Golf33 Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Because I'm a cheap battle-brother, when I decided to go mech, I wanted options but I didn't want vehicles sitting on the shelf just because they didn't fit the current list. The solution: a vehicle that can serve, as the Emperor (aka army list) requires, as a trusty Rhino, venerated Predator, or downright scary Vindicator. Tools http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3011/5799126333_e4e9d1141e_o.jpg Dremel Stylus, with (from left to right): 403 Bristle Brush, 412 3/4" 220 grit Sanding Disc, 194 High Speed Cutter, 109 Engraving Cutter, drill bit ~0.7mm, drill bit 3mm. The dremel itself is fitted with a 4486 Dremel Chuck which lets me use the fine drill bits and makes swapping out attachments really easy. Supplies 1 x Predator kit 1 x Vindicator kit At least 50 x Disc Neodymium Rare Earth Magnets N50 (3mm x 1mm) - I'm up to 42 so far and still need to do the Predator turret & sponsons Gap-filling CA glue (superglue) Pinning wire for the headlights (though I'm working on a way to get away without it) Assumptions Once primed & painted, the Rhino front panel and side doors will stay in place perfectly well by friction alone. This certainly seems to be the case with the Black Templars front and doors. If the normal parts prove to be smaller, I should be able to fix it easily enough with a bit of thin plasticcard shim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golf33 Posted June 5, 2011 Author Share Posted June 5, 2011 Step 1: The front Assemble the Vindicator glacis plate. Do not put the headlights on! In this version, I didn't think far enough ahead and glued the headlights onto the Vindicator glacis plate. Oops. In the next version, I'll magnetise the headlight spaces on the Vindicator as well, so I don't have to scrounge extra headlights. In the image below you can just see the 0.5mm plasticcard shim I added to one end of the Demolisher cannon trunnion. This keeps the cannon from catching on the glacis plate, and I had hoped it would make it sit firmly in place (it's a bit loose), but it wasn't enough. I may need to add some more shim to really tighten it up, stay tuned to see how that goes. On the chassis top, use the drill, engraving tool and high-speed cutter (in that order) to carve out a slot between the headlight locating lugs. The slot should be deep enough to hold a magnet so it doesn't stick up from the surface. If you are careful you can do this without breaking all the way through the plastic, as the chassis top is more than 1mm thick. On the underside of the Vindicator glacis, carve out a similar slot for magnets. Again the magnets need to sit flush with the surface. In this version, as you can probably see, I had a bit of trouble with the headlights. I figured I would need pins to hold them straight as well as the magnets to hold them on. In practice this works but it's a fair bit of work and it's too easy to wreck the headlights while trying to put in the magnets. With the next version I'll try it without the pins and see if the locating lugs on the front are enough, plus I have some ideas about getting magnets in there without needing to drill. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3181/5799676692_6eb5e8ebfb_o.jpg The magnets for the headlights are strong enough to hold the top of the Vindicator front plate, and the weight of the part itself does the rest. It's not coming off during a game! For Predator and Rhino versions, the headlights go on, and the Rhino front armour should just sit in there by friction alone. Once I've painted the interior and can actually put the whole thing together, I'll test that to make sure no magnets are needed. If they are, I have a plan to deal with that, too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golf33 Posted June 5, 2011 Author Share Posted June 5, 2011 Step 2: The top Assemble the Vindicator hull top, leaving off the hatches and sensor arrays. On the underside of the chassis top, carve out recesses to hold 4 magnets. These should line up with where the locating tabs for the Rhino top door / Predator turret ring plate would be. The magnets are strong enough that they will work right through the plastic. On the underside of the Predator turret ring plate, carve out recesses to hold 4 magnets. These recesses should sit just under the locating tabs. These magnets should sit flush with the surface of the plate so it sits nice and snug in the chassis top. Be careful with the polarity of these magnets - it's easy to get it wrong. Then you will have to break the magnet off to try again. From experience, I know this is a real pain. On the underside of the Vindicator hull top, glue a magnet on either side of the big locating lug that fits into the chassis top hatch slot. These don't need to be recessed at all as there is plenty of room for them. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2587/5799126285_0102c180da_o.jpg On the underside of the Vindicator hull top, you can see a bit of plasticcard which is there to hold a magnet in hole for the sensor array. I found the array didn't fit very well and was likely to snap off, so a couple of magnets fix the problem nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wise_crak Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Wow nice project you got going on! Good way of saving money too! Tbh I can't wait to see the chasis with all the bits on! Pred with sponsons and the vindicator front! Crazy tank haha! Wisey :tu: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golf33 Posted June 5, 2011 Author Share Posted June 5, 2011 Step 3: the sides The image below shows what you'll end up with. I strongly recommend following the written steps, to save on heartache. When I do the next one of these, I'll take more photos showing the process and the little tricks I've