| KIT #: | 75012 |
| PRICE: | $ |
| DECALS: | For the ammo can |
| REVIEWER: | Scott Van Aken |
| NOTES: | Includes metal wire pieces |
| HISTORY |
The M2 Machine Gun, or Browning .50 Caliber Machine Gun is a heavy machine gun designed towards the end of World War I by John Browning. It was nicknamedMa Deuce by US troops or simply called "fifty-cal." in reference to its caliber. The design has had many specific designations; the official designation for the current infantry type is Browning Machine Gun, Cal. .50, M2, HB, Flexible. It is effective against infantry, unarmored or lightly-armored vehicles and boats, light fortifications, and low-flying aircraft.
The Browning .50 caliber machine gun has been used extensively as a vehicle weapon and for aircraft armament by the United States from the 1920s to the present day. It was heavily used during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, as well as during operations in Iraq in the 1990s and 2000s. It is the primary heavy machine gun of NATO countries, and has been used by many other countries as well. It is still in use today, with only a few modern improvements. The M2 has been in use longer than any other small arm in U.S. inventory. It was very similar in design to the smaller Browning Model 1919 machine gun. FNH is the original manufacture of this machine gun.
| THE KIT |
Continuing with Dragon's expansion into 1/6 scale to complement their extensive figure line, this is a 60 piece kit of the most widely recognized heavy machine gun around. The kit is molded on three sprues of light grey plastic and has the sort of detail that one expects from Dragon. Included are six metal pieces for the gun and the ammo box. Th
e kit is designed to allow the gun free movement and the lid of the ammo box is designed to be able to be opened or closed as well. Judging from the instructions, the tripod arms are also able to be moved in or out and several other parts of the gun have movable bits as well. Thanks to Dragon's slide mold technology, the one piece barrel is properly hollowed out on the end.
Construction should not be difficult as the instructions include a front and rear quarter shot with detail images of the breech (I guess that is what you call it) and of the ammo box. These are photographs and are superbly detailed. From the look of things the gun and tripod are steel with the ammo box in olive drab and a few other colors are used for the shells and hand holds.
| CONCLUSIONS |
I must say that this is really a very nice looking kit. The completed model will make an excellent display piece all on its own and if you happen to have one of the figures to match, it will look even better.
| REFERENCES |
December 2008
My thanks go to www.dragonmodelsusa.com for the review kit. Get yours today at your local shop or from your favorite on-line retailer.
If you would like your product reviewed fairly and fairly quickly, please contact the editor or see other details in the Note to Contributors.