Model Builder International Pilot Issue Model Builder International Pilot Issue | Page 19

Weapons & equipment
The original spotter’s rifle, an M16A2 with an
attached M203 grenade launcher, is another dated
piece of equipment in the kit. Since the rifle dates to
the early-to-mid 1980’s, it was replaced with an M4
rifle from another ABM kit in the stash. The barrel
and flash suppressor were painted silver using a
Sharpie pen, then the overall rifle was painted
NATO Black. After drying, certain parts of the rifle
were picked out and painted desert-tan while the
barrel was lightly sanded on the ends to bring out
the silver to show wear. The spotter’s scope was
scratch-built from aluminum and brass tubing and
a 1/72nd scale bomb from the parts box. The flat
heads of straight pins were used to make the tripod
feet, while the lens of the scope was formed from
clear green acetate. The acetate was passed over
a candle flame to soften it, and then pressed with
the rounded handle of a hobby knife to form the

curve to the lens. Lastly, a drop of Future gives the
lens its final look.
The M24 sniper rifle was sculpted and molded
very nicely, but because of some clumsy handling,
the barrel broke off early in the build process. But
instead of pouting, I eagerly took advantage of the
opportunity and replaced it with a short length of
aluminum tubing for the barrel. The tubing was
found at a local hobby and craft store and can be
found in various sizes. The Leopold scope, molded
separately from the M24 rifle, was drilled and
hollowed out to show depth. Lens covers were
scratch-built from sheet styrene dots punched in
a die. The front lens itself is punched from the
same sheet of clear-green acetate as the lens from
the spotter’s scope and again finished off with a
drop Future. The rifle and scope were primed, then
painted desert-tan and given chips in the paint using
NATO black applied with a sharpened tooth pick.
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