Model Forum / General / Models / October 2005

A low speed drill, or a hand drill.  It just takes some practice.  I used to
practice on sprue.  I've drilled out the barrels on a German WWII quad 20mm,
and it went pretty well.  For that particular task, I did it by hand instead
of drilling.

I bought a Strombecker electric drill, battery powered by two C cells, years
and years ago.  Pretty low rpm, and it works extremely well on plastic.

For tank barrels, resisting the temptation to go just a bit deeper pays off.

Don H.

Depends on the outside diameter of the model gun's barrel and what it's
made of (white metal? styrene? resin? vinyl?).  What works on an
anti-aircraft gun might not work so well on a handgun.

I use an X-acto knife with a No. 11 blade.  Just put the point where you
want the hole to be and "twirl" it back and forth.  If you need a deep
hole, you can switch to a drill bit in a pin vise after you have a
"starter" hole drilled with the knife blade.

I use a brand spanking new #11 Xacto knife blade. Just find your center and
gently twist it until the hole is wallered out to your liking. Just be
careful and do not use too much pressure as it (the tip of the knife blade)
may go off to the side and into the closest available fingertip! Been there,
Done that!

Scott A. Bregi

"Imagination is more important than knowledge"    Albert Einstein

Model Building is FUN!.........model building is fun.......model building is
?$#!!*?##!%$?&%$##!!

It might be possible to drill a hole in a block of wood slightly smaller
than the outer diameter of the barrel itself,  Cut the block in half,
across the hole so it acts like the jaws of a vice when clamped around
the barrel.  Clamp the block plus barrel in the jaws on the base plate
of a bench drill then pray as you pull that arm slowly down.

If you don't have a bench drill then ignore all the above! ;-)

We used to use down to .75mm bits on a Posalux for drilling circuit
boards so it's possible.

Richard.

If its just a straight tube go to the veterinary supply shop and by a
hypodermic needle of the appropriate diameter.  Cut to suit.

I made it!
I used fairly big size of a wood drill.
I mean a drill as not the whole machine used in drilling but the metal
'thing', bolt you put into a drill machine. I don't know the word :(
So i used 3-5 mm in diameter drill for drilling wood. Wood drills have this
narrow sharp metal tip that was perfect for my 1/72 guns. I practiced for a
while on sprue.
Thanks everyone for advice!

Maciek