Magnetized Typhoon Speeders

[Xyon]

Well, way back in 4th I got 3 Ravenwing boxes, and my 3 bike squads with attack bikes, plus 3 speeders and tons of extra bits have been sitting around since then. I never liked the side mount for Typhoons, and always loved the nose-mount for the Tornado. Finally deciding to start putting stuff together, I decided to nose-mount the Tyhpoon. Of course this still leaves more than 10 other typhoon launcher pods at my disposal, which I think I'll be using for Terminator Cyclone launchers.

 

Here's a picture of the three of them.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b219/JohnDDW/DSCN0196.jpg

 

I placed cube shaped rare earth magnets inside the body where the nose mount is, and used paperclips and bits of sprue to make the mounting and metal to stick to the magnet. They are a bit off center, but that was on purpose, and easy to remove if they're destroyed. I can also place assault cannons if I ever decide I need to spend 100 points on a land speeder, or other weapons should the options become available in the future.

 

I was wondering though, if anyone has any tips on how to make the gunner weapon swappable? I was thinking two pins that come out of the speeder itself that would go into the weapon holding it in place, but I'm open to other suggestions if anyone has done that in their own models. Once I figure that out I can get other details worked on and finished with the speeders.

[timmytool]

if your able to get the gunner arms you can magnetize the gunners hips and use the weapons "clip" on the gun rail to finish the look.

[Bryan Blaire]

No real need to even get extra gunner arms. On the pair of arms that comes with the speeder, cut an indention in the center of the crossbar grip for the weapons big enough to hold a 1/16 x 1/32 magnet. It may not fit perfectly, but try to get it as centered as possible and place the rounded edge as flush with the front of the crossbar as possible where it should be placed on the underside of the weapon. Use a small drop of white or black paint (depending on what your undercoat is) right on the very center of the magnet and press the multi-melta body against the grip as if you were gluing it (hopefully without smearing the paint - if you do, wipe it all off and do this again 'til you get a clean dot on the multi-melta body). Do the same again with the heavy bolter. Use the dots as the centering point for your drill bit (I use a pin vise that is 1/16 or 1/32 to do this - can't remember which way I usually put the magnets in - I think it is 1/16) and very carefully drill on the underside of the weapons until the magnet will sit flush with the plastic's surface. If it is a tight enough fit, you may not even need to glue it in. Hopefully the magnets you are using will have a strong enough pull and if you got both magnets directly flush with the surface of the plastic, it will hold it in place pretty tightly for play.

 

If you get all this to work, you can just glue the gunner arms on in a position that allows you to swap the weapons out (I double and triple check this with sticky tack before actually trying to glue), and you can either glue the gunner in, or magnetize his waist. If you magnetize his waist, then you can use some green stuff to create a magnetic gore splatter to stick in the gunner seat when someone pulps that weapon. :D

 

Not sure if that helps, but maybe it gives you an idea.

[Xyon]

That does sound like one way I thought would be possible, magnetizing where the weapon meets the hands/handle of the gunner. Is that sturdy enough? It seems like a very small contact point to use. how well has it worked for you? would you say its adequate enough? do you have any pictures?

[Bryan Blaire]

I used the small magnets on the placement points for the pauldrons on my Terminators in my Stoneburners WiP thread on here. One of them has a picture of that small magnet supporting an entire lightning claw Terminator arm. If you aren't sitting there grabbing it while you are playing, it should be plenty sturdy. However, as was suggested, you could also just buy the bits and make a full second set of arms to hold the second weapon and just magnetize the arms. I would try it with just one speeder first, see if it works for you, and then decide. You can always fill the gaps in with green stuff.

[dizzy-xc]

I thought that you cannot equip more than one speeder per squadron with a typhoon. Did I read it wrong?

[Droma]

I thought that you cannot equip more than one speeder per squadron with a typhoon. Did I read it wrong?

 

You read it correctly but one of the current trends with DA lists and deathwing lists in particular is taking 3 typhoon speeders as a fast moving tank busting force. It does take up all 3 fast attack spots in your FOC but they do a very nice job on the table.

[stonhinge]

This gives me an idea of what to do with mine. Plus I'll probably use the same technique for my DW Cyclones - which will also be using the Typhoon pods.

[Evil eyeball]

I've seen typhoon pod Cyclones, they looked quite nice, I myself am building Cyclones out of paired HK missiles.