Why brass barrels?
Okay, not Arizona, but my Olympia. I brought it in its WIP condition to a modeling club the other night. Someone asked, "are those the brass barrrels?" I said they were. He said, "But you painted them! If you paint them, why bother with brass, why not use the kit plastic barrels?"
I explained, "because the brass barrels are round, not oval, elliptical, or offset semicircles." Shiny brass may look neat, but it isn't scale. Painted mis-shapen barrels even in the right color, look bad.