Dremel Tool advice, please...

[Harry Faversham]

I'm after trying to grind/file the weapons from Warlords British Paratroopers. I want to re-arm 'em with SLRs to serve as Wild Geese and orì UNIT Troopers. Has this gadget the bollocks to do the job?
 

[HerbertTarkel]

Heck yes.

There are some really fine carving and grinding bits.

BUT- plastic is going to melt if you do it too fast. You’ll learn…

I use my Dremel for loads of stuff like that. To gain better control, I added a pistol grip style handle on mine, it made a huge difference.

[Aethelflaeda was framed]

I recommend a flex arm connected hand piece and foot pedal rheostat for the best control.   For the money, a Foredom flex arm that jeweler’s use is the better tool. Far less vibration and heat in the hand piece. Better chuck too.

[Cubs]

Do you mean for drilling holes? Drilling holes in metal or plastic, I always use my pin-vice hand-drill. Perfect control, it doesn't melt anything, but it takes a little longer.

 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/293699684257?_skw=pin+vice&itmmeta=01JDWZQX5C93G8BTQH3TPDRZ01&hash=item4461dd87a1:g:~5QAAOSwGcFlS3YB&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA4HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKmD00E4L73MQ0n1fXMH9F10R8cPf3jC0ED1Xr8a4SeQOZiV4W9SGFgYAgTfUrKtolV7GvD1b3vgT%2Fffq8XFWU%2FSkqZgsODen544zUBDRYf3lNQ9oy8jaBRyL7jXjsILdqn6WpuQggcTZO8KGjsaqBMZIBI8HuMiTcpuzreDbfeRSjLp88loXLlgCgJdU3Cfx5UNZYhJhonESQAT4K4ip5BFxuMzza%2BjTnFptYbmr0eS5KDdOBsCc0p%2BOoTSmbYE7KVzQHEEd0wGivOJEXhDYI2j%7Ctkp%3ABFBM8NLfn-9k

[Aethelflaeda was framed]

Yes, a pin vise is adequate for drilling but for grinding and filing a hand file or piece of sandpaper doesn’t quite have the capacity to reach a nook or cranny, even if you are using a riffler file.   Rotary tools and file or grinding burs have their place.

[Dubar]

I would use a Dremel and scalpel type blade to remove the big chunks and a pin vise and files to remove finer details and make holes.

[Brian Smaller]

Heck yes - it will do the job and then some.

Just make sure you have a good grip on the miniature. I lost control of one I was drilling once and it flung off my dremel drill bit at 20,000 rpm or whatever and embedded itself into the kitchen window frame - missed the glass by half an inch.

[Aethelflaeda was framed]

Gripping a fig probably is best achieved with a jeweler’s  screw clamp.  But you were working at too high a speed.  Even the most aggressive grinding should proceed at low rpm. certainly not drilling.  Slow and steady with lots of pullouts to remove shavings will save you a broken bit and your eye. High speeds are for polishing and burnishing.

[FramFramson]

Yes, I found it impossible to use my Dremel for miniatures without the benefit of a foot pedal. Luckily they're not expensive.

[Rick]

Absolutely yes. I'm currently on my 3rd (non-Dremel) electric rotary drill in about 25-30 years and I wouldn't be without mine now. You won't need one for every single job but they are essential for quite a few, not to mention saving hours of time grinding away with a pin vise. A word of advice - don't use the cutting discs for anything harder than plastic card; for serious cutting of metal figures, I always use a steel saw-toothed cutting disc, which do come in several different sizes - handy for different jobs.

[carlos marighela]

I'm after trying to grind/file the weapons from Warlords British Paratroopers. I want to re-arm 'em with SLRs to serve as Wild Geese and orì UNIT Troopers. Has this gadget the bollocks to do the job?
 

If you mean the plastic ones, then you would be better slicing them off with a sharp blade. I did something similar, rearming a couple of the plastic paras with SLRs until I discovered there were better donor bodies out there.

[anevilgiraffe]

I'd say there's better UNIT proxies out there without that much effort - Gripping Beast Falklands War, Mongrol BAOR (if they are still available) were my UNIT of choice and of course Crooked Dice now do some great proxies.

https://anevilgiraffe.blogspot.com/2009/04/unit-rollcall.html

[HerbertTarkel]

I was also going to suggest Crooked Dice.

[Cypher226]

There's also the Flank March BAOR available from Full Metal Miniatures, and Empress' offerings (though they may be a bit taller than some other lines).

[carlos marighela]

All depends on what you are after. Empress are in full battle kit, battle bowlers included, as are the First Corps figures. Probably a bit overdressed for a Dr Who appearance.

The Crooked Dice figures, whilst lovely sculpts,  are a bit odd. Partial '58 webbing, webbing gaiters, what may or may not be 1960 pattern combat jacket (absent collar stiffening and absent the shoulder pocket of the '68 pattern combats). The combat trousers appear to be '68 pattern as they have cargo pockets on both legs. File off the right trouser cargo pocket and they are good to go for the early 1960s, as gaiters were still an occasional thing and kidney pouches are often shown as absent on the webbing. As they are in berets, they are probably closest to a UNIT look.

For completeness sake, there are also ranges of 1970s/80s Brits available from Mongrel (via Badger Games in the US) and Gripping Beast in their Mofo range. The latter come with separate heads and are actually rather good figures, although somewhat skewed to a Falklands look (it's a Falklands range).

I suspect Harry is being thrifty using surplus Warlord paras. It is doable, I've tried myself but if you really want folk in faux combat jackets and 1938 pattern webbing then the Wargames Atlantic figures are probably a better start point.

The WA figures have more pistol gripped weapons which reduces the amount of surgery required when adding SLRs. They lack the tie ropes that adorn the Warlord Games paras and there's no need to shave off the beaver tails from the Denisons. The Warlord Games figures having a wholly inaccurate depiction of a Denison. It's neither a Denison or a Windproof but makes quite an acceptable proxy 1960 pattern combat jacket.