Ambrosius_ Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 I've gone and built myself a spiffy plastic tote with steel sheet in the bottom for storing my space wolves, but I'm having trouble with the rare earth magnets in the bases. When super-glued directly to the bottom of a stock GW base, a 2mm thick magnet doesn't make contact with the metal sheet and a 3mm is too thick. In order to make the magnets flush with the steel sheet, I tried hot glue, but that wasn't strong enough. The magnets keep pulling out of the hot glue and just sticking to the sheet. After that I tried greenstuff, but found that it pops off the bases easily (although it seem to adhere to the magnet well enough). After some Google research, I tried roughing up both the magnets and the bottom of the bases, cleaning them with alcohol, and then green stuff again. Still no luck. Long story short, the only thing I have found that will hold the magnets reliably is super glue, but I haven't figured out a way to use super glue and still keep the magnet flush with the bottom of the base (and therefore in contact with the metal sheet). Any suggestions, or should I just cave in and buy some foam? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/313464-magnets-and-storage-question/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlson793 Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Suggestion #1 - add a bit of green stuff in the base so it's flush with the bottom, and set the magnet into the green stuff. Suggestion #2 - Switch from rare earth magnets to sheet magnets. Not as strong overall, but you can cut the sheet to cover the entire bottom of the base. Greater surface area for both contact with the base and the metal it adheres to. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/313464-magnets-and-storage-question/#findComment-4167111 Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarbonBased Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Shim the 2mm magnets with a bit of .5mm sheet styrene? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/313464-magnets-and-storage-question/#findComment-4167121 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stercus Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Get an old xacto knife blade and break it into sections with pliers. Glue that into the base then glue the magnet to the metal. Should give you a bit of extra height. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/313464-magnets-and-storage-question/#findComment-4167181 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grotsmasha Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 My suggestion is also to add thin plasticard to the inside of the base and glue your magnet to that. Cheers, Jono Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/313464-magnets-and-storage-question/#findComment-4167193 Share on other sites More sharing options...
leoparden Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 When the greenstuff blob with the magnet pops out of the base - have you tried gluing it back with superglue? (same method applies if the magnet pops out of the greenstuff btw) Works well enough from my own experience at least. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/313464-magnets-and-storage-question/#findComment-4167326 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtle Discord Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 Suggestion #1 - add a bit of green stuff in the base so it's flush with the bottom, and set the magnet into the green stuff. Suggestion #2 - Switch from rare earth magnets to sheet magnets. Not as strong overall, but you can cut the sheet to cover the entire bottom of the base. Greater surface area for both contact with the base and the metal it adheres to. Option #3 - do both; glue a rare earth magnet to the magnetic sheet, then glue the base to the sheet with the rare earth magnet near the center. I started with sheet magnet years ago, and it's reasonably strong with low mass models. Troop size plastic modes will generally stay put through all but the most violent jostle. But over the years as I've started to use rare earth magnets, I use them more often for the added security, and naturally any model that's large enough to really need it. Try to get reasonably thick sheet so it has some stiffness, but this works well either way. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/313464-magnets-and-storage-question/#findComment-4167963 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khornestar Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 Could anyone post pictures of their magnetic storage setup? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/313464-magnets-and-storage-question/#findComment-4167976 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambrosius_ Posted September 10, 2015 Author Share Posted September 10, 2015 Cheers for the suggestions, all. I've considered a combo of green stuff and superglue, but wasn't sure how they'd react when the green stuff is still wet. Shims (polystyrene, metal, sheet magnet, cardboard) would definitely work, but I don't want to create the extra step if I don't have to. Likewise with using green stuff, then popping it off and supergluing it back on. When using just super glue, I had been putting the glue on the base, then pressing the magnet into the glue, resulting in a recessed magnet. Last night, I put the magnet on a flat surface (a pane of glass), put the superglue on the magnet, then pressed the guy on top, allowing the superglue to make up the ~0.5 mm gap, exactly like I was doing with the hot glue and green stuff. The bond turned out surprisingly strong, so much so that I feel silly for not trying this sooner. I can't break it off short of using a pair of pliers. Edit: After measuring the thickness of my magnets, they're not even a true 2 mm thick. They're actually 1/16 inch, so more like 1.6 mm thick. This means the super glue is making up a gap of ~0.9 mm, which makes it even more surprising to me that it bonded so well. I used Zap thin CA exclusively for a long time, and I'm still in the habit of thinking that I won't get a good bond if the parts don't touch. This Zap brand thick CA I'm using now is so, so much nicer to work with. Highly recommend it for anyone who hasn't yet picked up a bottle. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/313464-magnets-and-storage-question/#findComment-4168025 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucio Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 I'd suggest a 3mm magnet and use plastic glue to attach it to the base. Put the magnet on the sheet, plastic glue on the base, wait for about 30 seconds, and then press it really hard onto the magnet so it sits flush. The glue should soften the plastic and let it set into the base, without pushing all the way through and when it dries, it should also hold strong. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/313464-magnets-and-storage-question/#findComment-4168153 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtle Discord Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 I used a Rolling Jewelry Carry Case and it's the best heavy-duty miniature case I've ever seen. It's designed to securly carry jewlery, so it has very rugged construction and several locks to keep things secure from sticky fingers while you're distracted. It also rolls so if you're miniatures are properly secured you don't need to lift the entire weight all of the time. In fact that is the only major down side to this case, it's rather heavy. But that can also be a plus, since it's not prone to tipping or being easily knocked around, thanks to its mass. The trays that go in the case are modular and come in different depths to accomodate different heights of models, and you can simply cut the bottom out of one and combine it with another if you want a unique depth. A simple metal sheet cut to size fits in the bottom of the tray and it's good-to-go. I have a 15.5" one and can fit 3 trays for Troop-sized models (~70 per tray), and 2 trays for larger models and vehicles (4 Rhinos, or 1 Land Raider + 2 Rhinos per tray). I'm so happy with this case I'm going to invest in a 26" one in the future so I can transport even more stuff and larger models that requre lots of space. The cost isn't even that harsh beside a good quality typical foam insert case, especially when you consdier just how substantial this kind of case is. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/313464-magnets-and-storage-question/#findComment-4168486 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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