NOTE: This barrel set has been updated and replaced with the LionMarc Set #LM50001 and Passion Models Set P35-008 but I have left this review online for your reference.

This latest metal barrel from Lionmarc Model Designs is the 17Pdr Firefly barrel designed for the Dragon Firefly kits (updated #6182 and earlier) and consists of the turned aluminium barrel and two part machined brass muzzle brake.

metal barrel parts

The two parts of the muzzle brake are the collar and complete muzzle brake with the muzzle and side holes cleanly opened up not requiring and cleanup at all. The collar and muzzle brake fits neatly over the end of the barrel and small drop of cyanoacrylate will hold them in place.

The exact Ordnance drawing dimensions and measurments of the actual 17pdr barrel barrel are, the tapered section as it comes out of the mantlet is 11 inches (27.94cm) along the tapered edge and the barrel from the front of the tapered section to the back of the muzzle brake is 110.625 inches (280.1cm). This equals in 1:35 scale 7.98mm and 80.02mm respectively and this barrel shows the two measurements to be 8.0mm and 82.5mm respectively give a take a fraction of a millimetre making it 2.5mm too long in overall length.

Fitting the barrel to the Dragon kit #6182 only requires a minor adjustment to kit part B13 by removing the locating ridge leaving the round pin to fit neatly into the hole already drilled in the base of the metal barrel.

Dragon part B13 modified

The Dragon barrel is also 5mm too long but the muzzle brake is slightly undersized and the Lionmarc barrel while the same length as the Dragon barrel is perfectly round and has a better sized and detailed muzzle brake.

Dragon and Lionmarc barrels

The recent Firefly Turret set from Tank Workshop (#TWS0013) will now include this Lionmarc barrel as a simple solution to the problems with the resin barrel in the initial Tank Workshop sets.

A quick comparison with the 17pdr armorscale barrel from their set #B35-012 for the Achilles sees this the correct length with the muzzle brake being fractionally smaller than the 1:35 plans but like the Lionmarc barrel this is virtually indistinguishable but when you compare the two this small size difference shows up more due to one being slightly larger and the other slightly smaller. The other minor issue with the armorscale barrel is the muzzle brake is in two halves leaving the join seam to be eliminated which isn’t an issue with the Lionmarc barrel as the muzzle brake is in one piece.

armorscale and Lionmarc barrels

Lionmarc barrel fitted to Dragon turret

This is a nicely machined barrel requiring no cleanup of the one piece muzzle brake and the extra 5mm barrel length can very easily get lost in the overall scheme of things for most modellers unless you carry around a tape measure and set of plans in your back pocket. The minimum work needed to fit the barrel makes for a simple update and will add greatly to final appearance of the Dragon kit.

Recommended

Sherman Firefly Mark Hayward

Sherman VC M4A4 Firefly Military Ordnance Special No.19

Ground Power Magazine #117 - 2/2004

Thanks to LionMarc Model Designs for the review sets.