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In-Box Review
135
M4 R.I.S
M4 R.I.S. AR-15/M16/M4 Family
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by: john c craemer [ JCCRAEMER ]


Introduction

The Colt company developed various carbine versions of the basic AR-15/M-16 rifle starting in the 1970s. These carbines were intended for all markets: military, law enforcement, civilian. But early in the 1990s, an old idea of replacing the pistols in the hands of the troops with something more effective (a shoulder-fired weapon) rose again in the thinking of the US military. So in 1994, the US Army adopted the Colt Model 720 selective-fire carbine (basically, a shortened M16A2 rifle) as the US M4 Carbine.

The US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) put its eye on the M4 as a possible universal weapon for the Special Operations community. For this purpose, the M4 was modified with the M16A3-style flat-top receiver with integral Picatinny-type accessory rail instead of the M16A2/M4-type integral carrying handle. Specially for the SOCOM M4A1s, the US Naval Surface Warfare Center developed a SOPMOD M4 kit that consisted of the M4A1 carbine equipped with Rail Interface System (RIS) instead of the standard hand guards. The kit also included a variety of add-on goodies, such as various sights (ACOG 4X telescopic, ACOG Reflex red-dot, detachable back-up open sights), laser pointers (visible and infra-red), detachable sound suppressor (silencer), modified M203 40mm grenade launcher (with shortened barrel and improved sights), and also a detachable front grip and tactical light. Trumpeter has now released a set of 1/35th M4 rifles.

the kit

The kit has four assault rifles on three sprue trees molded in black plastic, plus one fret of photo-etch. The first two sprues include four individual M4 w/pistol grips and extra magazines. The third sprue includes scopes, extra hand grips, laser sights, flashlight, and two variants of the grenade launchers. The photo-etch includes four 2-point sling assembles. The parts list is on the face of the wrapping, with the instructions on the back.
the review

Upon examination, I found four M4 with extended butt-stock and including pistol grips and silencer. The weapons are highly-detailed, with the barrels recessed, giving them a little depth. There were very few mold lines or flash (only in the butt-stock framework). The attachments to the sprue tree are in convenient spots (butt-stock and the top of the rail/hand-guard).
The third sprue tree has 16 pieces of attachments for three different sets of sights, two Infrared laser aiming devices, and two 40 mm grenade launchers with recessed barrels (a short and a long barrel). Also, a hand grip with visibility light. The connections to the sprue tree are placed mostly where an item would attach to the weapon, minimizing clean-up. There is very little mold lines, and no flash.
The PE tree has the 2-point slings for the M4, and contains 24 pieces (6 parts for each sling).
I found the instructions easy to follow. The only thing major that bothered me was the parts are not listed by what they are, and are therefore hard to identify.

conclusion

This is an excellent weapons set from Trumpeter. The guns are great— far better than anything on the market today.
SUMMARY
Highs: Highly-detailed kit; love the sling assembles.
Lows: Parts list peels off with the plastic wrapping.
Verdict: Overall a nice accessories kit to spice up a older figure kit or include in a vehicle.
Percentage Rating
90%
  Scale: 1:35
  Mfg. ID: 00508
  Suggested Retail: $5.95
  PUBLISHED: Apr 18, 2011
  NATIONALITY: United States
NETWORK-WIDE AVERAGE RATINGS
  THIS REVIEWER: 90.00%
  MAKER/PUBLISHER: 84.47%

About john c craemer (jccraemer)
FROM: NORTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES

46 year old army vet been modeling off and on since about 10. stopped for awhile in my teens then did it off and on thru my 20's and when I hit thirty-three a got the bug again

Copyright ©2021 text by john c craemer [ JCCRAEMER ]. All rights reserved.



Comments

Nice, I just wish the pictures were sharper. Perhaps a more detailed list of what M4 components are included could be useful, ie which scopes, laser designators etc, as they are not clearly visible from the pics. Mario
APR 17, 2011 - 06:56 PM
Mario- I believe with all the AR-15/M16/M4 Family sets you get the same accessories sprue, WB6, which has some Deisgnators/Illuminators/Target Pointers (AN/PEQ2 etc), some underbarrel M203's, a variety of sights (mostly if not all ACOG types) and one other thing that appears to be an underbarrel torch/handgrip. You also get a small sheet of etched slings but they aren't very bendy and are a little hard to shape. The guns and accessories are very well detailed though- they are good sets.
APR 18, 2011 - 03:30 AM
Photos are too fuzzy. Need more light, better focus, or maybe a tripod and longer exposure time. Even better yet, use a flatbed scanner.
APR 29, 2011 - 09:03 AM
Brian, Gary, you'll have to take both points up with the reviewer. We encourage our contribs to do the best they can with their cameras. As to these weapons, I am not even sure what the acronyms stand for.
MAY 05, 2011 - 11:55 AM
   
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