The original PM Prime had holes that went through the entire hand and I found out that they were able to hold the Dr Wu Star Saber. I recently got a reissue god ginrai and I was disappointed to find out that the holes don't go all the way through in Super Mode and in God Mode. I want to drill holes in the basic optimus prime's hand, the super mode's hand, and the god mode's hand. Here's my problem, I am afraid that it will shatter the plastic. Has anyone done this and what can you advise that I do?
I drill a lot in my customs. What I would do to prevent shattering the plastic is start with small drill bits and then work your way up to larger ones until you get the size you need. Don't start immediately with the correct-sized drill bit -- start small and work up. That way, you're progressively removing small amounts of plastic and enlarging the whole at a slower, controlled rate without risk of severely damaging the plastic. I'd exercise caution though -- if the plastic is really old and brittle, you can irreversibly damage the toy.
I would start with a slow speed, just for the sake of control. If I felt like I was in control and if it appeared that the drill was going thru the plastic okay with no problems, I would then move to a faster speed setting. A lot of this is going to rely on intuition. You'll know if what you're doing is working or not. Just exercise caution, and also, wear safety goggles. You never know how the older plastic will react and you wouldn't want a piece of stray plastic shooting you in the eye (it's happened to me).
Also, lay masking tape around both sides and across the bottom. This will help hold the plastic in place rather than shatter. Same concept carpenters use.
1. This isn't a custom yet. You should try posting this in the "creative general"l TF discussion area: - http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/creative-general-discussion/ 2. Your photo is not correctly uploaded, as it's rotated on its side. Please fix. Cheers.