Building a Magnetic Army Display Board

[Valerian]

I posted up the directions for this recently over on the Inquisition subforum and Brother Tyler asked me to make it into a tutorial, so here goes.

Finished Product:

Every model has a rare earth magnet superglued to the bottom, and rests on an appropriate sized washer. All of mine are the old metal models (and resin dreadnoughts from Forgeworld), and the magnets are strong enough to hold them even if I turn the board upside down. With light plastic models you won't have any problems. Another thing handy about this is that it is super easy to put models back, when they are removed as casualties. I just set the whole thing in the passenger floorboard of my truck, if I need to cart the army off to a game. You could easily do the whole thing over a weekend.

Materials:

I got pretty much everything from Michaels and/or Home Depot.

• NdFeB Magnets (.250" diameter by .09375" thick discs)
  2 sectional frame kits (1" deep)
  Zinc-plated steel fender washers (1" diameter for power armour and 1.5" for terminator armour)
  Black foam core (3/16" deep)
  MDF hardboard (3/16" deep)
  pine trim (1/2" by 3/4")
  wood screws (5/8" slim)
  4 plastic nail on glides (to make "feet" at the corners)
  modeling sand and static grass (whatever basing material you use for your actual models to cover the board)
  

Tools:

• staple gun
  compass cutter tool
  hammer
  eXacto knife
  screwdriver
  wood glue
  epoxy
  

Directions:

1. First, assemble your two sectional frame kits together; each kit should have a long and short end, and the two kits together will make a rectangle. Ensure you get the 1" deep kit, or the frame won't be deep enough to cover everything. They make different sizes, so you'll probably want to do some testing and measurements for the next step, to ensure you get a rectangle that is large enough, but not too much bigger than what you need. If your frame kit is wooden, you can nail on the 4 plastic glides to make "feet" at the corners. If the frame is a different material, then you can just use those sticky felt pads, that go on the bottom of dining room chairs, etc. (I'm sure you know what I'm talking about).

2. Cut your black foam core (3/16" deep) and your MDF hardboard (3/16" deep) to fit within the frame that you made in step 1. You can have the good folks at Home Depot or Lowe's Hardware cut the MDF hardboard for you, if you give them the measurements. Sometimes you can buy the foam core the size you need, but if not, it is easy to cut to the right size with an eXacto knife.

3. Arrange your models as you want to display them on the black foam core (3/16" deep); ensure every model has plenty of room for weapons, banners, capes, etc. Use a pencil to trace around the base of each model; you can set each model aside once you'e got a nice outline of it's base.

4. Next, use your compass cutter tool (basically an eXacto knife attached to one of those circular compasses that you used in elementary school to make circles) to cut circles through the foam core. Cut along the outside of your pencil tracings, as you don't want the bases from your models to be too snug. For rectangular bases, like the ones for Bikes, just use a regular eXacto knife.

5. Now set the sheet of foam core (now with lots of holes cut out of it) on top of the MDF hardboard; you can use clips to hold it in place to keep the two from slipping. Get a staple gun, and staple them together; don't worry, the staples and the dents that they make in the foam will be invisible once you texture and base the display board. I used about 15 staples spread evenly in a pattern to hold together the 18" by 24" display board pictured in the earlier post.

6. This is probably a good time to go ahead and glue the zinc-plated steel fender washers into place. These will be inserted into the holes in the foam core, and glued onto the MDF hardboard that forms the foundation. I recommend a really sturdy glue, like a two-part epoxy, that will really hold them down. You'd be surprised at how strong those rare earth magnets can be, and they often don't want to let go. Again, use 1" diameter fender washers for power armour models, and 1.5" for terminator armour models. For Dreadnoughts and other vehicles, just use some trial and error; I found that four 1" washers would all go in edge-to-edge to fill the bottom of the holes where the big 60mm Dreadnought bases would go.

7. Now take the pine trim (1/2" by 3/4"), and build another rectangle that will nest in the frame. The fit should be nice and snug, so measure carefully before cutting and assembling. You can use a combination of wood glue and wood screws to hold it together.

