Magnets?

Green Devils · July 25, 2010

So, at GW today, i ran into something strange. My opponent (another space-marine), had magnets on most of his units. I mean, he had space marines with filled-out arms, but all his sergeants and terminators had magnets so he could inter-change their arms.

Has anyone else tried this?

Hows the best way to set it up, and how well do they world overall?

Is it worth doing from now on? (i only recently started warhammering so my collection isn't to big...)

brennus · July 25, 2010

I use magnets on a few models, and they work fine. If you are reasonably sure that you'll need to swap out weapon arms, or you would like the option just in case you decide to paint a different set of weapons in the future, then it is a good idea.

It is also a good idea to use magnets to fasten parts which you think may snap off when you store and transport a model. That way, you'll never need to worry about toting around superglue.

The magnets themselves are not that expensive, and they are relatively easy to use.

Shadowstalker Grim · July 25, 2010

I was thinking about doing this recently, are there any high street stores (UK) that sell the magnets and what kind of size am i going for?

brennus · July 25, 2010

No idea about the brick and mortar stores - you can probably locate some at your favorite auction site or online store. As for size, it will depend on the model. 1/8 inch (around 3mm) is a pretty versatile size to use, but some vehicles may require something larger, and details on infantry may require something smaller.

Irabrai · July 25, 2010

Get some rare earth magnets from Ebay - quite cheap tbh (but you also might miss them as theyre quite small (my friend bought some and his other half threw the envelope away thinking it was empty!)

I haven't personally used them to swap weapon load outs yet- had intended to use them with my Guard Sentinels to give them more weapon choices, but i painted them up before getting the magnets. Instead what i've used the ones so far on are for my Sergeants back packs, because i use the banners they take up a lot of space, so i carefully dremelled the back pack and part of the chest to get the magnets in (takes a lot of time and patience, and the plastic melts if you do it too much too quickly) so that all i need to do is have a different slot in the cases for the backpack + banner. Also did it with the Chapter Standard bearer...for the same reasons.

njm3 · July 25, 2010

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/categories.asp?...CFY9M5Qod4To-wQ

is an excellent source for magnets. I magnetize banner poles, some vehicle accessories/options, and round bases for fantasy movement trays.

As for the whole "be able to switch out weapons"... I have lotsa figs so I just paint another one for options rather than have a swiss-army-fig. Mostly because my painting isn't that great and I use less expensive figs.

Brother Valerius · July 27, 2010

Is it bad that when I saw this thread, my immediate thought was the Insane Clown Posse song that has the line " :lol: magnets, how do they work?"

I have to second the reference for K&J magnetics. Very cheap, quality magnets, and I had them shipped very quickly. They were a pleasure to do business with.

winterdyne · July 28, 2010

Oddly I just finished a magnetising tutorial for the Predator. It's available via my blog.

Green Devils · July 28, 2010

Is it bad that when I saw this thread, my immediate thought was the Insane Clown Posse song that has the line " B) magnets, how do they work?"

I have to second the reference for K&J magnetics. Very cheap, quality magnets, and I had them shipped very quickly. They were a pleasure to do business with.

I threw that in as a bit of a joke. Anyway, I haven't built my scouts yet, and I'm going to be receiving terminators soon, so I'm really thinking that I might experiment by getting some cheap magnets and trying it out on the scouts.

So, rare earth magnets just glued should work fine?

Brother Valerius · July 29, 2010

Yeah, I use superglue to hold in the ones that I use, works great.

winterdyne · July 29, 2010

They *generally* work fine just glued in. A couple of tricks to bear in mind:

1) Embed it in epoxy / superglue - smear a thin film of epoxy resin (araldite etc) or superglue over the magnet and surrounding gap to help hold it in. In fact, epoxy resin adhesives (especially for larger magnets) are a good idea.

2) Paper over it. Putting a sheet of paper between the two magnets holds them apart slightly, over the one you suspect will be weaker bonded to whatever it's stuck to. This helps hold it in, and keeps the magnets separated slightly which helps avoid one pulling out the other.

madscuzzy · July 30, 2010

Magnets are fun are great and all that, but to reinforce what some have already said, use them only if you are sure you want to to swap weapons for that unit.

It's fun to think 'oh I can easily swap out the weapon for my models and create truly customisable marines!'... yeah... it great until you find yourself scrambling for the parts when they go missing, or they drop out when being knocked in game, or when you pick them up and they fall apart just because you held it wrongly.

Magnets can make the models a bit fiddly to handle is all I am saying. ;)

I have a lot of magnetised models, many from, just because I can, to actually being functional. I usually use them when I don't want to paint another version of the same model or that the model is modded enough that I don't want to build another of him.

painkiller · July 30, 2010

What width do u guys use for space marine arms? 1/8" - 1/32" or 1/8" - 1/16"?

Sincerely Painkiller

Odsox · July 30, 2010

I know the ones I'm using are 1mm (depth) x 2mm (diameter) and they do a great job! I highly recommend using them on one in every five shooty Terminators so as to make choosing Heavy Flamers or Assault Cannons easier.

I've also used mine on standard marines so I can alter my Devastator line up easily. That's bloody fiddly work, mind.

As a related side note - I'd like to know if anyone's used magnets on metal models at all, because I've got a metal Grey Knight Terminator (DIY Chapter Master) on mail order and I might want to swap his storm bolter out for a storm shield on occasion.

Od.

Malladrius · July 30, 2010

Well I have used magnets on a grey knight terminator model before and you just have to be careful to magnetize the arm in such a way so that it doesn't rotate after you clip the arm on. If you are attaching plastic arms it will work like a charm

Simo429 · July 31, 2010

Once you start magnetising you'll never go back, a bottle of accelerant makes it a lot easier

Prosedragon · August 4, 2010

Magnetizing is what some might call "the bomb". I love it, and as the above poser said I will never go back.

My terminators were my first experiment (I recommend starting with a cheaper unit), and I have no idea what size they are - as everything on them is larger they are somewhat forgiving. For power armored models I THINK what I use are 1/8"x1/16" n35 magnets. For plastic models n35 works fine, the arms stay where you set them, and I can shake the models harder than they will ever be shaken on the tabletop and the arms don't move. For pewter arms I don't they they would work, and in the future I will be using stronger magnets.

I use (again, I THINK) 1/16"x1/16" magnets to magnetize the special weapons on marines. This is the best thing I have done since I started this hobby. Suddenly I'm not using three marines as alternates for the special weapon gunner in my squads. It's amazing, much more so than magnetizing the weapon loadouts on tanks or terminators or the fiddly weapon options on my sergeants, because you will ALWAYS use special weapon gunners. I would highly recommend higher than n35 though - n35 still lets you turn the model upside down and shake it without the weapon falling out, but its just not as tight a bond as I wanted.

For those new to magnets, the nXX is the strength of the magnets, the higher the better. I think it maxes out at n52. To give you an idea of how strong n52 is, a 1/4"x1/8" magnet holds a metal Carniveron, approximately the same weight as a metal dreadnought, without budging, on a metal sheet. I can hold the sheet sideways and the Carnie does not even rotate.

Yes, magnets truly are where its at.

Green Devils · August 6, 2010

What size magnets do you reccomend i get?