Magnetising wrists, shoulders, leg/torso

[Marshal Mattias]

So I am making my first forays into magnetising with models constructed from a mix of parts (sternguard, tac squad, templar upgrade, etc).

 

I want to magnetise the sternguard weapons at the wrist (and I saw a great thread advising how to use recessed magnets in the arms to achieve this). My question is: how strong would the magnets need to be to hold a full size weapon at arms length?

The tutorial mentioned

 

"The 1/16"x1/32" works perfectly.

 

Label says the magnets are:

Diameter - 0.0063" (1.6mm)

Length - 0.031" (0.8mm)

 

I used a 1/16th drill bit with my pin vice and the hole was perfect."

 

These magnets and drill bits are tricky for me as these measurements are not common in the uk. I have access to 1mm, 2mm and 3mm diameter magnets. The 1mm ones I found have a pull strength of 0.025kg apparently. Does anyone have any experience of using such a small magnet with the new space marine wrist connections? Will it hold a boltgun/flamer whatever in place without the left arm to support it?

 

Secondly, I am thinking 2mm is more appropriate for shoulder joins and 3mm would be best for magnetising a fully built heavy flamer / heavy bolter torso to just be swapped on a pair of legs. Anyone able to confirm or correct my assumptions?

 

Thanks for your help, I always have a healthy respect for the artificers of the B&C so it was my first place to check!

 

EDIT: what about perhaps mounting a 2mm magnet into the gun arm and a smaller 1mm into the gun hand itself - would that give the added strength to support the weapon while remaining small enough to drill into the hand without damaging it?

[Forté]

2mm for wrist and 3mm at shoulder joints works. You can easily find drill bits too on eBay. Same with the magnets. Make sure you check the polarity to avoid gluing the wrong way round. That's a nightmare when you do that.

[Marshal Mattias]

Thanks! If 2mm fits, then I dont need to worry about strength.

Eurgh, yeah, I can imagine that mixing them up would be annoying! I think I will do the trick of putting a dab of paint on the same end of each magnet. Thanks for the assist ;)

[JeffTibbetts]

I've found that even the tiniest magnets are plenty strong for wrists. Keep in mind that a marine firing a weapon will have another hand on the other side of the gun usually. I've used the tiny ones and I've never had any problem with them not being strong enough for anything. 

[Marshal Mattias]

Cool, that's good to know :) I've got some on order so I'll be busy drilling away ASAP!