Is there a good, inexpensive source for .30 and .50 AA machineguns for WWII US tanks? I'm wanting to up-gun a few, but don't have any extra mgs. I especially need .30's.

Have one of each and are on sale from time to time but they are mediocre (poor proportions) they come with a free Sherman though. Hauler makes a great .30 and Verlinden and others make nice .50's. Tamiyas .50 is actually very good if you give it a little TLC, and they put a good .30 in the Light Utility Vehicle (Just excellent everlovn perfect) kit Hasegawa does the same with their Jeep.

Konrad

Yeah, the Tamiya .50 is pretty nice except for the fact that it's in a fixed position. And I've used the nice .30 from the Light Utility Vehicle, but I don't want to have to buy one just to get a gun. And I REALLY would like to stay away from PE.

Hi Brett; I feel similarly about the "Photo sketch" as one of my Latin-American modelling buddies calls it; it can be a real pain in the but. I have found a particular aircraft item to be very useful, though. QUICK BOOST, makes a number of replacement items for aircraft which are superbly cast in resin and remove from their respective attachment blocks easily. They make a number of 50 caliber mg sets for the B-25 and B-17, all in 1/48th. The barrels are drilled out and the cooling jackets are exquisitely rendered. Now they are 50 cal, but so what..Cut the barrel off to fit your Sherman/Pershing/Chaffee or Stuart Ball or coax mount with confidence. It looks a damn sight better than any plastic kit mg. I even use them for the 30 cal's that were mounted on tank turret roof's for use by the crew. Try replacing the Tamiya Jeep 30 cal. barrel and you will see what I mean. Not totally accurate but definitely better and certainly inexpensive enough to use liberally. Cheers; Chris Schwach

... and has the fold up stand that sometimes is strapped to the outside of vehicles - something to keep in mind as that could come in handy.

I bought the Quickboost "Lancaster" gun barrels Chris mentioned too. There eight 30 .cal barrels and they are very nicely cast resin as is with all Quickboost. About as good a casting as you can get in resin. The cooling holes cast completely around the barrel (not just on the sides as in most plastic cast .30s). You do have to do some modification to take off that little tiny conical flash suppressor and drill out the end but with some effort with a pin drill and steady hand you get a whole set of .30 cal barrels. You can paint, wash, and add a little graphite BEFORE you even cut them off the resin sprue to the length you want. They look great and I think it simpler than trying to roll those tiny photo etch .30 cal jackets.

The RB 30 cal. metal .30 cal barrel looks really nice. For a complete mount the way to go might be just use tamiya .30 from jeep kit and that barrel. Not too cheap but you do get the complete "light vehicle" kit thrown in...