Hi guys

How would one go about hollowing out the gun barrels of the main turrets. Or at least give the appearance of a hollowed out gun.

Thanks in advance

Hi there Leader, The way I do it is start off with a #11 exacto blade an d(very carefuly, there sharp) make a dimple in the center of the barrels muzzle, this gives you a starting point. Then I use a Pinvise drill to do the rest. Select a drill bit that is just under the muzzles diameter and drill the hole out. Just drill shallow, maybe 1/16th of an inch or less is all thats needed. After the holes are drilled, a little flat black inside the hole increases depth to the eye. Once again Be careful and work slowly and you will do fine.

HTH,

Garry

another thing for consideration. Unless the gun was undergoing cleaning or during firing it often times had a plug in it to prevent nasty things from getting into the barrel. So while hollowing out the barrel certainly adds a bit of realism and interest, hollowing it out a bit then adding a plug would add even more realism. Of course you can just forget about it and say the gun is getting ready to fire . As for actually drilling it out, I use the same process that Garry uses. Good luck!

One other thing you can try, depending on scale, is to replace the barrel completely with brass tubeing. I'm hope to be posting later today a picture of a turret from my Warspite. The kit barrels had flared ends that looked like a blunderbus. I've cut down some 1/16th inch brass tube I got at a craft store and used it instead of the kit barrel. I'm biased but I think it looks great.