The Art of Magnetization

Just need to add the pictures and read over once more, and should be done!

Hello all you fans of Librarium Online. I was recently sitting in my apartment and pondering to myself “What is the next new ‘hip’ blog that could be written for LO?” My mind settled on magnetizing. Today I will show you my  methods for magnetizing a range of miniatures.

Magnetizing your miniatures is almost always beneficial. If you are a loyalist a five man Terminator Squad can have Thunder Hammer and Storm Shields one game and Storm Bolters and Power Fists the next! If you are a pawn of the Ruinous Powers a Terminator could have Lightning Claws one game and a Combi Melta and Power Weapon the next! The flexibility is worth the hassle alone, and even then, magnetizing is one of the quickest and easiest “conversions” that a hobbyist can do.

Let’s start with what tools you will need. A nice sharp hobby knife, also known as an exacto is a must for this project. Next you will need to obtain a file, preferably one that comes down to a tip, but a squared one will also work. A portable drill with drill bits! You will of course need glue, and finally magnets. The magnets you will need depends on what you are trying to magnetized.

I have three sets of magnets pictured. The first (and biggest) set is 1/4” radius by 1/8” in depth. The second is 3/16” by 1/16” and finally, the smallest pictured is 3/32” by 1/16”. Each magnet has a specific roll in modeling. The smallest (3/32 by 1/16) are going to be used on Terminators, Marines, and things of that nature. The next size up will find its home on plastic Dreadnoughts, vehicles, and any other equivalents. Finally the biggest will be used on metal Dreadnoughts and Titans. Now obviously you will need drill bits that are the same size as the magnet you are using.

Now that you have all of your materials, it’s time to get started! Let’s look at how to magnetize Terminators. Take you Terminator body, and both of the arms (I find it is easiest to put on the shoulder pads before you magnetize)

Step 1: take your drill and use a 3/32” drill bit and drill into the middle of the back about an 1/8” deep. Clean up the hole with your hobby knife and file.

Step 2: Do the same thing on the Terminators body.

Step 3: Place a dab of glue and your magnet into your Terminator body. You will not need much glue, a small dab will do!

**Step 4**: I put stars around this step because it is very important. You want to make sure that your magnet that you put in the arm has the opposite polarity as the one you put in the arm. If it doesn’t, then the magnets won’t work. They will not attract to each other.

Step 5: After making sure the magnets will be attracted to each other, place a dab of glue into the hole in the arm and place a magnet inside.

Finished Product: After letting the glue set, you will be able to put on the arms! So your Terminator will look like this.

**Note** Make sure that you make all of the pieces compatible. Otherwise you will have certain arms that won’t go on certain bodies.

Next, I will show you how to magnetize your Dreadnoughts. The steps will be almost identical for the Dreadnought from the Terminator magnetization. The main difference is the magnet size. For the Plastic Dreadnought, either the 3/16” by 1/16” magnet or the 3/32” by 1/16” (The same one used for terminators) will work. For Metal Dreadnoughts however, you will need to use the biggest magnet, the 1/4” by 1/8. The reason for this is the metal arms are too heavy and will hang down instead of being in a “battle ready” position.

Step 1: Depending on the Dreadnought you will need a 1/4″ drill bit (For metal Dreadnoughts) , and either a 3/16” or 3/32” bit depending on what size you will want to use. Drill a hole into the body of the Dreadnought, about 1/8” deep.  Clean up the hole with your hobby knife and file. (Regretfully all of my Dreadnoughts already have this step done and I can’t show a picture of it)

Step 2: Drill a hole into the arm of your Dreadnought. If you are using a Black Reach Dreadnought you can skip this step, as there is a tub that you can slip magnets into (You should see this in the picture). Clean up the hole with your hobby knife and file.

Step 3: Put a dab of glue into the hole you drilled on your Dreadnoughts body, then slip a magnet into the hole.

**Step 4**: Once again you may notice the ever so important ** next to this step. As previously stated you will need to make sure that the magnet you put into the arm’s polarity is the opposite of the one in the body. Otherwise you will have the problem of the magnets wanting to retract from each other.

Step 5: After assuring your magnets will attract to one another, put a dab of glue in the arm and place your magnet into the arm.

Finished Product:  After letting the glue set, you will be able to put on the arms! So your Dreadnought will look like this.

(From left to right: Multi-Melta, Lascannon, Assault Cannon)

**Note** Make sure that you make all of the pieces compatible. Otherwise you will have certain arms that won’t go on your Dreadnought body.

Posted by Wolf Guard on April 28 2010. Filed under Blog, Modeling & Scenery, Warhammer40K. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry