Scale Plastic & Rail

1/35 Turned Metal Barrels for Sd.Kfz.164 Nashorn and ISU-152 from RB Model

1/35 Turned Metal Barrels for Sd.Kfz.164 Nashorn and ISU-152
RB Model

 

Introduction
RB Model of Poland make a wide variety of accessories and upgrades for armour, aircraft, rail and ship kits. Established in 1988, they produce everything from wheels and buffers for trains, to capstans and port holes for ships, mainly in turned brass, but also in resin and wood.

RB Model's range also includes a large selection of turned metal barrels, mainly in 1/35 scale, two of which I review today. The full line-up of their products can be viewed (and purchased) via their website, here.

1/35 8.8cm PaK43 (L/71) for Sd.Kfz.164 Nashorn
This is a replacement barrel for the German Nashorn tank destroyer. We are lucky enough to have two rather good kits of the Nashorn, one by Dragon and the other by AFV Club which, while they both provide aluminium barrels in their kits, the muzzle brakes are plastic. This barrel therefore, is for those that want to go the extra mile. It is not indicated if this barrel is made for either of these kits in particular.

Nashorn at Aberdeen Proving Ground, courtesy of Wikipedia

The barrel comes in two parts, which simply insert mid-way; the fit is snug, but not super tight, so a dab of CA glue will be required.

The parts for the muzzle brake come in a separate bag and a small fret of PE metal. The brake proper is made from two turned brass pieces. Assembly requires putting a small 'washer' on the end of the barrel, then screwing on the bell shaped muzzle brake piece; the thread is excellently machined, and goes on very smoothly.

There are three small parts to assemble which sit inside the brake, then the end of the brake caps everything off. In the pictures here, I have not removed tow of the internal 'washers' from their fret, so the brake is not 100%, but hopefully you can see how sharp and crisp everything is. At this stage nothing is glued – the fit is very good indeed.

Nashorn captured in Italy showing close-up of barrel, courtesy of Wikipedia

The one downside for this set is that there are no instructions, so I advise you to have references to hand, because the muzzle brake needs to be oriented correctly. Construction itself should be a breeze, and when laid down next to the ruler, you can see this will be quite an impressive looking barrel.

 

1/35 ML-20S for ISU-152
This barrel is for the Soviet ISU-152; often called JSU-152, strictly speaking it should be "I" not "J", but I digress...The Tamiya offering is the newest release out there for this tank, and whilst it is an excellent kit, the barrel and muzzle brake is moulded in plastic, which really does not do justice to the ML-20S gun-howitzer.

This is a much simpler affair than the Nashorn barrel, and comes in just two rather substantial but excellent crafted pieces. The muzzle brake simple screws on to the barrel, and again the machining was spot on when I tested my sample.

ISU-152 on display in Berlin, courtesy of Wikipedia

If you look closely into the barrel you will see the rifling, which replicates the real barrel extremely well.

Although this barrel is a drop-in replacement for the Tamiya kit, it can also be used on the DML kit which, as kit #9112, importantly has the lower hull height issue corrected (wheels still a tad too small though). The RB Model barrel is slightly loose in the Dragon mantlet, but this can be simply remedied by adding three or four thin strips of styrene to the RB locating pin (tip courtesy of Terry Ashley).

For such a simple upgrade, the effects will be excellent I think.

So What Do We Think?
Two excellent quality aftermarket sets. Although the packaging is basic and no instructions are provided with the Nashorn barrel (not needed for the ISU-152), the quality of product is very good indeed. Moreover, when once considers that they are very reasonably priced – approx €8 each – it makes them even more appealing.

Highly recommended.

With thanks to RB Model for the review sample.

The full line of RB Model 1/35 barrels can be seen at their website here. Their products are also available from many good online retailers.

Nicholas Mayhew