found to help get magnets in the right place with a minimum of pain. On the inside of the Vindicator hull sides, carve out slots to hold a magnet in each exhaust fairing. On the inside of the chassis side, glue a magnet in the corresponding position. It doesn't need to be recessed, just glue it sitting on the surface. The polarity needs to be right and it needs to line up exactly with the magnet on the Vindicator hull side. The easiest way to do this is to put some superglue roughly where the magnet needs to go, hold the Vindicator hull side (with its magnets already glued in) where it's supposed to go, then just drop a magnet onto the wet superglue. The magnet will automagically find the correct position and polarity and after a few seconds will be nicely glued in place. For the next few stages, do one side at a time. On the inside of one of the Predator sponson sockets, glue a magnet in each corner. Make sure the polarity is the same for each of them! You'll note I didn't bother to try and recess the magnets here. The socket will sit a bit proud of the chassis side, by about 0.5mm. This didn't look too bad to me and it saved a lot of time trying to carve out slots for the magnets. Now glue magnets on the inside of the chassis side. Again the easiest way to do this is to hold the Predator sponson socket (with its magnets already glued in) into the door. Put some superglue on the inside of the chassis side, around the corners of the door where the magnets will end up. Now drop a magnet into each corner and it'll self-locate and after a few seconds it'll be all glued in. Next, do the same thing with the other chassis side. Finally, take one of your chassis sides, and drop a magnet into each corner of the outside of the door. Put a small drop of superglue on top of each magnet (being careful not to get it on the chassis side itself). Then put the second Predator sponson socket into the door, so the magnets get stuck to it. Leave it there for a few seconds until the glue is dry, then take it out. The magnets should come with it! http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2519/5799803260_bbd6b2e7c5_o.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golf33 Posted June 5, 2011 Author Share Posted June 5, 2011 Just for a tease, here's how it looks (dry-fitted only, hence the gaps) in Rhino mode. I can't show you the Rhino glacis plate as I have to glue the chassis together for that to fit properly and I want to paint the interior before I do that. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5076/5799835538_32c9138ccc_o.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurgan the Lurker Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 You may want to move your pictures to your B&C gallery space as it looks like Flickr isn't working for all the pics currently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golf33 Posted June 6, 2011 Author Share Posted June 6, 2011 Should be fixed now? I had the wrong link, let me know if it's working now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pulse Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Good stuff mate, would love to have the patience to do that. Knowing me i'd rush and probably drill through my hand. :tu: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly_bear Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Looking forward to seeing this project swell fella. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyrannicide Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Very cool idea, your execution has been flawless thus far. I look forward to its completion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3mpl@r Crusade Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Nice, I've done that with 3 hulls to make a rhino/pred/razorback combo since I already have 3 vindicators built :D I call #1 the rhidatoback #2 the predazoino #3 the razinodator Each one, for all pred variants and razorback variants for Black Templar took 32 magnets of various sizes. I am jealous of your vindicator however, I wish I had a dremel at the time to make that one happen as well. I could have called it the vindinotorazor :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golf33 Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 Thanks for the comments! Here's a pic of Prednocator #1 in Predator mode: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2570/5799676478_b2ee60be91_o.jpg And here's a shot of it in Vindicator mode. Note the glued-on headlights.... whoops. Also worth noting is the magnetised sensor array. When I dry-fitted it, the array had that real 'just waiting to snap off' feel about it, and a couple of magnets produced a much more robust mounting. Plus it swivels freely... hours of fun! http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2574/5799126035_13a4b8bcf8_o.jpg Coming up next: how to do it properly, so you don't need a spare pair of headlights! Plus some tips (learned the hard way) on how to reliably get magnets in the right place with the right polarity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DV8 Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 The real question is, what happens when you want all three in your army list? :) DV8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golf33 Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 Quick tip: supergluing made easy. Thick superglue is great for filling gaps (like under a magnet) but waiting for it to cure can be a real pain. This stuff is the bomb: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3635/5807968997_86bc0514d4_o.jpg Use it in two ways. First, spray it on wet superglue to make it cure instantly. Second (and more useful for this project) is spray the zipkicker on one part and put the superglue on the other part. When you put the parts together, the superglue will cure instantly. Now, we'll go through an alternative way to do the Vindicator glacis plate and headlights. Step by Step: headlights In these steps, we'll set up the headlights for the Rhino/Predator chassis. We do one headlight, then one side of the chassis, then the other headlight, then the other side of the chassis. