10 minute read
FEATURE: BIG GUNS
BRINGING OUT THE BIG GUNS!
HAVING A MAN ON THE GROUND IN TAIWAN, AIRSOFT ACTION IS ABLE TO BRING YOU REPORTS FROM COMPANIES THAT MAY OTHERWISE GO UNNOTICED INTERNATIONALLY. PENGHU ARMS FACTORY IS ONE SUCH COMPANY AND HAVING DISCOVERED THEM, STEWBACCA SOON MADE ARRANGEMENTS TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE COMPANY – AND THE STUNNING AIRSOFT REPLICAS THEY PRODUCE!
PengHu is Taiwan’s western county of islands in the Taiwan Strait off the coast of the main island’s southerly city of Tainan and is akin to the Florida Keys, with raised highways and bridges interconnecting the major islands of the small lowlying Archipelago that represents part of Taiwan’s first line of defence in this somewhat tumultuous waterway - both in terms of actual local weather and the tense politics of the region.
Undoubtedly, like most others, the only time I’d ever heard of it before I came to Taiwan was in the movie “Spy Game”, where the islands are mentioned as the staging area for a US fleet which is eventually used to mount an incursion into nearby Southeast China to effect a rescue of the main protagonist. Other than that, I hadn’t much prior knowledge of the area.
Likewise, I hadn’t heard of “3D Military Movie Props Ltd.” beforehand either. I first encountered its proprietor, Well Hsu, shortly after I arrived in Taiwan and attended the Hooha shows (organised by local magazine Combat King Monthly) where I happened upon his booth. He was exhibiting his early prototypes of their Browning M2HB HPA powered airsoft heavy machine guns, as well as an airpowered mortar system that was comically launching foam projectiles across the exhibition hall at intervals.
His immediately welcoming and jovial nature and interest in extolling his (already impressive) products easily overcame our initial language barrier issues at the time - I’ve since developed my Chinese and he has also greatly improved his English - and I would continue to see him on occasion at various trade shows in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung. Initially, through my work with TacticalTwo, I garnered the attention of Eric from Combat King Monthly himself and I began working with him to produce English language versions of his annual “Airsoft & Airgun Consumers Guide” (a yearly almanac of all the major new product releases) and Well’s own offerings from 3DMMP soon became a regular feature in its “Special Weapons” section towards the rear.
HEADING TO PENGHU
I would soon find myself being hosted by Well and his family on my first trip to PengHu. Alongside 3DMMP and Penghu Arms Factory (PAF), he also runs five themed guest houses around the island chain. Since moving to the islands nearly thirty years ago (following his military service on Kinmen, where he was an RoC army firearms instructor) and he has been using his connections with the local military
units, tourism board and government to improve the image of airsoft on the island. He organised the first MilSim game with the aid of the local authorities and making use of one of its depots not too far from the dual-use military and civil airport on the Eastern side of the main island.
I was tasked with doing the photography work and English language write-up of this inaugural MilSim event - “Operation White Sands Rescue” - where players and industry insiders from all over mainland Taiwan, Hong Kong and even Japan would be descending en-masse in early 2019 to enjoy the local island’s hospitality and tourism benefits, as well as engaging in a long weekend of skirmishing, complete with Well’s “technical” vehicle sporting one of the M2HB HPA guns I had witnessed back at our initial meeting.
The whole weekend was an excellent experience, with local dignitaries joining in festivities of the Friday night welcome barbecue and party, as well as a local RoC armed forces drumming squad and hand to hand combat demonstration, followed by the the opening of the game itself the next morning - despite the tropical weather! Luckily the deluge ended just as game on was being called, much to the relief of the ranks of camouflage-clad players assembled on the concrete parade square outside the main buildings to be played around.
Following this initial foray into the outlying islands and the activities of PAF, I followed the development of their products and engaged with them at successive trade shows, such as MOA where they took up residence in the booth opposite Archwick and displayed their latest offerings with various heavy weapons on interchangeable mount systems (which were then fitted to their large 4x4 flatbed technical vehicle for patrons to play with the big guns!).
These earlier systems were of more simplistic affairs, comprising an HPA unit and large external tank operating alongside a bulk BB storage and feed mechanism, all of which is housed in either their M2HB outer shell of receiver, spade grips, barrel and jacket - which can be single or dual-mounted on a pintle system for in-game vehicles or heavily fortified positions - as well as their supplementary twin internal barrelled and grenade launching versions of the Mk19 grenade launcher, which debuted at Shot Show to a great reception.
M2HB
The cornerstone of the current product range is their M2HB. This is available in two variants of external casing; the pre-Vietnam version in black paintwork and the post-Vietnam modified variant with the altered barrel shroud system presented in olive drab. These outer shells are sold separately, both to the likes of local Taiwanese and US military units for training purposes, as well as to re-enactment groups or militaria preservationists who need the realistic appearance of a heavy machine gun without the extreme price tag of an original functioning or deactivated one. This accounts for around half of the (over one hundred) units sold already, the balance being used by the airsoft or movie production industries - which can be supplied with a selection of four internal operating systems; AEG gearbox, plain HPA, gas blowback HPA, and paintball mechanisms - these systems are all available separately as drop-in units which can be removed in a matter of seconds. Simply remove the spade grips at the rear and the internal mechanisms can be pulled out the rear of the main receiver with great ease, allowing users to invest in a single external shell and operate it in multiple different ways depending on their particular needs at the time.
