FN
Minimi SPW
I am deeply attracted
by this interesting trial version of the Minimi which FN did for the US
special force's evaluation. This version probably never goes to real
action, as SEAL suggested several changes after the evaluation, which changed
the appearance of SPW quite a bit. Yet, I thought it is fun to make
a 1/6 based on the Dragon's M249 and also for the good memory of my excellent
experience with a first generation Minimi. It was one of the hardware in
the armory which every former colleague of mine love, good balance, jam
free, very easy to handle and maintain.
Anyway, the modification
involved with this 1/6 little fellow are :
The front part
Shorten the barrel
(I drilled out a hole in the shorten barrel, flash hider and also the barrel
section under the front sight, then insert a metal pin to hold them together
in order to strengthen the barrel and also keep it straight). I used
the original flash hider which is not accurate as comparing to the 1:1.
Remove the original
hand guard, bipod, mount lugs and gas regulator. Then add the M1913 Picatinny
rails on both sides and bottom, (RIS taken from the M4 Carbine).
Make 3 slots using the
Dremal on both sides, this is for adding the brass plates later on for
retaining the heat shield on top. To make the heat shield,
I cut the original to appropriate length judging from the pic's, then used
the hair dryer to bent it in order to match the width of the brass retaining
plates. By the way, the brass plates have to be bent so that they
fit flush into the slots on the frame.
Receiver
Another feature of
the SPW is FN also took out the standard M4/M16 magazine feeding assembly.
Simply remove the assembly and cover the opening by brass plates.
The rear sight was also moved to the end of the cover, then glued the rails
for optic sight mounting.
As for the ammo box,
I cut the original and made a camo cloth with mini zipper, plastic plates,
brass buckles ...& etc to replicate the 1:1
Some "in-between" fun
projects
Below are some fun
configurations before the SPW was painted
At last, I repainted
the SPW with Tamiya metal / black mix.
There are also some
good pic's and information in the Israeli Special Force Home Page regarding
the SPW, click on the logo
Click the photo below
for the 1/6 SPW operator
