Slitherine

I recently received my first FOG army, Seleucid's, from Old Glory. One problem/challenge I have, as I am sure many of you have faced in the past, is all their pike figures come requiring said owner to drill 2 little holes through their little hands so they can hold their pikes or should I say pieces of wire!!

- any ideas or techniques on how to drill these holes?

- could I replace the Old Glory wire Pikes with Xystron Pikes? Will they fit?

Assistance most welcome...

Thanks

I drill the holes by hand using a small drill bit held in a pin chuck, the size of the drill depending on the diameter of the wire pikes you're using. This is likely to be somewhere around 0.7-0.8mm. Whitemetal has a tendency to clog the drill bit so go carefully and lubricate the drill - spit works well! If you use a power tool like a Dremel the bit is likely to jam and break. Try Squires Tools for the pin chuck and drills if you're in the UK (www.squirestoolscom). I expect there will be equivalent suppliers in other parts of the world.

Pin vise drill is probably the best way to go. I usually start a guide hole with a bit 2 sizes smaller than the one I intend to use, then widen it with the full size bit.

I've used Xyston spears with Old Glory and they work fine, only they need a slightly bigger hole than the Old Glory provided wire (about 1/32", I think).

As far as messups go, if you open the hand palm side, then no worries- just set the pike into the open hand. If you mess up the back of the hand, set the pike in the hole and cover with a small dot of white glue (or modelling putty or whatever) and paint/primer over the damage.

I drill loads of my models, and use thin brass wire for the pikes/ spears. I use a black and decker cheap cordless drill.......i.e a cheap normal drill. I use the smallest drill bits from Heresy http://www.heresyminiatures.com/

I use a lowish drill speed, and be careful to keep the bit going in straight or the bit can break.

Markovy wrote:I recently received my first FOG army, Seleucid's, from Old Glory. One problem/challenge I have, as I am sure many of you have faced in the past, is all their pike figures come requiring said owner to drill 2 little holes through their little hands so they can hold their pikes or should I say pieces of wire!!

- any ideas or techniques on how to drill these holes?

- could I replace the Old Glory wire Pikes with Xystron Pikes? Will they fit?

Assistance most welcome...

Thanks

Hello, I currently use a Dremel tool to drill my holes, however have previously used a pin vice. Personally, I'd recommend a pin vice for your initial batch so that you get used to using it. You get the feel of angles etc, and it is slower so you make less headway, but also less mistakes.

I'd also suggest using brass wire with flattened tips for your pikes. Brass is more flexible than steel, and so are less likely to bend and are a little more forgiving when you stab yourself.

Lastly, try to angle your pikes (if they are mostly upright) as much as possible so that the go into the ground. This gives extra strength. If you wanted to have them 'out of the ground' you can paint the bottom section of the pike (the bit sticking in the ground) dark green and use some 'foliage' to disguise it and they will blend in if you use a very light brown for the rest of the pike shaft.

The other advise here is good also. Just go with what you think is the best thing.

Lastly, from an aesthetic point of view think about what you want the end figures to look like. I don't like 'neat rows of pike' but you may think it's the ants pants. So, when I do it, I'm not particularly bothered by how 'up and down' the pikes are. I want them to vary a bit. You, on the other hand, may like a 'regimental' kind of look and so you'll have to be careful of the angle of the hole.

I always make sure all spears pikes have two points of contact. These pikes have the hand and ground. Also note Philips head on the shield is hand painted!



These Burmese (converted from Xyston Indians - cut head off and replace with Magister Militum) have hand and shield. I use the pinvice to ream a slot. With horse lances or spears the same with a slot across the horses neck.

I gave up on actual holes, instead I slice off the outer edge of the hand that "held" the old lead spear/pike/whatever.

This is less secure, I regularly have spears pop-off. OTOH when they do so, there is no damage to the figure as a whole. If you drill holes you risk twisting off the wrist of the figure. This method is also much easier, I just use a exacto and a sprue-cutter/wire-cutter to do it.

ethan wrote:I gave up on actual holes, instead I slice off the outer edge of the hand that "held" the old lead spear/pike/whatever.
This is less secure, I regularly have spears pop-off. OTOH

I disaree if you crimp the hand between flat pliers this leaves a 'table tennis bat' like shape. Drill in the middle, trim if required and fill in with the adhesive.