Magnetizing Attack Bike/Speeders?

[Sparhawk]

Hi all.

 

I just started trying to magnetize my vehicles and I just cant figure out how to do it for Landspeeders and Attack Bikes, specifically the MM and HB. I just can't figure a way to do it without it looking really lousy.

 

I'm having the same problems with Predator sponsons. Thanks in advance for helping a modelling neophyte!

[averykess]

To magnetize the Heavy Bolter/Multimelta on my landspeeders I bought an extra gunner off ebay and magnetized the torso. The gun is glued to the marine but not the vehicle.

 

I also just finished magnetizing my predator sponsons so that the weapons are swappable and the entire sponson can be removed and replaced with standard rhino doors.

 

I'll try to get some pictures taken to help illustrate.

[Sparhawk]

Thank you very much for the speedy reply! I'm really starting to love the modelling aspect of the hobby almost as much as the killyness!

[averykess]

As promised some pictures. The Land Speeder has been base-coated with Testors flat black.

 

Here is the incomplete Land Speeder with the Heavy Bolter

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4006/4367122940_693a868ce2_o.jpg

Here is the Multimelta

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2757/4367122840_cf9e4f96d8_o.jpg

The detached gunner torsos, positioned so you can see the magnets

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4027/4367123256_a8c39cd0db_o.jpg

The Land Speeder without the gunner. I replaced the bar that the gun rides on with a piece of brass tube. Some of the paint has rubbed off and you can see the brass.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4068/4367123352_725227ffb1_o.jpg

I also magnetized the cargo doors. There is a magnet glued to the inside of the door and a nail pushed into the back of the compartment.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2799/4366376037_84a0852481_o.jpg

I did this so I could add the missile racks

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4042/4366376125_7e3d62ff6c_o.jpg

Here the missile door is closed.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4020/4366376215_d67760d1cf_o.jpg

I also magnetized the optional nose guns. The magnets align to one I placed in the nose before I glued the Land Speeder together (sorry, no pic for that). The magnets I used are recessed to clear the greebly bits on the underside of the nose of the Land Speeder. If I were to do it again, I'd use smaller diameter magnets.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4042/4366375747_0883922b79_o.jpg

 

Here is how I did the Rhino/Predator.

 

I placed a magnet in the center of the inside of the rhino doors (sorry it is a bit blurry).

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4039/4366376281_e243685520_o.jpg

The standard Rhino door on the left needed a spacer to reach the magnet inside the rhino, hence the white tubing. Using a 1/8" thick magnet, the predator sponson fit pretty well without needing a spacer.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2682/4367123758_656a748f98_o.jpg

I magnetized the guns so that they are interchangeable on the sponson pin (upper right). I cut the shoulders off the pin and drilled out where the pin was with a 3/32" drill bit and glued in a piece of steel that is flush with both sides of the pin. Then, I drilled out the holes in the gun halves for the diameter and thickness of the magnets I had (1/8" x 1/32" in this case), making sure the magnets were aligned to attract to each other. After the glue on the magnets was cured I glued the gun halves together.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4045/4367123844_c130e7656e_o.jpg

 

Hope this helps

[bt2278]

For the predator just google "convertible-predator-howto.pdf"...

 

PS: You can do the same to rhinos/razorbacks.

 

(picture of my just primed lastest transport...)http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/8071/hpim0303f.jpg

[Sparhawk]

Those are some pretty awesome pictures. I can't wait to get home from work and get started on my new landspeeder models! ;)

[Telliphas]

@Averykess - Out standing pictures on the Land Speeder, I've been umming and ahhing about what to get next. You have just convinced me to get a land speeder or 2 or maybe 3 this weekend.

[ShinyRhino]

A cheaper way to get the gunners for the Attack Bike and Speeder conversions is to snap up the Vehicle Accessory Sprues people throw out on eBay all the time. They rarely sell for more than a dollar each, plus shipping. All you REALLY need are the gunner arms if you already have spare heads and torsos. Just cut the little backpack nub off a standard torso, or the cables off the Rhino gunner torso, and you're set!

[Dusktiger]

for my land speeder, i didnt even bother making alternating torsos; just dont glue your arms to the torsos; if you line up the arms, and then glue on the shoulder pads, you can angle the pads just slightly so when they are resting on the edges of the torso, they dont let the arms slip down off the marine. this way, all you need are extra arms and shoulder pads. for the extra gunner arms, i used spare ones from my vehicle accessory sprues. it works really well and the arms dont move unless i pull on them, and then your not wasting magnets, torsos, or heads.

[Iacton Qruze]

when I magnetized my speeders, I didn't mag the gunner, I just put a 1/16 magnet in the middle of his handle, and another one inside each gun at the desired point of contact.

 

Those look pretty good though.

[averykess]

I decided to mag the gunner at the waist rather than the weapon mount so I could swivel the gunner a bit for some variety/drama. Besides, I had a bunch of those larger magnets and I had an extra gunner from a broken speeder kit I bought for about $3. It was the older kit where the body was in larger pieces and the Texas heat had warped it before I got it at a thrift store. I tried the hot water trick that you can use on MageKnight/Heroclix figures to straighten bent parts, but it really didn't like that so it will become an objective/destroyed marker.