Griffon Models

American M2 12.7mm (Cal. 50) HB Machine Gun Barrel (4 in 1) (Barrel Changing Handles Inside) For All Brand kits with M2 12.7 mm HB Machine Gun Barrels

Stock Number: LB35024

Reviewed By  Jim Stratton, IPMS# 20703

MSRP: $50.95 Imported by Dragon USA - Website: www.dragonmodelsusa.com This update set comes in the typical Griffon Models sturdy packaging and includes four turned brass barrels and their cooling sleeves, a sheet of instructions, 1 small brass fret with parts for four 50 Cal. HB machine guns and 1 length of 1mm plastic rod. The small instruction sheet is detailed with all necessary information to adapt these parts to any 50 cal. HB machine gun. The instructions need to be studied carefully in order to understand the fold pattern for the hand grips. These require multiple bends in one direction and then bent back over onto themselves to form the hand grips. After the folds, two lengths of 1mm plastic rod are cut and inserted to form the rounded hand grips. The turned brass barrels are nicely detailed and they include the notched spanner lug at the end of the cooling jacket as well as the length of threads at the receiver block end of the barrel. The cooling jackets are equally as nice and detailed as the barrels. The etched fret includes the hand grips and trigger mechanism, rear sight in two pieces, front sight and barrel changing handles. The fret also includes plain plates for use instead of the rear sight in case you choose to use these barrels on the Dragon M16, which did not have the rear sights installed. Because I was privileged to review the Griffon update set for the M16 suspension, I decided to use these barrels on my M16, replacing the four kit barrels. Because very little of the etched brass fret is used for the M16 guns, I also decided to use the remaining etched parts to update another set of 50 cal. guns for some of my other American armor builds, thus allowing me to review the etched brass pieces along with the barrels. Construction: Changing the barrels for the M16 was straightforward and simple. Cutting off the plastic barrel and cleaning up the receiver block took only minutes. Mounting the brass barrels requires drilling a .024 hole in the receiver block. Be sure the hole in centered on the receiver and deep enough to accept the pin on the end of the replacement barrel. Once the hole was drilled, I placed the cooling jacket over the end of the barrel and applied a small drop of CA glue to the pin and inserted it into the receiver. Then I slipped the cooling jacket into place. There was just enough CA glue that oozed out of the pin to hold the jacket in place. Changing all four barrels for the M16 took only 20 minutes. I was really pleased with the look of the finished barrels. Once the barrels were set up, I glued the blank sight plate on top of the receiver completing the assembly.

Moving on to the etched brass fret, I chose to update a Dragon Gen2 50 cal. The hand grips were first. As stated above, the hand grips require several bends. These should be studied carefully before starting. The brass is relatively thin and will not take more than two or three bends before snapping. The only problem I had was with the butterfly trigger. During the second bend back onto itself, the trigger was bent a couple of times more than it should have and the joint got really weak. Once I had it in place I reinforced the fold with a small drop of CA glue and that secured it in place. Another issue I noted is that the hand grips are modeled as uniformly tubular shapes, unlike the real hand grip, which has a narrower circumference at the top and bottom of the grip. This can be remedied by lightly sanding the top and bottom of the plastic rod before gluing onto the hand grip. Once the hand grips are in place, the two part rear sight is bent and glued on top of the receiver block. The front sight proved to be the most difficult to bend. It is really tiny and I found it very difficult to get the proper bend using my club sized fingers. I was able to get it bent around a 1mm drill bit but it took some time and patience. Another issue was with the barrel changing handle. The piece is also bent around a drill bit and then inserted on the barrel. The issue is the etched wooden handle is flat and not rounded as in the real handle. Of course this is a drawback of etched brass. I plan on building up the round profile with some high profile paint. Another way to go is to cut off the flat handle and replace it with some thin plastic rod. Either way this should be done, as the flat profile is really noticeable. Recommendations: This is a nice update kit that adds quite a lot of detail to any 50 cal. gun. If only the barrels are to be used, then modelers of any skill level should be able to do so easily. If the etched brass is to be used, then any modeler with intermediate skill should be able to utilize this kit. I highly recommend this to anyone wanting to upgrade an American 50 cal. HB machine gun. I would like to thank Dragon Models USA for the kit and IPMS for letting me write this review.