The M240, officially Machine Gun, 7.62mm, M240, is the US military designation for the FN MAG (Mitrailleuse d'Appui Général, meaning General Purpose Machine Gun), a family of belt-fed, gas-operated medium machine guns firing the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge.

The M240 has been used by the United States Armed Forces since the late-1970s. It is used extensively by infantry, most often rifle companies; as well as ground vehicles; watercraft; and aircraft. Despite not being the lightest medium machine gun in service, it is highly regarded for reliability, and its standardization among NATO members is also seen as a major advantage.

All variants are fed from disintegrating belts, and are capable of firing most types of 7.62 mm (.308) NATO ammunition. M240 variants can use non-disintegrating belts (following replacement of a few easily swappable parts). There are significant differences in weight and some features among some versions which restrict interchangeability of parts. The M240s used by the US military are currently manufactured by FN Manufacturing, a US-based branch of FN Herstal.

The M240B and M240G are usually fired from an integrated bipod, a vehicular mount, an M192 tripod that is mostly used by the U.S. Army; and the M122 tripod (a slightly updated M2 tripod) that is mostly used by the U.S. Marine Corps.

Tomytec might be a name you have not heard before, but if you are into Japanese trains, you'll recognize it right away. They are one of those companies that is involved in many aspects of the hobby industry, just mostly in Japan. This 1/12 scale gun is part of their 'Little Armory'. Apparently these are to be used as they are in a collection of weapons, or in conjunction with 1/12 figures that have movable joints. It should be of not surprise to anyone who understands Japanese modeling tastes that the box art shows the gun in the hands of an anime figure. Heck, there might even be a series that is attached to these. Actually, the box art girl has a passing resemblance to a character in Gunslinger Girls.

The kit itself contains three sprues. These are all in black plastic. I did find a few ejector pin marks; two on the barrel assembly and one on the laser targeting module. There is one sprue that contains the majority of the gun pieces with the basic body of the gun and the stock in two halves. There are also a pair of bipods, one open and the other folded back. A very small sprue has the long piece with the holes in it for atop the gun. The third sprue contains what looks to be an infrared scope and a laser targeting module. You will have to excuse my lack of precision as I am not at all knowledgeable about guns of any type. The attachment pins are rather large and you'll be pleased to know that the end of the barrel has been hollowed out.

The kit does come with a set of instructions, and looking at the back of the box, apparently you had model it with the barrel removed and the receiver opened. No specific color information is provided, but you do have a nice box art image to use for inspiration.  

All in all, it is a nicely molded kit that would look very nice on your shelf or if you wanted the start a collection of these weapons. For sure it is the perfect thing for high school girls to take to class to ward off unwanted advances.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M240B

August 2014

Thanks to www.hlj.com for the preview kit. You can find this kit at this link.

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