I just bought an aluminum (?) add-on barrel for a Panzer IV kit I'll be building soon. The problem is, I really have no idea how to paint it. Do metal add-on parts need to be primed before painting? I prefer water-based paint, but do oil-based work better on metal? Thanks.

Just wash it as you would a normal kit part to get fingerprint oils off, then prime it as you would the rest of the tank. Nothing special needs to be done.

Thanks a lot. I never really understood what the big deal was about something as simple as a metal barrel...until I saw it next to its plastic counterpart. I've been making the move away from vinyl treads and toward individual tread-block sets - looks like I might be doing the same thing with barrels.

That's what got me hook. I picked one up for the Tamiya Hunting Tiger, the kit barrel looked as though it shot out watermelons sideways.

I may not "look" for barrels to add to my kits (unless they are bad), but will snatch one up if I do run across one!

Rob-- have you ever tried to scratch build a gun tube? I have toyed with the idea, but would like to know if someone has actually put one together.
thanks
DJ

Yes, I tried to make a 105mm main gun for the old Monogram M48A2 Patton tank to make it resemble the M48A5 tank I crewed while in the Vermont National Guard. The kit gun is the old 90mm with muzzle brake and I took a piece of aluminum tubing that I guesstimated at the diameter and length. I added a bore evacuator made of a slightly larger diameter piece of plastic tube (I think it was part of a pen or marker), and took the accordian part of a flexible drinking straw as the mantlet cover. A very crude conversion since I made no attempt to change the cupola or air cleaners. Heck, even the tube I used had no taper to it.

If someone had some machinist skills and a small lathe, making simple barrels would not be too difficult.

One of the guys in my IPMS chapter, a machinist, made the barrel for his PzIVF2. The one with the single baffle muzzle brake. Made it in one piece. He said it's the last time he'll try that. did a pretty nice job, though. Why bother, it's too easy to get an Rubio or Elephant aftermarket barrel.