1:35 MAC 24/29

The mainstay of a French infantry squad

The MAC 24/29 light machine gun came from the arms factory at Châtellerault and from the 1930s formed the firepower core of the French infantry squad. You recognize it at first glance by the magazine set into the top, by the pair of triggers, of which the front one fires single shots and the rear one bursts, and by the bipod fixed under the barrel. The 7.5 mm cartridge was modern for its time and the weapon stayed in service long after the Second World War, in Indochina and in North Africa.

Box contents

Inside you will find six weapons in two positions. Three of them have the support folded, as the weapon looks on the move or when it lies stowed on the bed of a vehicle, while the other three have it opened out into the firing position. On one scene you can therefore play out the contrast between a squad on the march and a crew that has already taken up position and is waiting for a target.

Where it fits

• six weapons in 1:35 scale
• three folded and three opened supports
• finely suggested magazines, sights and stock
• for French vehicles, for figures and for interiors

The parts are small, so separate them with a sharp scalpel and level the mating faces before joining them. They come out best if you paint them to one side and only place the finished weapon into the hands of a figure or stow it in its place in a vehicle.

The weapon also appears in photographs from the fighting of 1940, where the crew often rests it on the edge of a trench or on sandbags. If you are preparing a scene like that, it helps to have both positions of the support at hand at the same time, because one squad does not usually have all its weapons in the same state.