When I initially heard about this kit I searched the Internet looking for some information on this product, although I found plenty of places to purchase one, I failed to find any detailed specifics about exactly what we get in the box. Suffice to say when Jenny asked about this set, I jumped at the chance to get a first hand look at just what comes in the package.
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Upon opening the kit I found one solid brass skate ring, a small PE fret of parts to build a machine gun trolley and mounting brackets for the skate ring, a small brass cylinder and an instruction booklet.
After some careful study of all the parts I came to two initial conclusions. One, the skate ring is a beautiful turned brass part that can be used to spruce up a number of different Allied kits that lack the true 'I beam' cross section shape of a real skate ring. Two, the sets name, 'M36 gun mount' is actually incorrect.
The skate rings themselves are called M49/M49C/M49A1's depending on the attached mounting brackets and other than the trolley, that is all that is in this set. The actual M36 is a combination of the M49 ring and three mounting poles and their respective brackets. This mis-naming of the set doesn't take anything away from the quality or usefulness of the kit but it is something that might be worth addressing on future packaging. Looking at TM9-1005-245-14 we can see the explanation of the nomenclature for these items as well as a line drawing of the actual M36.
The instruction booklet shows how to construct the machine gun trolley from the parts on the fret as well as the placement of the skate ring mounting brackets. Since this ring can be used on quite a few different vehicles you are given a choice of mounting brackets. You will have to check your references to know which vehicle uses which bracket though as the instructions do not explain which is for what, only that there is a choice to be made.
For anyone using this set to add a skate ring to a vehicle that doesn't come with one, the inclusion of the photo etch machine gun trolley is a good idea. Having said that, if you are using this set to update/improve upon a kit that already contains a skate ring and trolleys, you may want to compare the two before deciding whether to use the PE version or the plastic trolleys supplied with the kit. While there are some benefits that I can see in using the PE trolley, like the size/shape of the locking lever handle, it appears slightly over sized and not as detailed as the Dragon trolley supplied with their half track kits. Here you can see the two, side by side as well as a test fit of the Dragon trolley to the brass skate ring.
The set is designed to be used on an M8/M20 armored car, a two and a half ton truck, an M2A1/M3A1 half track etc. and comparing the skate ring to Dragons skate ring shows the Orange Hobby ring to be ever so slightly larger in diameter and really shouldn't cause any problems at all. I do not have any armored cars at the moment to compare them to but I will assume they should work just fine.
In conclusion, this is indeed a great little update set for anyone looking to improve the supplied kits skate ring. True 'I beam' shape, no seam lines to clean up and it even comes with a photo etch trolley for those who just love to work with PE. You will however have to source your own plastic rod for the handles and guide wheels.
My thanks to Anson at Orange Hobby for supplying the set and to Jenny for sending it across the ocean for me to play with.
Highly recommended
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Upon opening the kit I found one solid brass skate ring, a small PE fret of parts to build a machine gun trolley and mounting brackets for the skate ring, a small brass cylinder and an instruction booklet.
After some careful study of all the parts I came to two initial conclusions. One, the skate ring is a beautiful turned brass part that can be used to spruce up a number of different Allied kits that lack the true 'I beam' cross section shape of a real skate ring. Two, the sets name, 'M36 gun mount' is actually incorrect.
The skate rings themselves are called M49/M49C/M49A1's depending on the attached mounting brackets and other than the trolley, that is all that is in this set. The actual M36 is a combination of the M49 ring and three mounting poles and their respective brackets. This mis-naming of the set doesn't take anything away from the quality or usefulness of the kit but it is something that might be worth addressing on future packaging. Looking at TM9-1005-245-14 we can see the explanation of the nomenclature for these items as well as a line drawing of the actual M36.
The instruction booklet shows how to construct the machine gun trolley from the parts on the fret as well as the placement of the skate ring mounting brackets. Since this ring can be used on quite a few different vehicles you are given a choice of mounting brackets. You will have to check your references to know which vehicle uses which bracket though as the instructions do not explain which is for what, only that there is a choice to be made.
For anyone using this set to add a skate ring to a vehicle that doesn't come with one, the inclusion of the photo etch machine gun trolley is a good idea. Having said that, if you are using this set to update/improve upon a kit that already contains a skate ring and trolleys, you may want to compare the two before deciding whether to use the PE version or the plastic trolleys supplied with the kit. While there are some benefits that I can see in using the PE trolley, like the size/shape of the locking lever handle, it appears slightly over sized and not as detailed as the Dragon trolley supplied with their half track kits. Here you can see the two, side by side as well as a test fit of the Dragon trolley to the brass skate ring.
The set is designed to be used on an M8/M20 armored car, a two and a half ton truck, an M2A1/M3A1 half track etc. and comparing the skate ring to Dragons skate ring shows the Orange Hobby ring to be ever so slightly larger in diameter and really shouldn't cause any problems at all. I do not have any armored cars at the moment to compare them to but I will assume they should work just fine.
In conclusion, this is indeed a great little update set for anyone looking to improve the supplied kits skate ring. True 'I beam' shape, no seam lines to clean up and it even comes with a photo etch trolley for those who just love to work with PE. You will however have to source your own plastic rod for the handles and guide wheels.
My thanks to Anson at Orange Hobby for supplying the set and to Jenny for sending it across the ocean for me to play with.
Highly recommended