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Made in us
Battlefield Professional





New York

Ello Dakka!

I have 2 questions related to using a pin vice to drill gun barrels. The first is: Is there a good trick to making sure the tool is center or is it mostly by eye. I've alredy drillined one gun barrel pretty badly off center (And unfortunatly on my war boss! Argg!).

The second is do you drill out the flash suppressor as well? The Flash suppressor are the hols at the end of the barrel.

Any tips and comments will be well appreciated.

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Made in au
Long-Range Ultramarine Land Speeder Pilot




Probably somewhere I shouldn't be

I make a tiny starting indentation with my knife (on plastics) or a sharp pointy-tool (technical term!) on metal models. Use this to guide your drilling, stopping every few rotations to make sure you're on track until the hole is deep enough. Don't press too hard or you'll go off course.

Depending on how far off-centre on your current model you are, you can use a knife to enlarge the hole on one side to make the overall hole larger but more centered. Otherwise, you can fill it with milliput (greenstuff isn't hard enough) and re-drill once it's fully cured (wait at least 12 if not 24 hours to be safe).

As for drilling out the flash-suppressor, I've seen people do it, and I don't like it personally, but do whatever you think would look good.

40k: WHFB: (I want a WE Icon, dammit!)
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Made in de
[DCM]
The Main Man






Beast Coast

Does drilling out the flash suppressor or muzzle brake make the barrel too weak, or is it generally something you don't have to worry about?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2009/06/16 02:34:29


   
Made in au
Long-Range Ultramarine Land Speeder Pilot




Probably somewhere I shouldn't be

It should be fine, if you're concerned about weakening the barrel, make sure not to drill too deep.
EDIT: Also don't use a drill bit that's too big, if you have at least 1mm of plastic all around (or slightly less metal) it should stay robust enough.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2009/06/16 02:53:13


40k: WHFB: (I want a WE Icon, dammit!)
DR:80S+G+M(GD)B++I++Pw40k96+D+A+++/areWD206R+++T(M)DM+
Please stop by and check out my current P&M Blog: Space Wolves Wolf Lord 
   
Made in us
Privateer





The paint dungeon, Arizona

To center my drill points, I use my hobby knife to make a light horizontal line down the middle (like dividing it in half).

Then I make another one thats vertical.

If you placed both lines in the middle- you have an X thats in the center. X marks the spot, drill away

And muzzle brakes are optional, I used to drill them out. But most of the time these days Im assmby line painting. so in the sake of time I just drill out the barrel a little bit to add depth, and the inside of the muzzle qnd brake just stay black.
   
Made in us
Vlad_the_Rotten






Cincinnati, OH

I'm not one for drilling out barrels, but I have been drilling out holes to hold back banners on all, oh, 200+ of my ork boys. Getting the holes perfectly lined up behind the back plates was key, so I figured this little trick out and it translates well on gun barrels too (and for pinning through hands, etc). I use a sculpting tool which consists of nothing more than a leather needle (about 1mm in diameter) set into a wooden handle. hold the end of the needle over a lighter (or candle) for a few seconds until it heats up. Then press the tip where ever you want to drill (into the center of the gun barrel in your case). The guide hole will keep the drill bit on coarse instead of slipping around. You could even use the hot needle to melt out your muzzle suppressors. Heating over a lighter tends to get the needle hot enough to easily make a hole in the plastic, without warping the plastic around it. Hope this helps, I live by this method now, no more, off centered holes, or slipping off the model and drilling the end of my finger.

   
Made in gb
Rotting Sorcerer of Nurgle





Portsmouth UK

I once drilled out the Escher heavy stubber including the cooling holes. As it's an old mini, it's made of lead and although the barrel sans middle is light it now has a tendacy to droop!
For centering i use a dentists pick to mark the centre of the barrel then use a triangular shaped sculpting tool to increase it's size (by rotating & 'carving' it out) before drilling. This is especially useful on larger barrels, eg autocanons.

Check out my gallery here
Also I've started taking photos to use as reference for weathering which can be found here. Please send me your photos so they can be found all in one place!! 
   
Made in no
Revving Ravenwing Biker





Cardiff, UK

I also use a dental tool to make the pilot, then just gently hand drill by eye. Also, i use a 1mm bit for bolters, leaving only a thin layer of plastic left- it looks good like that, and isn't worryingly weak- then use the same dental tool to just push through from the molded flash suppressor dips

 
   
Made in gb
Revving Ravenwing Biker





Cardiff, UK

Interesting... I post from Abergavenny, Wales, and it thinks i'm in, um, is that the Danish flag?

 
   
Made in au
Anti-Armour Swiss Guard






Newcastle, OZ

Not any more. Looks like the union flag to me, now.

I only drill out heavy weapons (can't be arsed doing bolters) but only the firing muzzle is drilled for assault cannons.

I make a pilot hole with my 0.5mm bit, and then drill it out with a 1mm bit. I gauge location by eye.

I'm OVER 50 (and so far over everyone's BS, too).
Old enough to know better, young enough to not give a ****.

That is not dead which can eternal lie ...

... and yet, with strange aeons, even death may die.
 
   
 
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