Turned metal barrels and parts for military vehicle models replace plastic gun tubes on tanks, assault guns and artillery with precisely machined metal. Aluminium and brass barrels are perfectly round, carry no mould seam and come with the muzzle already bored; muzzle brakes, mantlets, machine-gun barrels, aerials and width indicators go with them, in scales from 1:72 up to 1:16. The swap takes a single evening — cut the plastic tube away, clean up the mount and glue the metal one in — and it changes the one part of the model the eye finds first. How to choose the right calibre, length and configuration is set out below.
1:35 Set of Russian Aerials R-123 for tanks like:T-55;T-62;T-64;T-72;T-80;T-90 and other AVF x 3x
6.76 €
1:35 German 2m antenna rods (set of 3 pcs.)
5.56 €
1:35 Smoke Discharges for Russian Tanks like:T-64; T-72; T-80; T-90; BMP-3/3; 2S19 (12 pcs.)
9.16 €
1:35 Barrel for U.S heavy machine gun cal .50 Browning M2 HB
12.76 €
1:35 Set of 5 pcs. German Tank MG 34 machine guns tips barrels for turret mount
7.16 €
1:72 German 2cm Flak 38 barrels for Wirbelwind
4.36 €
The barrel is the most exposed part of a tank model and the place where plastic most often falls short. A two-piece moulding carries a glue seam along its whole length, long tubes bow over time, and a muzzle wall that thin simply cannot be moulded. A turned barrel is machined from one piece of aluminium or brass: it stays dead straight, the muzzle-brake threads and the steps in the profile are crisp, and the bore has real depth. Fitting one is well within reach on a first build.
Barrels are machined for a specific weapon and a specific kit, from the short KwK 37 to the 155 mm gun of a modern Archer system. Look for the vehicle type, the calibre and the kit reference in the listing. The same calibre often existed in several lengths, distinguished by the L/XX figure, which is the barrel length expressed in multiples of the calibre.
A basic package is the barrel alone. Fuller sets add a metal or resin muzzle brake, a mantlet or a canvas cover. Machine-gun barrels, aerials and width indicators are sold separately as well, and they are exactly the kind of small parts plastic reproduces only roughly.
Polystyrene cement does nothing to metal, so use cyanoacrylate, or epoxy for a heavy barrel. Degrease the metal and prime it before painting, otherwise the finish will lift the first time the model is handled.
Fix metal parts with products from model glues and match the barrel to a subject in 1:35 military vehicle kits. Further upgrades wait under military vehicle detail sets.
