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The kit
Inside the package you get five light tan resin pieces for the gun's mount and cradle plus one turned brass barrel. The resin pieces have numerous pin holes
and lots of flash.
There are no instructions included other than a small piece of paper showing a built kit from three views and another small piece of paper with a built kit placed inside
a finished gunpit diorama. Since the gun is quite simple this is probably more than
adequate for the average builder. No decals are included which isn't a surprise as the gun didn't carry any sort of markings. Now I'm not sure exactly of the origin
of the master for the kit but my guess would be they originate from the 1/72 scale Airfix kit of the E-boat (kit. no. 010280). Now I have to admit that I do not
have this kit in my collection to make a direct comparison with,
but I have seen the Airfix E-boat built up and the similarities between it and this MGM kit can't be ignored. The difference comes with the mount, which is made
up of multiple parts on the Airfix kit, but come as a single piece in the MGM kit.
The kit appears to be not quite correct as to what it represents. According to reference [1], the L30 mount uses a conical pedestal. The kit's pedestal is an octagonal
(perhaps hexagonal - the poor resin casting makes it difficult to count the facets)
pyramid which is more akin to a FlaL 17V (Flugzeugabwehr Laffette 17 Vierling) as described in reference [2].
Ok, so let's get down to the nitty-gritty. The turned brass gun barrel is the only usable part in the package. And that's it as far as I'm concerned. Well, maybe the
shoulder rests could be salvaged as well.
As for the remaining parts, they are pretty much garbage. As mentioned above, the pedestal mount is molded as a single piece with the ready ammo rack already
attached.
As you can see in the above photos, there is a plethora of flash around the ready rack which is next to impossible to remove. To go along with the flash you
get a few pin holes in awkward locations and portions that are only part cast. Looking at the gear case, to which the adjusting wheel attaches, we find an indistinct
lump. Most of the bolts on the base are just misshapen lumps and for the most part merge with the pedestal, which will make cleanup onerous.
The arms on the cradle are represented as straight bars when they should actually be wishbone shaped. This may not matter anyway, as they are warped. I would suggest
that, rather than try to straighten them, it would be better to fashion replacement parts and take the opportunity to make them a proper wishbone.
Conclusion
Save your money and sanity on this one. The only redeeming part is the turned brass barrel, which you can get from another source, such as
RB Models
or Aber, for substantially less money. The rest of the kit not of any value.
References
[1] Waffen-Revue 81, II. Quartal 1991, Journal-Verlag Schwend, Schwäbisch Hall, West Germany
[2] Waffen-Revue 68, I. Quartal 1988, Journal-Verlag Schwend, Schwäbisch Hall, West Germany
Preview sample purchased by the author.
M.G.M. products are available at
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