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2227/5807938585_6781046e21_o.jpg Now repeat steps 2 through 5 inclusive on the other side of the chassis. It sounds like lots of steps and lots of time, but it's actually a very quick process - about 15 minutes in total. The hardest part is trimming bits of sprue to fit in the headlights to form a base for the magnet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golf33 Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 The real question is, what happens when you want all three in your army list? :P Cheeky. I had a Rhino chassis already, and I ordered 2 x Predator and 2 x Vindicator from Maelstrom Games in the UK. They actually shipped 2 x Vindicator and 3 x Predator, so I have an extra - they didn't even want me to pay for it which was very nice of them. So I have 6 chassis, of which up to 2 can be Vindicators and up to 3 can be Predators. I do plan to magnetise all but one of the chassis so I could field all 5 heavies at once (for Apocalypse or maybe Spearhead). More normally I would see myself fielding a matched pair of heavies and two to four Rhinos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golf33 Posted June 9, 2011 Author Share Posted June 9, 2011 Step-by-Step: the Vindicator glacis plate In brief, we'll stick a couple of recessed magnets on the underside of the Vindicator glacis plate to hold it onto the chassis. Then we'll stick a couple of recessed magnets on the outside of the Vindicator glacis plate (and cut down the locating lugs for the headlights) to hold the headlights on. At this point the glacis plate won't hold very well to the chassis, because the magnets are interfering with each other. So we cut the little magnets away from the underside of the chassis, and replace them with big magnets! These are much more powerful and hold the glacis plate on beautifully. I used magnets that came out of my kids' Magnetix toys. The toys themselves really aren't safe, because the magnets fall out and are rather dangerous if swallowed. They therefore end up in the Prednocator where they can't do any harm. I think any larger rare earth magnet would do the job. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2687/5815031476_803cd4bc65_o.jpg So now we have finished the front. The headlights can be swapped between the chassis (for Rhino / Predator) and the Vindicator glacis; the Vindicator glacis sticks on very nicely; and the Rhino glacis will friction fit when we want to use that. Coming up next: the sensor array. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golf33 Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 Is the step-by-step worthwhile? It's quite a lot of work, but I'm happy to keep doing it if it's useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urb Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Not sure this is worthwhile but a very cool tutorial. Portions seem useful for other magnetizing project. Rhino to razorback comes to mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tybrus Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Fast note on the Zap kicker stuff. It is awesome in all respects but one... DO NOT EVER EVER EVER EVER have glue on your skin and get this stuff on the glue. It causes a chemical reaction in the glue that super-heats its (burning off energy, to decrease drying time) and will give you a very bad class 2 (Partial thickness) burn! If you let the full time pass it may well be even worse. Please don't be stupid and try this on yourself (OR ANYONE ELSE) this post is solely informative and for your information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golf33 Posted June 20, 2011 Author Share Posted June 20, 2011 Fair enough, thanks for the warning. I must admit I'm pretty messy with glue & stuff all over my fingers and haven't had any trouble with the zip kicker, may just have been lucky though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evicerator Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Outstanding tutorial! Subbed. Thanks for the pics and effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfebane Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Definitely worthwhile for me. I'll be using this tutorial a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golf33 Posted July 17, 2011 Author Share Posted July 17, 2011 Step-by-step: the hull top In this stage we'll set up the hull top so we can snap in the Rhino passenger compartment doors, the Predator/Razorback turret ring plate, or the Vindicator hull top. http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6024/5946632158_69646462c1_o.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6027/5946632312_93fab09d0e_o.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6145/5946077467_74fac2587e_o.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6122/5946632426_15932604fc_o.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6123/5946632718_d6eef413aa_o.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golf33 Posted July 22, 2011 Author Share Posted July 22, 2011 Step-by-step: the turret ring plate http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6024/5962610645_cd696d4959_o.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6127/5962610677_0abe6c9a32_o.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6146/5963167622_4e15f65bfd_o.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6016/5963167674_d0f71f47f9_o.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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