A newer development to add to the functionality is a third party supplied tracer unit which fits into the end of PAF’s new M2HB outer barrel. This allows green tracer rounds to be used as well as producing an orange strobe effect, thus creating an area illumination around the muzzle which adds to the already impressive visual effect of the system. Performance-wise, the HPA unit offers a tunable output in terms of both muzzle velocity and rate of fire. Well demonstrated this with the internal control unit that has twin, screwdriver-actuated dials - changing the rate of fire from a realistic five hundred or so rounds per minute up to perhaps twice that - this allows the end user to set the machine gun up
to suit their site, local power limitations, scenario or other needs. The HPA system can be run off a typical large external dive style tank, a compressor, or even a single use green gas canister if needs be, although the latter option obviously gives limited endurance compared to a larger tank.
The next development in the series is going to aim towards making the recoil impulse of the blowback variant closer to that of its real counterpart if possible, with the majority of customer needs in terms of external appearance having already been met by the existing versions. The internal mechanisms of all variants are fed by a close coil spring encased hose (like that of many M249 models), which is fed from a .50 cal ammunition box that has an electric winding mechanism and hopper included. This feeds through the hose into the underside of the main receiver, where it can be kept out of sight to maintain realism.
MK19
The next model to join the product line was the Mk19 40mm grenade machine gun, also used widely by Taiwanese and US forces. The first version made use of twin internal barrels and their related feed systems held within the larger outer bore, to give an external aesthetic with some airsoft functionality. However, this still left some wanting and a more advanced variant has recently been released which actually realistically feeds and fires 37mm projectiles used by other similar systems already present in the market. This can launch the projectiles as far as 50m, which may sound somewhat limited but the accuracy and consistency are nonetheless very high, and the potential for use as a static position or vehicle mounted MilSim prop are obviously great and varied.
The Mk19 also presents a further product stream for PAF, with real military forces purchasing the heavy fabrications and other support equipment they produce such as tripods, mounts and ammunition cradles as more readily available alternatives to officially sourced components, which obviously have to come from much further afield, particularly for the local frontline frontier forces.
Another derivative under development, to make use of the same grenade rounds as the second generation Mk19, is taking a little longer to develop due to technical constraints. Larger weapons are easier to fabricate and make operational but the RG6 rotary grenade launcher has already taken a year to develop and still presents issues. While most other projects take around six months to realise the initial prototypes, the RG6 is proving more difficult due to its “man-portable” nature and the need to find a suitable compact power source that isn’t obtrusive to its profile and visual outline.
M132/M134/M1919
The next product currently under development is an M132/M134 minigun electric and HPA hybrid powered system. Based off the original Classic Army system, the kit is currently in the advanced 3D printed component stage, which will provide realistic barrel length and main body diameter add ons to give the CA a true scale appearance as well as improved function. Further to this will be their upcoming M1919 WW2 .30 calibre machine gun replica, which will scale down the M2HB system and be available as both an HPA and AEG setup, but no recoil kit is planned at this time given the likely more niche market it will appeal to.
All the products in the range are 3D modelled by Well himself (who, like me, he has a higher education in mechanical and industrial engineering and design) and prototyped at his facility in Penghu. Once the final versions are settled upon, his own Taipei-based manufacturing plant deals with production level
components and materials to realise and deliver each product. 3D Military Movie Props now deals predominantly with a range of militaria, souvenirs (such as miniature artillery shells, German WW2 stick grenades and ration packs that function as eCard keychains for use with local transport or convenience stores), as well as fake .50 cal cartridges which function as pens. PAF has branched out as a separate business entity to distance itself from the connotations of 3D printed nature of 3DMMP’s legacy, as they wish to differentiate the business and emphasise that the final products are as sturdily constructed as their real counterparts and are, indeed, employed by the same end users.
Penghu Armament Factory thus service airsoft and real steel end users equally and are very much geared towards giving the customer what they want, being very user need driven in terms of their products and development processes. They have already achieved a great deal and supplied a reasonable number of customers with economical but functional and highquality alternatives, and when presented with a clear idea of the design requirements can rapidly and effectively meet them with a well implemented end product. With an impressive existing range and plans to continue adding to it as resources and custom permit, PAF are very much bringing out the big guns for airsoft players and real soldiers alike.
I’d like to sincerely thank Well Hsu and his team for their continued hospitality and accommodations at their facility and trade show booths over the years and for allowing me access to their products and development. I’m sure that their quality will push further future sales once a wider audience can be informed of them, which I hope I can help with..AA
