1/48 gun barrels

Hi, Mike.
The best thing you can use is hypodermic tubing. Here in the good ol' U.S. of A., the best place to get the stuff is at www.smallparts.com The sell tubing in various lengths and quantities. You might check to see if they ship overseas.

In lieu of that, you might try your doctor's or dentist's offices to see if they have a needle or two they'll let you have--unused, of course! Other sources would include your drugstore (pharmacy), or maybe a friend or associate who may be diabetic who would give you a couple of their insulin syringes with attached needles. Know any medical types that work at a hospital? They may be able to help you. Also consult anyone who is involved in modeling in the UK. Try your IPMS modeling folks there. Above all, make sure you're not breaking any laws in obtaining what you need.

When you get your tubing, the best way to cut it is to use a cut-off wheel chucked into a Dremel or Dremel-like tool. However you cut it, the important thing to remember is not to collapse the tubing during the cutting process--that defeats the whole purpose of what you are trying to accomplish.

BTW, didn't the P-51 use .50cal ammunition? In 1/48 the INSIDE diameter would be around .01" (.5/48). That equates to 22 gauge tubing (heavy walled). If it was 20mm (about 1 inch) the size tubing you need would be .021", or 0.42mm. That would be 19 gauge tubing (heavy walled).

Hope this helps you some.
Gip Winecoff

Thanks for the link Styrene. I've been looking for hypo tubing for some time now.

The Mustang did have .50 cal. You said to use the heavy walled tubing, what does this do to the OD appearance?

Mike,
I believe it should make the barrel a little more realistically thick. If you've ever noticed a .50 cal muzzle, there's a small hole with a LOT of steel around it. While most modern tubing doesn't actually present that view, the heavy walled variety will (or should) at least more closely approximate that realism. ...at least I think it should...

Gip Winecoff

Gip Winecoff

Thanks for thehelp,
i work for a chemist shop here iin the UK called Boots the chemists ,you may have heard of them.
I'll ask the pharmacist tomorrow, it had never occurred to me about that.
thanks again, i'll let you know how i get on.

Mike

One other trick you could try is to stretch out some styrene tubing. I've tried this technique before with pretty good results. I'm at work right now so I really can't run to my basement to look up the diameter I have but try to get something on the larger side; perhaps 1/4" plastic tubing for example. Hold the tube over a candle flame and stretch it like you would a piece of sprue. It takes lots of practice and sometimes even more luck but if done right you can cut a section of the now thinned-out tube and you can get some nice gun barrels. I've used this when I just need short sections like on a P-51 or an F4-U. For something like on a Thunderbolt where they really stick out I use brass or aluminum tubing. The nice thing about using stretched plastic tubing is that you can crank out a lot and get them to just the diameter you'd like PLUS they're easy to cut and clean up.

Hope this helps.

Eric

Another good source for hypo-tubing are farm supply stores that carry veteranarian(sp?) supplies such as hypodermic needles for ag use. Locally, the ones i buy are short, about 1.5"-2" and usually they have a fairly wide selection of gauge sizes. Gary.

I've had the same problem finding gun barrels. Now I use K&S tubing. 3/64th and 1/16 make great .50 cal guns. Slide together after painting inside barrel flat black and outside gun metal and use stratight pin to stick little drops of aluminum for holes in sleeve. Two of each at my LHS cost $2.17; enough for a lot of guns.

Awesome guys you solved my problem too, I have your link from above on my favorites now.

Try Minimeca tubes, I`ve used them on my 1/48 Tamiya mustangs. Try the 1.2 x 10 or 1.0 x 10. I bought mine from Great Models in the US, or you could try MDC in the UK. Failing that email minimeca themselves, on MINIMECA@teleline.es

Use empty pen tubes..It is plastic and will stretch like a normal sprue.....
Also try drilling the given guns straight from the box.
I done it even in 1/72 with a pin vise and o,o2mm drill bit.