Dragon 1/3 Firearm Series.........questions

Matthew Usher

I think it's worth mentioning that the Dragon models are nicely done, but they're truly small.

A CETME in the Dragon series would be nice, too

http://www.waynedriskillminiatures.com/

Small?

Does the kit builder need a microscope to see the parts - like some 1/700 scale ship parts?

OTOH, building a Dragon 1/3 scale kit is a lot easier than doing this:

http://kucers.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5&Itemid=15&lang=en

Matthew Usher

I think it's worth mentioning that the Dragon models are nicely done, but they're truly small. We had some come into the FSM offices, and the Glock will easily fit in the palm of your hand. No one's going to mistake it for the real thing.

And while we don't mind firearm discussion in general, let's make sure we keep politics out of it, OK?

Matt @ FSM

Hey Matt, any chance we might get to see a review of one of the Dragon 1/3 Firearm series kits in FSM? Definately would love to see a review of one of those kits.

I think it's worth mentioning that the Dragon models are nicely done, but they're truly small. We had some come into the FSM offices, and the Glock will easily fit in the palm of your hand. No one's going to mistake it for the real thing.

And while we don't mind firearm discussion in general, let's make sure we keep politics out of it, OK?

Matt @ FSM

I hate doing upgrades to my gun.......the cost...

Also age doesn't mean maturity!

jadgpanther302

Ah forgot to mention. The inner barrels can be changed and longer ones installed. That is why their are so many mock silencers available.

and if someone is handy with hand tools, upgrades in the form of better electric motors and gearing to improve performance are available.....at additional cost.

If the Dragon kits faithfully copy the internal mechanisms, perhaps I'll build one as a "factory"  cutaway and mount it in a frame for display.

Ah forgot to mention. The inner barrels can be changed and longer ones installed. That is why their are so many mock silencers available.

Also orange tips are required for transportation but not play.

I don't believe you can buy an Airsoft gun unless you're 18 (at least here) but that certainly doesn't stop parents from being idiots and buying them for their kids. I've always thought the orange tips weren't quite enough, namely since they can easily be covered by mock silencers.-hun Hunter

I play airsoft. I'm under 18. I'm not an idiot about it. I don't go waving my gun in public and being all "gangsta".

Their is a difference between airsoft and clearsoft. Clearsoft is what you see on the news. The cheap crappy guns that you buy at wal-mart/sporting goods stores that are clear.

THen theirs airsoft which i play. It is also known as mil-sim. These are tactical games and actual gear or repro/knock off gear and BDU's are used. the guns run from 150-500 depending on what you want. You have the low end starter guns(in relation to modelling think Revell) and the better guns(think Tamiya, Dragon etc.)

Sorry for the rant...

Sprue-ce Goose

 

mg.mikael:

 

Hey smeagol, let me know how that M-14 kit comes together. I never purchased one of the 1/3 kits, my money is saving up to buy some 'real' guns when the local gun show comes around in the fall.

 

 

I'd like to see Dragon release an MP-44 in the series.

Smeagol- I'm also interested in your review.

mg.mikael;  you can go to the show, but will you be able to find ammunition to feed whatever you buy.....or has the post 2008 election buying frenzy slowed along with the economy?

Ammunition prices have started to come down since the Obama frenzy. Their not as cheap as they once were, where their were amazing clearance like sales. Nevertheless their's at least stocks of ammo in the stores again....if you load your own then their's still shortages of primers and etc. I don't load my own so no problem their.

As for ammo...luckily I stick to .22 rimfire guns mostly(currently looking for a cheap handgun and lever-action rifle) Ammo is cheap, plentiful(for the most part), thus I'm not hemmoraging money on ammo. As for bigger calibers I shoot from my relatives' gun collections, when I can.

you can go to the show, but will you be able to find ammunition to feed whatever you buy.....or has the post 2008 election buying frenzy slowed along with the economy?

Ammo prices have stabilized, the problem is they've stabilized at a pretty high level. A box of Winchester .45 is about $25 on average around here, .40 S&W is around $20-22 and 9mm is usually $15-17. That's a far cry from the $6-7 I was paying for 9mm five or six years ago. Prices really spiked in 2005-2006 and .223 shot up a lot, I heard Iraq was to blame and I find that entirely believable.

I'm hoping the prices begin to come down again, but we shall see.

All good points about Airsoft, I just assumed we were all adults here. I just don't quite get the appeal, but if you don't have the option of a real gun (or don't want the responsibility) I can see why you'd go for a model.

I don't believe you can buy an Airsoft gun unless you're 18 (at least here) but that certainly doesn't stop parents from being idiots and buying them for their kids. I've always thought the orange tips weren't quite enough, namely since they can easily be covered by mock silencers. That said, I really, really don't like the idea of the government controlling hobbies either and I instantly become skeptical when the public good is invoked. At a certain point I just have to trust in the common sense of people in general. I wouldn't want to be a police officer having to decide whether or not a gun is real or not though.

Please post pics of the M-14 though, I'm quite curious as to how it'd look. I've talked myself out of a couple of real M-14's over the last few years. Have to take ammo cost into account and that round is just too expensive right now . Been shooting my Beretta almost exclusively for 3 years now simply because 9mm isn't that bad compared to say the $40 I'd be spending on my M1 carbine for 50 rounds... tooooo expensive!

mg.mikael

Hey smeagol, let me know how that M-14 kit comes together. I never purchased one of the 1/3 kits, my money is saving up to buy some 'real' guns when the local gun show comes around in the fall.

I'd like to see Dragon release an MP-44 in the series.

Smeagol- I'm also interested in your review.

mg.mikael;  you can go to the show, but will you be able to find ammunition to feed whatever you buy.....or has the post 2008 election buying frenzy slowed along with the economy?

