Now where were we?

[Mangas]

I think Bertrand knows the answer since he made some exceptional Lightnings a while back...
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think if those are B.50' barrels, they should be black only
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...gun_detail.jpg
even if the plane itself is in polished metal:
http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4146/4...f4b470b9_o.jpg
But if it's a part of some machinery -- JFR made it just fine:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...px-Plane-3.jpg

[GiantFlyingRobots]

Take a look at Putt Putt Maru its got NMF 'sleeved' .50 cals, and there are lots of other examples to be found, I'll post them up if you like.

It would appear that that there is a number of different types of barrel, and if the barrel is 'perforated*' it was black, if its 'sleeved*' it was painted but it appears that it soon wore off leaving it in NMF like PPM. I'm no expert on these things tho, just my observations.

Considering that these are little more than blank canvases at this stage its a pretty moot point anyway as the style of armament will change depending on the paint scheme that I apply.

*For want of a better term.

[BLOWHARD]

I don't think anyone is arguing about whether or not the .50 Browning was black or not. I think the point is what are we seeing in the profile, since he has a black .50 there, it makes sense he is showing something else, like a sleeve as he says. There other examples, P51s and P47s come to mind, were the barrel with the cooling jacket is sometimes covered with a metal tube.
I looked but couldn't find any war time photos of P38 noses in the few seconds I have while I'm at work. I'm sure if you look at enough period photos you'll find some with covered barrels.

I think the word you want is fretted, as in fretwork

[Skyraider3D]

This is looking superb GFR!

The Lightning is a bird that has been growing on me ever so slowly over the past few years and I like it more and more... I might have to do one in 3D one day.