8. Next, flip your display board upside down, so that the MDF hardboard is facing up, and set the pine trip rectangle in place on top, and wood glue/wood screw it into place (using 5/8" slim wood screws). Flip the display board back right-side up again, and leave it to let the wood glue set.

9. Now is probably a good time to work on "basing" the display board. I used a large crappy brush to brush on Elmers glue in sections, and then dumped sand on it to stick in the glue and dry in place (sand for fish aquariums at the pet store is really good for this). You probably want to go in sections, as the glue will tend to dry too fast to do the whole thing at once. Avoid getting any glue down in the holes where your washers are, or even too close to the edges of the holes. It's okay if just the sand gets in the holes, though, as you're just going to turn the whole thing upside down after a few hours, once the glue has set, to shake out and dump the excess sand. Also, try not to get any glue/sand within 1/2" of any of the outside edges, as that is where the sectional frame is going to go.

My Grey Knights already had been based in a "Wasteland" style, so I just carried that on over to the display board. Once enough sand was glued in place, I just spray painted the entire top black. After that dried, I started dry-brushing a few layers going from dark grey, grey, then light grey. It was very easy. Basically, you just have to do the same thing that you're already doing for your models, but on a much larger scale. You'll probably also want to finish it off with a spray from a matte sealer, just like you would to protect the paint job on your models.

10. The last step can now insert the foam core, MDF hardboard, and pine trim "sandwich" into the frame. You can use that epoxy again around the extreme edges and along the sides of the "sandwich" to help secure it in place.

11. Last, you'll need to superglue those NdFeB magnets (.250" diameter by .09375" thick discs) onto the bottom of your model bases. Here is an important hint: don't glue them to the middle; glue them toward the back of each model. These "rare earth" magnets are super strong, so if you glue them in the center under each base, you will have a really hard time pulling the model free from their slots. Like I said, glue them underneath, but toward the back of each model. Then, when you want to remove a model from the display board, tilt it back until you break the magnetic bond, and then lift it up and out of the hole. Don't ever try to lift straight up! If you lift straight up, chances are the glue holding the model together, the model to the base, or the washer to the hardboard will give way before the magnet does.

A very important warning!

That's it, and job's a good 'un.

My apologies for not having any in-progress photos, but I made that board 6 or 7 years ago, and didn't think to take pictures at the time. If I ever get around to building another, then I'll edit in photos to this tutorial.

Valerian

[Ironfoe]

What would you estimate your final cost for materials was?

[Valerian]

What would you estimate your final cost for materials was?

 

Materials:

 

NdFeB Magnets (.250" diameter by .09375" thick discs): $0.30 each, so $15 would get you 50, which would probably be enough for a decent-sized army (Parts #D403 from K&J Magnetics online).

2 sectional frame kits (1" deep): a set of 18" for the vertical runs $15.30 and 24" for the horizontal runs $18.75 (Nielson's wood frame kits), so a total of almost $35.

Zinc-plated steel fender washers (1" diameter for power armour and 1.5" for terminator armour): you can get 100 of the 1" washers for $9.00; you probably won't need 100, and will need to add some 1.5" for your Terminators.

Black foam core (3/16" deep): about $3.00

MDF hardboard (3/16" deep): about $6.00

pine trim (1/2" by 3/4"): about $5.00 for 7 linear feet.

wood screws (5/8" slim): $2.00 will get you more than enough

4 plastic nail on glides (to make "feet" at the corners): $2.00 for a set of 4.

modeling sand and static grass (whatever basing material you use for your actual models to cover the board): $5.00 for a 5 lb. bag of acquarium sand from a pet store.

 

 

Tools:

 

staple gun: between $10.00 and $15.00 bucks for a decent heavy duty staple gun (although they can run much more for fancy ones).

compass cutter tool: an Olfa compass cutter tool runs about $10.00

hammer

eXacto knife

screwdriver

wood glue

epoxy

 

I'm not going to bother with the other stuff, since you likely already have it.

 

V