Scale Plastic & Rail

1:48 MG-17 German WWII guns from Eduard

1:48 MG-17 German WWII guns
Eduard Brassin
Catalogue # 648063
Available from Eduard for 7,45 €

The Rheinmetall-Borsig MG-17 was one of the most widely used machine guns fitted to Luftwaffe machines from the mid-1930's, up until near the war's end. The gun was usually fastened to a fixed mount, and had a calibre of 7.92mm. The type was highly popular with fighter plane installation on machines such as the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, Messerschmitt Bf 109' but was also installed on flexible mounts within Heinkel He 111's and Dornier Do 17 types etc.

I'm quite surprised that Eduard have chosen to release this set, as they are soon to release the Bf 109E gun mount set, but I suppose this gives all Luftwaffe modellers a chance to use their product on whatever aircraft type they choose.

Two blocks of dark grey resin are packaged into the usual Brassin blister pack, protected by a foam insert. Each block carries a single MG-17 gun, connected via a thin wall to a casting block which is mounted under the breech of each gun. I would liked to have seen this block in a slightly better place, but it shouldn't be too troublesome to remove with a razor saw, cutting along the breech underside, and vertically, under breech.

The instructions, printed within the package insert, clearly show exactly what needs to be removed with regard to surplus resin, but also that the muzzle needs a small tag of resin removing, and then drilling out to clear the muzzle itself. This is a little disappointing as I would have thought that Eduard could have cast these with hollow muzzles when you see some of their recent sets.

The gun detail is excellent and very intricate, and the barrel cooling jacket should hold a wash nicely.

Casting is superb, with no flaw or flash to be seen.

So what do we think?
I have pointed out a couple of niggles with this set, but with care, it will look very good when painted, weathered and installed. Just take care with hollowing those muzzles, and try not to break anything when removing the casting blocks.

Recommended

James H

Our sincere thanks to Eduard for the review sample used here. To purchase this directly, click THIS link.

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