MiniArt German WWII Machine Guns Set (35250) 1:35

[Mike]

German WWII Machine Guns Set (35250)

1:35 MiniArt

 

 

Germany maintained a perceived advantage throughout WWII in their machine guns, beginning with the MG34 and the even more potent MG42 that gained a fearsome reputation against Allied troops, earning the nickname Hitler's Buzzsaw due to its furious rate of fire, which topped out at 1,200 rounds per minute, although in the real world the actual speed was considerably less, due to the frequent barrel swaps (a 6 barrel rotation), and stopping to load more ammo.  Consideration also had to be given to the quantity of ammunition that could be carried by the crew, which were ideally a six man team, but more often it was three men.  Less well known is the ZB-53, which was a  Czechoslovakian design utilised by the Wehrmacht, and as it was a pre-war design, it had also been licensed by the British, where it was known as the Besa, seeing service in many early war British tanks.  All of these were air-cooled and had good rates of fire, but of the three, the ZB-53 with its sturdy tripod and need for boxed ammunition was the least portable.

 

 

The Kit

Arriving in a figure-sized end-opening box, there are five small sprues in the box, plus a branded card envelope that contains a small fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass for the fine parts.  From this you can make two each of the MG-34 and MG-42, plus one of the ZB-53.  The instructions are on the rear of the box, and each gun is made up from a number of finely moulded parts, with suitable accessories as follows:

 

MG-34 (shared between two guns)

2 x Ammo boxes with PE handle

2 x Open ammo carriers with PE handle

1 x length of ammo

2 x PE carry straps with and without clips

6 x Gurttrommel drum mags

2 x bipod folded

2 x bipod extended

 

MG-42 (shared between two guns)

2 x Ammo boxes with PE handle

2 x barrel carrier with PE straps

2 x oil cans with PE handle

2 x PE carry straps with and without clips

2 x Gurttrommel drum mags

2 x bipod folded

2 x bipod extended

 

ZB-53 (vz.37)

1 x multi-part tripod with PE parts

2 x Ammo boxes with PE handle

PE shrouds, sights and muzzle for the gun

 

Moulding is excellent as you'd expect from MiniArt, and the range of spares included really helps with building a realistic scenario.  By the time you have cut all the parts from the sprue there doesn't seem much there, but it's quality stuff that will look exceptional with sympathetic painting.  As usual, the paint call-outs use a number system, which cross-refers to a table at the bottom of the instructions that gives alternative codes for Valljo, Testors, Tamiya, Humbrol Revell, Mr. Color, Life Color, as well as the colour names.  If you can't get hold of at least one of those brands of paint, you should be able to convert them easily enough as a result.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of