Fully Magnetized Predator 2! This time with tutorial!

[spikedog]

OK people after the good response I got from my magnetized Predator Tank thread and at the request of a few people I have decided to put up this simple tutorial as to how I did it all.

Now I have to say that with the other Predator I did these are the first models I have ever magnetized so be aware that although this is how I do it there may be a better way to go about it. Also before I start here are a couple of general tips for working with magnets that I wish someone had told me before I started:

1. Check the polarity of the magnets BEFORE glueing!
2. Dry fit them before glueing.
3. Make sure all areas are clean and free of dust, etc.
4. Use strong glue, these magnets are STRONG!
5. Try not to let the magnets touch as they will chip with repeated bashing.

These are the magnets I will be using in this tutorial. They are, 1/4" Dia x 1/16" and 1/8" Dia x 3/32" NdFeB Disc Magnet, Ni-Cu-Ni plated.



Anyway onto the tutorial!

Step 1:

First up clean all the mould lines from your tank and put it together to the following point.



Step 2:

Glue one of the larger magnets on the inside of both of the side doors, try to have both magnets the same polarity facing out so that the doors are interchangeable. between the sides just in case you need to.

Next up glue a small bit of sprue on the inside of the plain outside Rhino doors as seen below and glue magnets to this sprue and also to the inside of the sponson doors. The piece of sprue is to bring the magnet closer to the one on the inside of the tank as it will hold the door stronger.



Step 3:

Place 1 of the smaller magnets inside the hole where the pivot for the sponson weapon usually goes. You shouldn't need to re-size the hole as the magnet is exactly the same size, useful aye? The magnet should be pushed inside almost flush with the bottom of the sponson.

Cut the pivot pole thing that connects to the weapon just above the point that sticks out of the weapon and glue another of the smaller magnets on here.

Finally cut a small square of plasticard and cover the first magnets with it, this is to stop the magnets touching and eventually cracking from the repeated bashing. Also at this point you can glue the small view finder thing to the top of the sponson, mine don't move with the weapon like they usually would but I feel this is a small price to pay for being able to swap weapons.

[spikedog]

Once all the glue is dried you should have a working Predator/Rhino with swappable weapons and doors like so:



Obviously you will want to repeat the steps with the weapons for both the Lascannons and Heavy Bolters.

Step 4:

Now for the turret, I'm sorry for the pink turret, I got a horribly painted Predator in a trade and am trying to salvage what I can of it.

The smaller of the two magnets we are using will once again fit perfectly for part of this model. It fits where the usual pins on the turret go in to make it movable. Glue these in place so they are slightly set back from the edge, this is again so that the magnets once fully touch in the final position.

Next cut the pins from the turret and drill holes that are large enough to fit our small magnets inside like you can see below.



Step 5:

Cut 2 long pieces of sprue like you see below and 1 smaller piece and glue some magnets on. These will go inside the hatch holes to hold the hatches on.

Take one of the long sprue and put inside the front part of the tank, a way I found to make this easier is to take a file or other metal tool and have the magnet stick to it, this way you can position the magnet with ease. Put a couple of dabs of glue on the top side of the sprue and pull it up and stick it to the inside of the hatch hole like you can see. This step could probably be done better if you did it before you built the tank, I did warn you this was my first time!

The small piece of sprue/magnet goes inside the turret hatch hole like you can see below, make sure the polarity is the same as the one you put inside the front part of the tank as they will share the same hatches in the end.

Finally take the other longer bit of sprue we cut earlier and stick it inside a hatch (With or without Stormbolter, or both, your choice). This should now fit in both the front and the turret hatch holes for the Rhino and Predator respectively.



And so.... TA-DA! you're more or less done! You could add things like Smoke Launchers or Hunter Killers but I have yet to do them so you will have to work that out for yourselves, for now.



So hope that helps some people or at least provides some with some amusement or ideas. Also I know that only an insane person would use a Predator with that weapon set up but I was just taking pictures as I did made it so its not what I would run in battle!

[Deadite]

Great minds think alike, that's exactly how I made my weapons swappable.

One question though, since you went above and beyond and made the doors swappable.... how difficult is it to pry open the doors through these magnets? Not a lot of grabbing room on those things....

[Pertinax]

Added to the FAQ.

[spikedog]

@ Deadite - Since you ask the doors were quite difficult to pry away from the body of the tank so what I did was to file a small groove along the top of one of the doors teeth things so you can use your nail to pull the door free. Now it is no problem at all to remove!

@ Pertinax - Cool, Thanks! Hope it helps someone.

Oh I forgot to mention in the tutorial that I haven't yet magnetized the top hatches because I am waiting on my Whirldwind and Razorback kits to get here. I plan to make this tank swappable between all 4 of these tank types so I will post the extra, final section when they have arrived and I have worked out how to do it!

[liamrob]

That is nice i will have to do that to my next predator.

[Dav0r]

That is nice i will have to do that to my next predator.

So do I !

Very nice tutorial indeed. I will try it ASAP.

[DeathStrike]

Hey spikedog thanks for the informative guide! Will have to give it a try if I ever get round to painting the rest of my army! Sigh!

[PaRaSiTe_X92]

Sorry to bump an old thread, but do you think you need the smaller magnets to be as thick as they are? Surely 3mm by 1mm would suffice (just off 3/32" by 1/24")?

[Roll Models]

nice guide think il try that next time

[spikedog]

Sorry to bump an old thread, but do you think you need the smaller magnets to be as thick as they are? Surely 3mm by 1mm would suffice (just off 3/32" by 1/24")?

Well you could get away with smaller magnets but the larger/deeper the magnet the stronger the force. With the magnets I use the joins can each support the whole weight of the tank. Any less and although the weapons wouldn't fall off they wouldn't be able to take as much pulling around.

[PaRaSiTe_X92]

Cheers spike! How about wider but thinner? I just think your weapon magnets look very deep, especially as there are two of them. Admittedly I could just drill a whole for them.

[catbarf]

I used 3x1mm magnets to make a Carnifex. It works for everything but the arms, which love to rotate.

[PaRaSiTe_X92]

By "everything but the arms", do you mean that they wont hold the arms strongly enough to put the arms in a difficult position (i.e. in air at a strange angle)?

[catbarf]

Well, I put the arms on, and then if I bump them, they swivel downward. I have to have them balance on the other bits of the model.

Besides, 6x2mm magnets fit perfectly in the arm sockets. They'd be much easier to work with.

[PaRaSiTe_X92]

Oh OK, cheers. Looks like bigger magnets are better!

[athamas]

not always...

with the carnifex arms if you just want to be able to inter change them, and have them fixed in position then 2 magnets side next to each other will stop the rotation.. but are more of a pain to place in the torso... but are far more effective

with one big magnet you will still get some turning, though less than a smaller magnet.. 2 medium magnets [or 3 in a nurgelish formation] will stop/reduce twisting

[PaRaSiTe_X92]

What if I want to be able to change the post? I assume I would need one big one then, or 3/4 smaller ones.

Also, are small-width large-depth magnets better than large-width small-depth magnets, or isnt there really a difference? As in, 3mm x 2mm or 6mm x 1mm?

[whitewolfmxc]

any guides for infantry arms ?

[Hicks]

any guides for infantry arms ?

What models exactly are you trying to magnetize? Stuff like Space Marines are ultra easy to magnetize. I have a bunch of models with magnets from different ranges and the only ones I had a hard time magnetizing were Pit Slaves.