introduction

The L21A1 30mm Rarden cannon (the label incorrectly calls this the L2A1) was developed in the late 1960's to produce a gun which was small enough, and without too much recoil, to fit on small armoured vehicles, but still have the capability to destroy other armoured targets at ranges up to 1.000 meters. Production started in the early 1970's, and the Rarden has since been fitted to;

• FV721 Fox armoured car
• FV107 Scimitar tracked reconnaissance vehicle
• Sabre — FV101 Scorpion with turrets taken from Fox Armoured cars
• FV510 Warrior tracked armoured vehicle and variants

what's in the bag

The barrel comes in a small, clear zip lock bag, and is comprised of 4 parts, a turned aluminium barrel, a brass cradle, a brass flash suppressor, and a brass extension to fit the barrel to the Academy kit. The barrel and cradle are fitted together, whilst the flash suppressor and extension are separate parts.

My sample has a simple self adhesive label with the part number and name stuck on the bag, and no instructions or other images are present. Instructions would in this instance be superfluous at any rate, seeing how you only need to fix the flash suppressor to the end of the barrel, and the barrel to the model's mantlet.

close-up

First impressions are good, and overall the level of detail is fine, the length of the barrel, and dimensions of the flash suppressor are good. Unfortunately the cradle is simply round, whilst the real cradle has vertical sides. The front of the cradle has correct screw detail, but the front of the real cradle is made up of two 'hinged' parts, which is not replicated in this replacement barrel.
At Euro 3.96 this replacement barrel represents superb value, and is a marked improvement over the rather crude plastic barrel in the Academy kit.