1/96 Royal Navy 4"/45 (10.2cm) QF MKXVI (MKXIX Twin Mount) x1

1/96 Scale Royal Navy 4"/45 (10.2cm) QF MKXVI (MKXIX Twin Mount) x1 as used by the Royal Navy and Allied Navies on many different classes of warship. Extremely detailed gun modelled from plans, reference photographs and actual surviving examples.

• 1x Mount
• Highly detailed and accurate part, modelled from plans and photographic reference
• Details include: Rivets, Hex nuts, Electrical Junction Boxes, open Sighting Ports, Training, Elevation and Sighting (includes Cross-hairs) apparatus, highly detailed Fuse Setters and 2x 4" Shells
• Comes in 7 Parts for ease of painting: 1x Main Gunshield, 1x Main Twin Barrels/Breech Block, 2x 4" Shells, 2x Fuse Setters & 1 Barrel Locking Pin for adjustable Guns.
• Barrels are printed separately and can be elevated as desired.

HISTORICAL DATA
Intended for use as a DP weapon, the Mark XVI was a reasonably good AAA gun although many considered it as being too small for the anti-ship role. This weapon superseded the 4"/45 (10.2 cm) Mark V HA gun on new cruiser construction during the 1930s. In addition, many older cruisers and capital ships had their Mark V guns replaced with these more powerful weapons during refits. A popular weapon, production could not keep up with demand until late in the war, resulting in many ships being armed with older weapons.

HMS Carlisle, a converted AA cruiser armed with these guns, shot down 11 aircraft during the war, the highest score among British cruisers. The Auxiliary AA ship Alynbank, also armed with these guns, shot down six aircraft.

These guns were noteworthy as having "neither long barrel life nor particularly high accuracy" - John Campbell. This was blamed on the use of projectiles with a too-short parallel section which led to poor centering at the muzzle.

The original Mark XVI had an A tube, jacket from muzzle to removable breech ring and used a down-sliding breech block. Guns could be operated in either Quick Firing (QF) or Semi-Automatic (SA) mode. In QF mode, the breech was manually opened after firing by moving a lever which also ejected the spent casing. In SA mode, the breech would open automatically after firing and eject the spent casing. During loading, the breech mechanism would partially close when the cartridge case rim hit the ejectors and then fully close when the loading tray was raised. The Mark XVI* was the most produced version and differed by having the A tube replaced by an autofretted loose barrel with a sealing collar at the front of the jacket. Worn-out Mark XVI guns when repaired were converted to the Mark XVI* standard.

The Mark XVII was designed for some "County" class cruisers with the intention of replacing two of their single 4"/45 (10.2 cm) Mark V mountings with twin mountings without exceeding the Treaty weight limits. This hair-splitting exercise was described as "ridiculous punctiliousness" by John Campbell. Twelve guns were manufactured, all of which were later converted back to the Mark XVI standard. The Mark XVIII was the original designation for an improved version of the Mark XVI but this was redesignated as the Mark XVI* before being accepted into service. The Mark XXI was a lighter version built to revised design rules with an autofretted monobloc barrel and removable breech ring.

Some 2,555 Mark XVI and XVI* guns along with 238 Mark XXI guns were manufactured in Britain. Canada produced 504 Mark XVI* and 135 Mark XXI guns. Australia built a further 45 Mark XVI* guns.

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