How can I drill without a drill

[waterlinenewbie]

Ive just realized that my 1:700 Yamoto will require holes to be drilled
through to the deck for AA guns. These hole are already half moulded
on the underside. Why they couldn't do them properly I don't know.

I have no drill small enough

So does anyone have any ideas before I butcher the Painted deck with a
xacto knife?


Thanks

[blw]

That's a pretty small hole, and you'll have a hard time doing that even remotely accurately with a knife. My advice is to bite the bullet and invest in a pin vise and small drills. The pin vise isn't expensive - maybe $10 (very expensive ones are < $25). You should be able to get a set of drills #61-#80 for about $15-$20. If you do this almost at all, you'll find the need for various drills. Almost every hobby shop should carry this kind of stuff.

[Vlad]

You can hold a needle in a pair of pliers and heat the end up on a stove or something then use that to melt a hole through the plastic. It's risky and messy, but if you really don't want to buy a drill you can try to perfect the technique.

Your other option is to cut off the locating pin on the bottom of your AA gun mounts, sand it flat and glue them on without needing the hole at all.

By the way, the reasons those holes are not done "properly" is because that deck is common with the Musashi kit which had a different AA arrangement and also it gives you the opportunity to backdate the ship without having to fill in all sorts of nasty holes. It's as proper as you can get in terms of giving the modeler some choice while keeping production as similar as possible.

[Timmy C]

I'd try and see if putting the Xacto knife tip dead centre of the hole and turning your knife would work - it's a balance between the deck thickness and hole size, since the blade is V-shaped (i.e. the deeper you drill, the larger the hole will be). It's up to each individual case whether your hole will be too large by the time you puncture through to the topside of the deck.



If that doesn't work, I'd go with Vlad's second suggestion. Hold the deck up to a very bright light, with the painted side facing you. See if you can spot where the thin parts are (i.e. where the holes are to be drilled), and then mark the spot with a pencil or something. That'll give you the location so you can glue the guns on more accurately. Else, eyeball it based on the painting diagram's top view.

[Jeffcsr]

I've broken so many exacto blades trying to 'drill' a hole that I seriously recommend a pin vise

[waterlinenewbie]

Thanks for all the responses, I'll check out my hobby shop.
I thought about the heated needle before and might try one
with a medium bore hypodermic needle.

I'm not to worried about the mess since the bases will cover the
holes, or I may just sand the pins off.

I'm only doing a limited run of ships and don't want spend another
sixty bucks on something I may never use again.

Again thanks for all the suggestions and info.

[blw]

Look for something like this: http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Model-Ex ... n841dh.htm Surely you could spend $4 for a pin vise?

And you don't need a whole set of bits, just get the ones you need. They're usually about $1. I've used four different bits so far on a 1/350 battleship. On the other hand, I think I used two or three different ones on a 1/700 battleship - and just one on a 1/700th carrier.

[biggles2]

If you're into any kind of plastic,or resin, modeling (it doesn't matter what genre or scale), a pin vice and drill assortment is a very useful investment to your tool box. And as pointed out, not expensive at all. (Just go easy on the fine bits as they will snap easily!).

[dbiggied]

Ebay is your friend...search one of the following terms:

mini drill bits
micro drill bits
61-80 drill bits

I have seen sets with 20 bits and a small pin vise for as little as $7.20 with free shipping...worth every penny.

[waterlinenewbie]

I did manage to make the holes with a heated needle then a small
finishing nail worked fine but took a bit of time and needed cleaning a bit
with and exacto knife.

I did eventually get to the local hobby shop their price for a pin vice
was 20 dollars CDN, no bits included. I may consider it in the future

thanks again

[wefalck]

Honestly, how can a modeller survive without a set of small drills, regardless of what kind of models one makes ?

I don't know the exchange for Canadian Dollars and prices in Canada, but here in Europe you don't pay more than 5 or 10 Euro for a good pin vice.

wefalck

[biggles2]

I did eventually get to the local hobby shop their price for a pin vice
was 20 dollars CDN, no bits included. I may consider it in the future

thanks again

$20 CDN for a pin vice is a real burn! Squadron Shop has the Excel brand for under $9 US. Any Canadian shop getting their stuff from them should be selling the same pin vice for around $10 CDN. I just did some more checking and the Tamiya pin vice (which looks remarkably like the Excel version) is almost $20 CDN - another

[Timmy C]

As a note, one of the Excel pin vise (70003) comes with a set of drill bits, but you won't see them on the package because they are actually stored in the butt end of the vise under the screw cap: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Excel-70003-Min ... 2c7f82926e

I note the one in the link is $20, so maybe that's the one you saw in the store?

[blw]

I did eventually get to the local hobby shop their price for a pin vice
was 20 dollars CDN, no bits included. I may consider it in the future

Send me a PM with an address. I'll mail you a surplus pin vise that I have.

[davidwaples]

While I think a pin vise is one of those essential tools for a modeler, I'm wondering if you need to drill holes at all? Can you secure the guns in place by removing a locating pin and gluing it into place with some PVA glue? Hard to know without looking at what you're doing but in this scale it seems like an alternative to buying a pin vise and bits.
Dave