in business.

My thanks to Master Model and IPMS/USA for the review sample.