76mm M1A1 Sherman Barrel
LionMarc Model Designs Set No. LM20003
1:35th Scale
Review by Terry Ashley
The three types of 76mm Sherman barrels were the M1 without muzzle brake, the M1A1 with threaded tip that was fitted with a thread protector cap before the muzzle brake became available and the later M1A2 barrel that was always fitted with the muzzle brake and had the rifling bands in a tighter twist which produced a slight increase in penetration at longer ranges. (see armorscale set #B35-028)
This barrel is the correct length and fixes the perennial problem with the Italeri and other plastic barrels having the incorrect step part way down the barrel.
The end collar and thread protector are a perfect fit and just a small drop of cyanoacrylate is all that is needed to assemble the barrel, nothing could be easier. The only minor point is the barrel opening is quite shallow and you may want to carefully drill this out further for a better appearance.
Fitting the barrel to any Sherman kit is easy but the barrel only has the section outside the mantlet collar extension and to fit you first have to assemble the plastic barrel/mantlet as per the kit instructions. From there just cut off the plastic barrel level with the collar and drill a 2mm hole to take the small pin on the end on the LM barrel.
Conclusion:
A simple update for any applicable Sherman kit to add a correctly dimensioned
76mm barrel with minimal alterations required to the target kit which will
greatly improve the barrel appearance.
Thanks to Leo from LionMarc Model Designs for the review set.
Page created January 8, 2006