What a suprise to see this thread resurrected from the twilight zone aka anything past page one.

Hey smeagol, let me know how that M-14 kit comes together. I never purchased one of the 1/3 kits, my money is saving up to buy some 'real' guns when the local gun show comes around in the fall.

Been rolling around the idea of scratch building a 1/3 scale BMG. Of course it will be broken down and able to assemble like the real deal.

As for the rest I like to send lead down range as well, actually hit a hand gun range out west & buddy I went with is now convinced in purchasing a .45 ACP in a 1911 style. (he recently acquired the legal government paperwork to do so) A Czechoslovakian copy can be purchased for under 400$ CDN new.

Id put money on the inability to get your finger into the trigger guard to pull the trigger therefor making the 1/3rd handgun impossible to hold right and mistake for real

paintsniffer

 

Airsoft is just an all around bad idea except for mature adults. I can't tell you how many kids in their late teens have almost been killed by me or my co-workers because they were running around at night with a real looking M-16 or handgun.

1/3 scale is considerably less likely to be confused with the real thing.

Legislation enacted during the 1980s mandating red tips on Toy guns ( and Airsoft )  was supposed to "solve" the danger of police mistakenly shooting children playing with toy guns.

Of course, human eyes can't  easily distinguish color in darkness.

As far as I know, children cannot legally own Airsoft in most if not all locations anyway.

On size, ever see a .25 caliber pocket pistol ?

I've only handled a full size Glock -never seen a 1/3 scale Glock- but would be willing to guess the model kit under the right conditions can still be mistaken for a real pocket pistol. In addition, the Glock G26 9mm subcompact  is very small.

If I were to base my decision on what should or should not be produced exclusively upon a danger of police accidentally shooting children playing with a plastic model of a pistol, I would state  I am more receptive towards 1/3 scale rifles over pistols because rifles should be easier to recognize.  Again, it depends upon lighting conditions.

Parents are ultimately responsible for restricting their child's access to anything which could cause injury or be mistaken as a real firearm.

Sprue-ce Goose

 

 

 

Well, last I heard, Texas doesn't require a permit to own a firearm......

You are correct, and I own several.

Airsoft is just an all around bad idea except for mature adults. I can't tell you how many kids in their late teens have almost been killed by me or my co-workers because they were running around at night with a real looking M-16 or handgun.

1/3 scale is considerably less likely to be confused with the real thing.

Hun Hunter

 

Might I suggest Airsoft? Not everyone is going to be able to obtain a 416 or a G36, but you can get a 1:1 replica for a few hundred bucks. Hell, I guess that defeats the purpose though since you obviously want to assemble.

Unfortunately, private ownership of  Airsoft  is illegal in many places and may not be an option.

I ordered the kit, so ill tell you guys how it is

if you dont have the money for a real gun, and want something thats more of a talking point, may I suggest

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk5nwJYSxVI&feature=related

or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgiUSEpg8Xc

I wana get my stuff out, build one of those, (the first type) then sand it down and fill all those seams and paint it up.

A gun costs more because it's an engineered piece of steel that can kill people. I honestly had no idea they made model guns (just getting back into the hobby), but part of the appeal of modeling for me is that while I love airplanes I can't see myself ever owning an F-15 whereas I own a Glock (among others) already. I can understand it if you live in a nation such Britain or Australia, but not in the States (at least mine for now).

Might I suggest Airsoft? Not everyone is going to be able to obtain a 416 or a G36, but you can get a 1:1 replica for a few hundred bucks. Hell, I guess that defeats the purpose though since you obviously want to assemble.

Just can't wrap my head around that, but I'm a gun guy and I like the bang and satisfaction of actually sending a round down range. Don't hunt though, I'd feel bad.

jetmodeler

I would like to see them do some revolvers. The good old S&W's and Colts.

Revell used to produce a plastic model kit of the 1860 Colt black powder revolver.

That, like the LS kits,  was before the laws on toy guns were changed in the 1980s.

I would like to see them do some revolvers. The good old S&W's and Colts.

Im more intersted in the M14 kit tho

paintsniffer

Geez.. If I am going to have to put a Glock together I might as well get a real one.

Well, last I heard, Texas doesn't require a permit to own a firearm......

I've never seen a Glock frame and parts kit in any caliber and a real gun will cost a heck-of-a-lot more than a plastc model.

Besides, a Glock is 83 pct steel and 17 pct plastic even though the news networks spent quite a lot of time inferring it was all plastic back when the pistol  first appeared.

A shame LS brand  1:1 scale plastic model pistol kit sales ended in the 1980s.

Geez.. If I am going to have to put a Glock together I might as well get a real one.

I haven't thought about this kit since re-reading this thread ... might just have to look into it again ....

Needless to say, no, I don't have a clue about it .... yet.

Im looking at the kit version of the M14 right now.  Does anyone know if the kit is good, and worth it?  I feel like something different

modelchasm- You're right an M-14 would look pretty sweet on a 'gun rack', plus it's something different from the ordinary model.

usmc1371- Thanks for the great link, it had reviews on both the Glock and M-14.

smeagol the vile- If sales are good on these first two guns they released, then I suppose it's just a matter of time before they start releasing WWII guns. Here's hoping they release a Tommy gun or Luger.

You might find this helpful: http://www.ipmsusa2.org/reviews2/misc/kits/kits.htm

-Jesse

mg.mikael - I'm looking at the M-14 kit as well. However, its not in my stash just yet. I used the "14" in Iraq during past deployments and I think a nice 1/3 scale M-14 set on a nice "gun-rack" style stand would look nice in my display case.