Magnet use?

[david5th]

I am going to come over as completly naive despite 14 years in this hobby but how to you use magnets in the modelling / conversion sense ( i don't need a lesson on how magnets work please:) ) but i would to know

what prep is needed? - do i need to drill pieces out of a model or do i just stick straight on.
do i need special glues? will super glue do or do i need to purchase someting else.

these are my main 2 questions but any & all advice would be greatly appreciated.

addendum- i have a warhound + all 4 arms reserved for gamesday ( hopefully ) and would like to know these things.


I apologise if this had been asked before in a previous thread.

Regards David5th.

[Rafe_131]

You need to create a recess for the magnets to sit in. But, try not to go all the way through the plastic/resin. I know very little about titan assembly, but I'm going to assume the arms, at least where they join and where you'll want the magnets, are a solid chunck of resin. If so, the process will be fairly easy. Drilll a little, check depth,drill, check....you get the idea.

As far as glue, I've always just used crazy glue. I know some people would almost burn me at the stake for it, but I've never had any problems with it.

Just remember to "pair up" the magnets....Nothing is more aggrivating than to get everything together, and then realizing you have a magnet in backwards and it's throwing off the polarity. When that happens, it'll throw off how the magnets line up with each other, weakinging the bond bewtween them or not holding the "pose" you want.

Hope that helps.

[weeble1000]

Magnets can be fiddly. Super glue works fine for them.

Here's a few tips I've learned the hard way:

1. Whatever you want to do with your magnets, try to test it out first, even if it's just with some similarly-weighted scraps. It sucks to magnetize something and then find out that the bond won't survive the kind of handling you get on the table top.

2. You need to get your magnets to sit flush in order to have a tight bond. It's worth taking the time to make sure that the whole surface of each magnet will touch each other when the piece is in the position you want it to be in.

3. Magnets like to line up with each other, so keep that in mind when you are drilling holes and gluing in magnets, just like when you're pinning something. If the magnets don't line up correctly when the pieces are in the positions you want them to be in, they'll want to move so that the magnets are lined up.

4. I like to use a sharpie marker to get my magnets in the correct alignment. I glue the first one in, then stick the second magnet to it, and mark the exposed end with a sharpie. Then you know which side to have face up when you are gluing in an otherwise one-color magnet. If you want parts to be interchangeable across different magnetized points on a model, like arms or something, make sure that all of the magnets are lined up the same way, not just in pairs. Otherwise only certain parts will have the correct polarity for certain points. If I'm doing troops or something I just use the first installed magnet as a "master" and stick all of the subsequent magnets to it for marking before installation.

5. If you are drilling holes and dry fitting magnets before gluing them in, which is a good idea, it is also a good idea to have a particularly powerful magnet on hand to retrieve those little suckers in case they get stuck.

I'm no whiz at magnetizing things, but I've made all of the above mistakes and each one sucks.

[Lykum]

In addition to everything said above I have a few more tips.

You don't always have to drill. It depends on the placement of the magnet. My FW Dread has post fittings for the arms, so it was easy to file off some resin (approx 2xWidth one magnet) so one magnet sits inside the arm and the other is glued externally to the arm post.

You can buy the magnets in a ton of different sizes and they are all relatively cheap so it is worthwhile to get the right size magnet instead of finding ways to work around an awkward size.

Sharpie to mark polarity is key. I also use the flat end of the drill bit to push the magnet in flush with the hole.

If you have a weapon without an obvious join point (Tau Crisis Suit arms for example), place one set of magnets, then put a dab of bright paint on the magnet and test fit it into place. The bright paint will show you where to drill on the part you are joining.

Lastly, if you screw up and accidentally glue a magnet in with the wrong polarity you can set it in the freezer for a bit (freezing weakens the superglue bond), then drill through the opposite side with a very small pin vise and push the magnet out. You can then fill in the hole with a bit of putty and try again.

[Mystery.Shadow]

Take note that you should always use Rare Earth Magnets! DO NOT even think for a second to use magnets that hold notes on the refridgerator. They simply WILL NOT work!!

Go to a good place such as (in no particular order) K&J Magnetics, MagCraft, Amazing Magnets, Magnet4Less, etc. to obtain your Rare Earth Magnets.

