ZB30 CMC Cugir airsoft replica

Good evening gents.
Allow me to share with you my project of a CMC(Copsa Mica si Cugir) ZB Md. 30 airsoft replica.
The replica is actually a ZB26 produced by ACM, and i consider it to be very close to the original one, made at Cugir, under name ZB30.

I started by dismanteling it completly. First i removed the orange-tone brown varnish from the wood parts, later i worked on the metal parts, that were made of 2 kinds of aluminium alloy.
Piese by piece, i worked on the metal parts, removing the black paint and give it a aged look.
Some of the metal received chemical treatment in such manner to look as close as a real weapon and by the final stage of the process, i engraved(by CNC) producer markings on the side and top of case.
Work is now almost complete, just some small finishing on the magazine, wood parts(need a proper color varnish) and a final paint job on the engraved zones.

I didn't find pictures with ZB30 made by Cugir on any romanian sites , i had to inspired my work from foreign sites.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.


PS: working time was about 20 hours.


As it was from producer:


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Dismanteled:


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Working started on magazine(not finished yet).


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Small parts finishing..


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Muzzle ready


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CNC engraving of producer markings, as a original ZB30 had.


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Side markings with first layer of paint finished. Not ready yet!


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Upper markings...


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Work almost complete...


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I found a great variety on conditions for this weapon, starting from very good(most of the ZB's sold on militaria sites) and up to reddish barrels ones and so on. I inspired my aged look from this picture:


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Amazing!

I want one

Nice!

Pretty cool.

Looks now very realistic.

Looked again closely trough all pictures.

What i suggest is to take a hammer or stones and make some dangs here and there.


In my army time my swiss Stgw57 had quite a few after all the years of getting thrown, smashed and abused.

Specially the magazine had some on the rear were are the detonators located.
This was done to asure a smooth loading in the chamber.
It was recommanded to smash the rounds flush to this part of the magazine.
Ok recommanded was to do this over your boots or upper leg.
But it hurt less when got smashed over the gun handle or a stone ! :-(

Also the side of the chambers was quite scratched from robbing over stones and all kind of debris.


Don't be to gentle with "just" schmirgel, bang it around. ;-)
Of course as it's aluminum not to hard. But really would recommand that.
Put it in a sandbox and rubb the sand very hard over those parts which get naturally in contact with the ground.


And don't forget to treat also the wooden parts accordingly. :-)


Greetings
Robert

Thank you guys for your appreciation.

@ Elvetian: i took time to study the ZB26/30 i found on the internet, so i could execute my replica's aging after a model. After seeing lots of pictures, i came to a intersting conclusion... Zb26/30 kept in very good condition, can compare with MG34/42 quality! I list here some pictures with this type of weapons used by romanians or germans, the guns are in very good shape, even if they saw lots of action in ww2!



Here are some of the examples of weapons sold at auctions, Ro, CZ or German army.


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reddish barrel


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romanian markings on a demil ZB30 in USA, later restored:


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PS: belive me, it tooked more than schmirgel to do the job!

This post has been edited by Ferdinand on December 02, 2015 09:24 pm

My grandfather told me that the ZB vz. 30 was a very accurate weapon, something that could be trusted. They used it a lot on the Eastern Front.

What is happening with that factory from Cugir in our days ?
Just curious.

This post has been edited by Florin on December 04, 2015 04:15 am

@Ferdinand,
I see now they're really in outstanding shape. Seems the soldiers then really treated them like their bride as it's called in soldiers jargon.

@Florin,
I don't know if the weapon factory in Cugir still has the same name.
But i know they still produce pistols and machineguns.
A german coluege of mine who was the general manager of the biggest factory in Cugir and had good connections to the management of the weapons factory organised once for colleagues a visit with a final testing/shooting of some weapons.
Unlucky me i knew him only later. :-(
Would have liked to see a weapon factory.

Don't be sad.
A "weapon factory" is like any other factory.
If you had the chance to see the assembly lines of other factories, you'll get the idea.

Don't be sad.
A "weapon factory" is like any other factory.
If you had the chance to see the assembly lines of other factories, you'll get the idea.

Hahaha, have seen a lot of factories.

Should have been more precise:
Sad i lost the chance to shoot the guns.

Don't be sad.
A "weapon factory" is like any other factory.
If you had the chance to see the assembly lines of other factories, you'll get the idea.

Hahaha, have seen a lot of factories.

Should have been more precise:
Sad i lost the chance to shoot the guns.

I have not only seen them.
I worked in them . . .

Yes! It was a very good weapon and reliable, but was expensive to produce.

Cugir factory here: http://www.facugir.ro/

This post has been edited by Ferdinand on December 10, 2015 08:36 am

As a downside I guess the magazine capacity of only 20 rounds could have been problematic in some situations.