Magnetising Heldrake Weapons

[Chaeron]

I've had fun looking into how to actually magnetize things and make them look all snazzy -particularly as I rebuild twelve thousand points plus of Death Guard, it seems only sensible to have some excellent ways to swap out weapons on some new builds.

Therefore, I thought it would be worth collating some important data for everyone that may be of use.

This site breaks down it all clearly for you, including the technical specifications of the magnets in question. You'll be most interested in sizes, quoted below:
 

Sizes?

The magnets come in many different shapes and sizes. So what size should you use for modeling the many styles of 40k or Forge World models? The list below will help you determine which size to use and additional information on conversion between inches and millimeters.
Magnet Size Uses
1/16" x 1/32" Disc Infantry size Arms (e.g. Space Marine troops, Tyranid Termagaunts)
1/8" x 1/16" Disc Infantry size miniatures (e.g. Space Marine troops, Tyranid Termagaunts)
3/16" x 1/16" Disc Monsterous creatures limbs (e.g. Tyranid Carnifex)
1/4" x 1/16" Disc Customizing Vehicles, Gargantuan Creatures (e.g. Space Marine Rhino, Tyranid Bio-titan)
3/8" x 1/16" Disc Customizing Vehicles, Gargantuan Creatures (some Forge World models)
1" x 1/8" Disc Huge Titans, and just for fun

If you know the inches:

• 1/16 inch = almost 2mm
• 1/8 inch = just barely over 3mm
• 1/4 inch = just barely over 6mm
• 3/8 inch = almost 10mm
• 1/2 inch = almost 13mm
• 5/8 inch = 16mm
• 3/4 inch = 19mm
• 7/8 inch = just barely over 22mm
• 1 inch = 25.4mm
If you know the millimeters:

• 1mm = just over 1/32 inch
• 2mm = just over 1/16 inch
• 3mm = almost 1/8 inch
• 4mm = 5/32 inch (= a bit over 1/8 inch)
• 5mm = just over 3/16 inch
• 6mm = almost 1/4 inch
• 7mm = almost 9/32 inch (= a bit over 1/4 inch)
• 8mm = 5/16 inch
• 9mm = almost 3/8 inch
• 10mm = just over 3/8 inch
• 11mm = almost 7/16 inch
• 12mm = almost 15/32 inch (= almost 1/2 inch)
• 13mm = just over 1/2 inch
• 14mm = almost 9/16 inch
• 15mm = almost 19/32 inch
• 16mm = 5/8 inch
• 17mm = almost 11/16 inch
• 18mm = just over 11/16 inch
• 19mm = 3/4 inch
• 20mm = 25/32 inch
• 21mm = just over 13/16 inch
• 22mm = almost 7/8 inch
• 23mm = 29/32 inch
• 24mm = just over 15/16 inch
• 25mm = almost 1 inch

I've gone for some 3mm by 1.5mm ones to start with - and they're relatively cheap - but I will post a tutorial on how to actually use them!

In the interim, you may want to consider any of these sites, which will explain it infinitely better than I ever will be able to:

http://fromthewarp.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/...-part-1-of.html

 

 

So, the box:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c254/TheNewAgeOutlaw/GW/IMG_1019.jpg

Out of the box - which is quite small, you get two sprues:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c254/TheNewAgeOutlaw/GW/IMG_1021.jpg

From there, you start from the body and work outwards:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c254/TheNewAgeOutlaw/GW/IMG_1022.jpg

You build neck and head - which led me to the conundrum of magnetising weapons: I didn't honestly believe I would want to do this - given that when I saw the part, it's not really that simple. You actively have to cut out the weapons as they're moulded into a maw, which fits inside the Dragon head of the Heldrake, like so:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c254/TheNewAgeOutlaw/GW/IMG_1023.jpg

However, I'd bought magnets for a reason, and I'd be damned if I wasn't going to use them to get good value for money! I wasn't going to be put off - so started in earnest.

The first main part was to remove the guns themselves from their respective holders - this was hard, and led to a tiny bit of damage to both of them (since repaired). Hard, because of the way they are moulded in, the angles etc. - but with clippers and a hobby knife, they were parted.

Once I'd cleaned up each piece, I got a pair of magnets and glued one onto a gun:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c254/TheNewAgeOutlaw/GW/IMG_1024.jpg

Ensuring that I knew which way round the partner went! And, making sure both the ones on the guns, matched the one I was putting into the mouth:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c254/TheNewAgeOutlaw/GW/IMG_1025.jpg

Once I'd tidied this up with green stuff, I was left with this:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c254/TheNewAgeOutlaw/GW/IMG_1027.jpg

Which allowed me to do the following:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c254/TheNewAgeOutlaw/GW/IMG_1028.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c254/TheNewAgeOutlaw/GW/IMG_1029.jpg

 

Which gives you:

 

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c254/TheNewAgeOutlaw/GW/IMG_1030.jpg

And then:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c254/TheNewAgeOutlaw/GW/IMG_1040.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c254/TheNewAgeOutlaw/GW/IMG_1036.jpg

Success!

I've now built up around the magnets, so that it appears slightly more seamless - and not that obvious I have magnetized it... I will post some pictures of this at some point!

Anyway, I hope this is of use to someone - if this is a repetition of someone else's work, feel free to delete - I had originally posted this elsewhere when it first came out, and thought I'd put it on here too!

Cheers!

Chaeron