DRILL OUT YOUR BOLTER BARRELS

Look at this.  Is there anything that screams laziness more than the barrel of this Space Marine’s Boltgun?

No one wants to see that.  That’s bush league.  Don’t be like that.  Here’s a handy guide on how to drill the barrels of Boltguns so they don’t look terrible.

• Get a good pin vise set with a 1/32″ and a 3/64″ drill bit.  The standard Dremel 7 bit set comes with this and is usually less than $5.
• Put the smallest bit (1/32″) in the pin vise, and begin to drill the crossbore of the Bolter.
  • PRO TIP: If you are at a bad angle, you’ll ruin the barrel.  Instead of going through the whole Bolter at once, drill a bit on one side and switch.  Keep switching after a couple turns until you break through.
• Continue as above until you see daylight through the Bolter.  DO NOT STOP UNTIL YOU SEE DAYLIGHT.  See below.

• Keep the same 1/32″ bit in, and drill a very small divot into the front of the barrel.  Try to make it as centered as possible.

• Replace the 1/32″ bit with the 3/64″ bit.  Drill out the barrel all the way to the cavity you created in the crossbore.

• Sometimes, the crossbore gets a little extra plastic from the barrel drill, as seen below.  Put the 1/32″ bit back in and use it to carefully clean the crossbore.

• If any of your barrels were damaged, fix them with putty or replace the Bolter if you can.
• Now your Bolters don’t look like garbage!

Next: A huge update to the Azure Flames, including two Tactical Squads, and some special surprises courtesy of Games Workshop’s 20th anniversary of the Space Marines!  You won’t want to miss this!