Introduction

The Kord heavy machine gun traces its roots from the long line of Soviet heavy machine guns dating from the WW2. Design of the weapon dates from the 1990’s with the actual production in 1998. The Kord replaces the NSV heavy machine gun (from the 70’s era) from frontline duties (itself being a replacement for the legendary DShK) with Russian military forces and is featured in multiple roles in its relatively short career. This is a in-box review of the Miniarm’s resin update for a tank mounted version, kit B35071 “Kord 12,7mm heavy machine gun“ in 1/35 scale.

Background information

The Kord is a gas operated, air cooled, belt feed, automatic only, weapon. It uses a more or less conventional long stroke gas piston, located below the barrel which is locked using a rotary bolt with multiple lugs. The barrel is quick-detachable and is fitted with highly effective muzzle brake. There are two basic patterns of muzzle brakes – early cylindrical one and current “flat” muzzle brake /flash hider. The belt feed uses the same steel, non-disintegrating belts as the NSV. The standard feed direction is from the right, but the Kord can be setup to feed from the left if required. Spent cases are ejected forward through a short tube pinned to the right side of the receiver. Like the NSV, the Kord has no firing controls on the gun body, other than a firing lever and mechanical safety. Actual fire controls and charging mechanisms be that a manual trigger with pistol grip and manual charging handle, or an electric solenoid trigger and pneumatic or electrical charging system, are installed on the mount.

The Kord Heavy Machine Gun is designated in Russian nomenclature as the "6P50" which represents the extremely basic infantry support variant. The infantry version with the supplied bipod is the "6P50-1". A similar tripod-mounted version is the "6P50-2" while the "6P50-3" is featured on a multipurpose mounting system. Two vehicle versions of the machine gun exist and these are the "6P49", for basic vehicle mounting, and the "6P51", this for coaxial mounting on tanks and similar enclosed armored vehicles.

The Kord is chambered to fire the large 12.7x108mm cartridge, a machine gun/heavy rifle round in large scale use since World War 2. In comparison, the Soviet 12.7x108mm is very comparable in scope and functions to the western 12.7x99mm cartridge and, thusly, finds similar battlefield uses including that of suppression fire and anti-material/anti-armor roles. With that in mind, the Kord can therefore be utilized in-the-field as an offensive or defensive weapon depending on tactical requirements.

Kord fires from 50-round linked ammunition belts with an over-receiver feed tray. The action is of gas-operation with a rotating bolt, the gas "tapped" from a cylinder mounted underneath the barrel assembly. The Kord can manage a rate-of-fire equal to 650 to 750 rounds-per-minute with an effective range out to 6,500 feet, though targets can be engaged much further than that. Muzzle velocity is listed at 2,821 feet per second. Operational weight of the Kord varies based on production model and can range from 55lbs to as much as 180lbs. The Kord measures in at 78 inches in length and is constructed to a high degree of reliability for the roles it must partake in on the modern battlefield.

Review

Miniarm’s Kord comes in a standard zip-lock bag with a paper backing without any instructions. The HMG is a single piece of light gray resin which enables all the details to be seen. The casting itself is almost perfect. No bubbles or flash are present. The casting plugs are very thin and care will be needed to remove them from the barrel area. One thing I don’t like (but was probably necessary) was the casting plug in the barrel opening, which then needs to be drilled out. However this ensured that the muzzle brake could be casted hollow.

One thing I noticed is that looking from the top, there was noticeable warping of the barrel part but once removed from the casting plugs this popped right back to where it’s supposed to be. The only area of some molding imperfections was the bottom part with some flash present. But using this as a tank mounted weapon, it is not visible. All the other details are perfectly molded and the rivet, bolt/receiver, iron sights, texture details are clearly visible.

I got this one as a replacement for the Zvezda T-90 kit part. I have included a few pictures to illustrate the difference of how this set can bring more detail to your model. There is also a size difference with these two, but I’m leaning towards Miniarm’s for more accuracy. If you are going for the visual, there is no question about the winner.

One thing about replacing the kit part for the resin piece is that you will need to adapt the mount a bit. Just chop off the two pins from the left/right mount parts (placed in the recesses of the kit part which the resin replacement doesn’t have) and simply place it in. Also the resin part lacks the springy part on the bottom of the HMG, but it’s easy enough to chop it off from the kit part and super-glue it to the resin one. Once completed it looks great.

Conclusion

This is a great little update that really moves your model up a level higher. The details are great and I’m not sure if Miniarm uses 3D printing but this can give Live Resin a run for its money. It can be used on a bunch of modern Russian vehicles and adapted easily. I used it primarily with the intention to replace a lacking kit part and am completely satisfied. Recommended!