Tamiya Hanomag Sdkfz 251/1

You can heat them up to the point that you can bend them, however be careful not to burn the plastic (done that myself a couple of times)

heat them up and punch some holes in them with a hobby knife

According to Shep Paine in his book Modeling Tanks andMilitary Vehicles, you should thin out the plastic from behind with a motor tool and a steel cutter until it becomes translucent, then punch or twist holes with a hobby knife. Godd luck.

"It is well that war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it."-R.E.Lee

I've used the same method that Tigerman is refering to. If you don't have a moto-tool, you can file it down from the inside, it will just take a little longer.

If i try and thin them out and cock-up is there anywhere i can get replacements.

Just work slowly and you'll do fine. Don't remove too much at any one time.

I know that replacement sprues can be gotten in the U.S. from Tamiya, but am unsure of the availablility in other countries.

If all else fails, and you really botch it up, you can try adding some thin plastic card to patch the area or in an extreme case, cover it with a tarp.

Wolf,

If you use a motor tool to thin them out, use a low speed. You don't want to melt the plastic from the inside. You might want to practice on someplace that won's show later, like the inside of the engine compartment, just to get a feel for it.

Robert's signature should be "When in doubt, add a tarp." lol

Good luck

Bill