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Built Review
135
US Army .50cal Rounds
WWII US Army 12.7mm Machine Gun Ammo
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by: Jon Hayward [ BIGJON ]

Introduction
This set is designed to replace the rather soft and unrealistic plastic ammo belts supplied with plastic .50calibre guns, or the flat and lifeless photo etched belts which have been around for a while. They offer a realistic look and come complete with accurate links. This set is one of several on the market right now, and comes complete with bullets, links and ammunition cans.
Review
The kit comes very well packaged, in a nice stiff card carrier containing the small sachet of rounds and a photo etched fret holding enough links to service all your bullets plus spares and the ammunition cans. The instruction sheet is tucked away inside and provides perfectly adequate directions for what is a straightforward assembly process.

The links are required to be curled in order to house the rounds. I used a very fine drill bit as the former which made the process quite easy. 2 links house 3 bullets, so it doesn’t take as long as you would think!

The ammunition boxes are beautifully made, with lovely etched details which are very crisp. The brass is of good quality and bends easily. The box itself bends along pre-etched bend lines, but again you are required to curl tabs for the hinges, and so once again I used a drill bit as the former. Lids for the boxes are provided as are handles, though lids aren’t needed when the ammunition is loaded into the gun.

The bullets themselves are very nicely machined and capture the .50cal round’s shape perfectly. Compared to a real round they have done an excellent job of replicating the contour’s of the casing. There is however a problem. When scaling the bullets to the real round they actually work out to be closer to 1 / 32 scale than 1 / 35 and as a result are too big to fit into 1 / 35 scale .50cal machine guns. This has had the knock-on effect of making the ammunition boxes larger as well, and so again will not work with 1 / 35 machine guns unless a scratch built cradle is made for the ammunition box.
Conclusion
The contents of this set are very nice and if used loose as vehicle stowage or similar will add excellent detail with very little work. The ammunition boxes alone would add a lovely touch to stowage, or tucked away inside a halftrack or similar. The problem comes when trying to use this ammunition to feed a machine gun from a kit, when scale issues hamper it’s use. As a result, additional work is required which may be a bit daunting for some. The result is undoubtedly worth the extra effort, but other sets out there seem to offer the same detail enhancement without the problems.
SUMMARY
Highs: Great details, straightforward assembly, end result looks superb.
Lows: Scale issues mean extra work is needed to even use the set.
Verdict: A great set for detailing, though the extra work might put some people off.
Percentage Rating
75%
  Scale: 1:35
  Mfg. ID: LAM043
  PUBLISHED: Feb 08, 2009
  NATIONALITY: United States
NETWORK-WIDE AVERAGE RATINGS
  THIS REVIEWER: 89.67%
  MAKER/PUBLISHER: 89.17%

About Jon Hayward (BigJon)
FROM: ENGLAND - WEST MIDLANDS, UNITED KINGDOM

Copyright ©2021 text by Jon Hayward [ BIGJON ]. All rights reserved.



Comments

having built these you will need a degree in pure patience to put the rounds and connectors together with out feeling the need to commit murder. The ammo cases go together all right but the rounds dear god never again. They are the most stressful thing I have ever tried to do cheers Keith
MAR 15, 2009 - 09:29 AM
Hello guys!!! Excuse my question, but I’m looking for some .50 call ammo in 1/32 scale for a p-51 and I’m not able to find any. So, if this bullets are big and closer to the 1/32 scale, maybe I can use them but I would like if any of you can give me the measure of a bullet so I can decide. Many thanks in advance!!! Charly
MAR 16, 2012 - 08:20 AM
I'm with you Charly, looks like I'll be buying a pack or 3 for my 1/32 scale Tamiya Mustang. Goes to show that sometimes a bad effort can turn into a great result! Smokey
MAR 16, 2012 - 04:45 PM
Keith, you had me rolling out of my chair when I read this! The frustration was more than evident. They do look really cool though
MAR 17, 2012 - 03:53 AM
Hello guys!! Sorry to bother but anyone can give the long of the bullets? I wanna know the actual size of the bullets to see if they fit for a 1/32 scale mustang. Thanks in advance Charly
MAR 22, 2012 - 01:41 AM
I've got some ball ammo at home, when I get home I'll measure it unless someone beats me to it.
MAR 22, 2012 - 02:32 AM
Sorry for the delay, got caught up with some other stuff.
MAR 24, 2012 - 05:09 AM
From what an english modeller told me the LionRoar cal.50 bullets indeed fit for 1/32 scale better than for 1/35. Can't tell if he's right because i've only used the set from Voyager so far (which is nice, by the way).
MAR 24, 2012 - 05:44 AM
Thanks very much guys!!!! As soon I got some pictures of my Mustang I'll upload them!!
MAR 26, 2012 - 05:15 AM
   
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