Jordi Rubio joins many other manufactures in releasing replacement metal barrels for the TamiyaChar B1 bis (kit #35282) with this simple set consisting of just the 75mm and 47mm barrels in turned aluminium.
The 75mm barrel is the correct length and has the muzzle hollowed out with nicely depicted rifling although a little shallow but is probably the nicest done rifling of any of the barrels released to date and also has the two side notches the right size and location.
Unfortunately there is a large engraved ring around the end of the barrel which looks like a machining mark of some kind. The Char B1 barrel has an inner sleeve (as depicted on the Tamiya box art) but this is all but invisible on most photos and when visible is a lot thinner than on this barrel and if this is depicting this feature it is grossly overdone.
To fit the 75mm barrel you simply cut the kit barrel from the front of kit parts A16, best done after gluing them together with the inside mounting included and then insert the metal barrel pin into the resulting small hole in the gun mounting.
Note engraved ring around the muzzle
The 47mm barrel is a complete replacement for the kit barrel and includes the locating hole for kit part C8 and also has the muzzle hollowed out but no rifling is included.
The locating hole is a little too small to take the pin on part C8 and you either have to drill out the hole slightly or reduce the diameter of the pin, also there is no locating lug as with the kit barrel and you will have to make sure the barrel is firmly glued to part C8 at the correct angle once this is attached to the back of the gun shield (part C15).
The ring on the metal barrel sits inside the kit mantlet (part C7) but you shouldn’t trim the locating ridges inside the mantlet or the barrel will extend too far out, the metal ring just sits against the inner mantlet locating lugs.
Both the barrels match available plans well with any discrepancies being well under 1mm.
While the dimensions of the barrels are okay and assembly fairly straightforward the ring around the 75mm gun muzzle makes it hard to recommend this barrel set compared to most of the others available.
The Char B1 bis Subject Page lists other reviews of sets available for the Tamiya B1 bis kit
Hommes et Matériels
du 15e BCC CHARS B AU COMBAT Histoire & Collections ISBN 2-913903-42-8 |
Les CHARS B B1-B1 bis-B1 ter Trackstory No.3 ISBN 2-9520988-4-4 |
Char B1
bis AFV Super Detail Photo Book Vol.2 Model Art Co.Ltd |
French
Military Vehicles of WWII Ground Power Special 12/03 |