Once you obtain your magnets, realize one thing, not everything in 40k requires TWO magnets! Many times, you can get the same (sometimes BETTER!) results by using ONE magnet and a piece of metal.

Screws, Nails, Paper Clips, Staples, etc make great pieces of metal for the magnet(s) to attach to.

MOST of the time, magnets will tear off your model (yes, even if superglued in place!), prevent this by greenstuffing over the magnet once in place. (So you cannot see the magnet at all!) or position your magnet(s) so they cannot be pulled thru the object, but on the oppsite side of the weapon/wall/hull/etc -Example, under the body (inside!) of your Predator is one magnet, and a piece of metal in the Sponson.

Once you get good at magnetizing, you'll love how versitile your army can be! Need an extra Predator with Sponsons? No problem, take the doors off your Rhino, place Sponsons, and walla! You got it!

[Gotthammer]

I've magnetised my Reaver's arms, and the process is pretty much the same for a Warhound.

Firstly you need some strong epoxy-type glue. I use a two part called Hard as Nails, the quick drying version so it sets in five minutes.

Secondly you need the magnets - for each of the arms I used three 12kg pull rare earth magnets, two at the shoulder and one where the gun meats the arm. The high strength is so the arm no only stays attached, but stays pointing where I want and doesn't come off at the slightest bump.

With those components readied I used a dremmel to cut the top of the arm piece flat to mount the magnet on it. Before fixing the magnet down I drilled a couple of holes into the arm at opposite angles and place a nail in each. I left the top 5mm or so of the nail sticking out and bent it over flat with the top of the arm. This gives the magnet an attachment more than the glue.
I then epoxy the magnet in place:

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r314/Gotthammer/40k/titan/reavc28.jpg

This shows my Reaver's arms with their magnets attached. If I'm remembering my Warhound right the weapons each come with the arm piece so you don't need to magnetise the bottom section, and it can be glued in place.

For the shoulder mount I found a flat headed bolt and put it through the socket, flat end facing downwards. I did have to cut the bolt short with the dremmel.

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r314/Gotthammer/40k/titan/reavc30.jpg

Then, using a massive amount of glue, I filled in the shoulder socket and put in the magnet:

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r314/Gotthammer/40k/titan/reavc31.jpg

Once this is all cured (I gave it 48hrs to be safe) I took a knife and cut back any dribbles of epoxy over the contact surfaces of the magnets.

One tip I got is to attach a thin layer of neoprene (wetsuit material - I cut up a cheap pencilcase) to the shoulder magnets to prevent the snap of contact cracking them.


I also stuck magnets (just with superglue) to the bottom of my VSGs and in their mounting sockets:

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r314/Gotthammer/40k/titan/reavc29.jpg

[TSINI]

Aight bud!

I've been using magnets on my valkyrie/vendettas for weapon swaps/storage reasons, and have been thinking up more uses for them

some tips I've got for you

get neodynium magnets, they're tiny and powerful and come in all different diameters, I got mine from ebay - theres loads of sellers.

the smaller diameter magnets are the best because its easier to drill a 2/3mm hole in something, than recess a 10mm hole, but obviously it mainly depends on the size of the objects you're magnetising.

using metal to magnetise is fine for saving magnets, but magnet to magnet joints will be much stronger.

also, piling up magnets is a good way of increasing strength - particularly good for heavy resin components.

[david5th]

Thanks for all the advice so far. These are the 2 sets of magnets i have ( 1 of each )

http://www.miniwargaming.co.uk/shop-home/11-hobby-supplies/57-magnets/1805-blue-demon-38q-x-116q-disk-magnets-40.html

http://www.miniwargaming.co.uk/shop-home/11-hobby-supplies/57-magnets/1804-blue-demon-14q-x-116q-disk-magnets-75.html

hopefully this info can help with with the advice.

Thanks again David5th.

[weeble1000]

Lastly, if you screw up and accidentally glue a magnet in with the wrong polarity you can set it in the freezer for a bit (freezing weakens the superglue bond), then drill through the opposite side with a very small pin vise and push the magnet out. You can then fill in the hole with a bit of putty and try again.

Nice. I've been kicking myself about how to remove a glued in magnet that I don't want anymore. I'll give this a try.