77mm Barrel for Comet
LionMarc Model Designs Set No. LM10010
1:35th Scale
Review by Terry Ashley

The barrel is cleanly machined with the muzzle hollowed out and a small neck at the base for fitting to the model with the one piece brass muzzle brake having the baffle holes and muzzle holes cleanly drilled without any cleanup required.

Dimensionally the actual 77mm barrel measures from where it exits the mantlet to the start of the muzzle brake at 104.5inches which equals 75.83mm in 1:35 scale with this barrel measuring out at 75.2mm which is the same length as the Bronco kit barrel and as the difference is only 0.6mm it's of little consequence.

Metal barrel parts and plastic rod

The muzzle brake is slightly larger than the Bronco kit mantlet and the separate Accurate Armour barrel mantlet from set #A106 but looks more the appropriate size when compared to photos with the baffle holes also matching the photos okay and visually looks the better muzzle brake.

There is a small issue in that the tapered section out of the mantlet is 0.5mm too big in diameter which is evident when looking at the barrel on it’s own and comparing to the photos and the other barrels available but is not that noticeable once the barrel is fitted to the kit mantlet and as there is little you can do about it anyway is probably passible. Also the barrel proper should have a slight taper from front to back but this is not included the the barrel edges perfectly parallel which accentuates the larger tapered section more but again there is little you can do about this.

Assembly of the barrel is very straightforward with the muzzle collar being a very snug fit over the barrel tip but the muzzle brake is a little loose and you should ensure you press this hard against the collar as you glue it in place with cyanoacrylate so it ends up parallel with the barrel.

Muzzle brake and assembled barrel with image of real muzzle brake


Comparison of the Lionmarc barrel with the Bronco kit and metal barrel and the
resin Accurate Armour barrel from Set #A106 and the Jordi Rubio barrel from set #TG-89

Fitting the barrel to the Bronco kit is fairly straightforward and Lionmarc have already drilled a 2mm hole in the base of the barrel for the plastic rod which aids in fitting the barrel, but the rod in my set was not round but more an oval shape and didn’t want to go into the whole. But it’s easy enough to modify this to fit and then follow the instructions if fitting the barrel to the standard kit without any problems.

As I wanted to set the barrel up so it would fit to the base Bronco kit as well as the resin canvas mantlet covers from Accurate Armour (set #A106), Bronco’s own Mantlet Cover Set #AB3508 and the Legends Mantlet Cover from Set #LF1137 I deviated from the instructions somewhat to add a simple ‘universal’ fitting.

I firstly filed down the barrel base a little so this would fit into the AA mantlet which has a shallower barrel hole in the mantlet than the others and then glued a length of Tamiya 2mm plastic rod which is nice and round into the hole in the barrel base with cyanoacrylate leaving about 15mm exposed.

The Bronco kit gun mounting (part E6) already has a 2mm hole opened inside the barrel locating hole and to fit the metal barrel to the standard kit just slip the barrel plastic rod pin through the kit mantlet, turret front and into the assembled gun without any other alterations required.

Fitting the modified barrel to the standard Bronco kit

To fit the barrel to the Bronco resin mantlet cover simple drill a 2mm hole through the mantlet cover and again just slip the plastic rod pin into the hole, again very straightforward.

Lionmarc 77mm barrel fitted to Bronco Resin mantlet cover

Adding the barrel to the AA and Legends mantlet covers is the same for both and again just requires a 2mm hole be drilled through the resin mantlet covers and the barrel plastic rod pin slipped through the hole. If you have added the kit gun as described in the AA and Legends mantlet reviews the pin will pass through the 2mm hole already in the gun mounting but you may need to drill out the hole a little further through the gun mounting but again the fit is straightforward.

Lionmarc 77mm barrel fitted to Accurate Armour Resin mantlet cover
AA Set #A106

Lionmarc 77mm barrel fitted to Legends Resin mantlet cover
Legends Set #LF1137

Conclusion:
This is a nicely machined barrel and muzzle brake that matches available dimensions fairly well with only minor discrepancies and the barrel assembly is very simple without any cleanup required.

Fitting the barrel to the base Bronco kit or any of the available resin canvas mantlet covers only requires very basic modifications as described about for a simply conversion to add a nice finishing touch to the Comet turret.

Recommended.

See the A34 Comet Subject page for additional detail/update set reviews available.

• Toadman's Photo CD A34 Comet
  
• Ground Power Magazine No.49 6/1998.
  Nice photo feature of prototype and wartime Comets for good vehicle details and stowage.
  

Thanks to my Credit Card and LionMarc Model Designs for the review set.

Page created January 15, 2007