Why can't the major manufacturing mold a one piece barrel? I just spend 20 minutes ruining...err I mean sanding the seam off the Tamiya Marder III M's barrel. Yeah, yeah, I know, I can drop 10 bucks on a metal barrel if I really want to... Any thoughts????

I'm no plastics engineer but I'm pretty sure its got a lot to do with that fact that its cheeper this way

Ralph - Captain of the obvious

It depends on the gun whether or not it is one piece. Smaller calibre guns like 37mm, 45mm, 50mm, etc. are typically one piece. I have a feeling that the reason that large calibre guns are in 2 pieces is that they can't easily get a one piece gun with the hole bored in it and they figure that it is easier to put together a 2 piece gun than try to drill out the correct diameter hole. Smaller guns are one piece, but are not hollow and require you to drill. Thsi isn't a big deal on these smaller guns, but withe larger ones, it would be quite a bit more of a daunting task.

i feel it has to do with sink holes, and warping in large solid peices of plastic like say a large caliber barrel. i remember the days of trying desperatly to true a one peice gun. i'd rather sand carfuly a seem if i get one. and there is the beauty of carful construction. most kits will not have seem if you take your time and ensure a good it during construction of the gun and you can usualy get rid of any small beed of glue with the edge of a razor blade. happy modeling stug

and here was me thinking you meant wine or spirit barrels

Cliff

When I glue these barrels i use liquid glue then squeeze the part until the melted plastic comes out When its dry all you do is scrape off the melted plastic litely sand and your done.

An adendum to Barron's comment, use quick drying stuff like Tenax 7R or Ambroid pro-weld, that way you don't have to hold it forever or clamp it and mar the barrel.

Rob

When sanding a barrel seam, the best way is to wrap a sheet of sanding film around the barrel and spin the barrel inside the film. This keeps from sanding a flat spot where the seam is. Another way to do this is to chuck the barrel in a motor tool and hold a sanding stick against it while running the tool....slowly! If you spin it too fast, you'll melt it from the heat build up from the sanding stick. Also must be careful no to marr the barrel with the chuck....I speak from experience

Ask yourselves this question:

Would you rather glue the halves of a large caliber gun barrel together?
or
Would you rather try to remove the seam of a one-piece large caliber gun barrel because the mold is getting old and there is some slippage during the manufacturing process?

Some of the tubes are getting quite complex and it would be tough to mold one in a single piece and have it useable (no step) each time. At least with barrel halves, you can use some of the above mentioned techinques to reduce the seam.

I just wish the other manufacturers would catch onto what AFV has done with their kits - include an aluminum barrel with the kit!