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OK, any quick search of the P&M Tutorials section for magnets will yield plenty of results, however having just undertaken a big magnetizing project, I realized there was no Comprehensive Guide to cross-magnetizing vehicles, covering almost all variants.

So, this guide is intended to demonstrate how easy (and fruitful!) cross magnetizing your space marine vehicles can be .




I have chosen to use the following kits:
-Land Raider kit
-Land Raider Crusader/Redeemer conversion kit (available from games workshop online)
-Predator Kit
-Razorback kit

This will allow you to field the following units:
-Land Raider standard variant (or Godhammer pattern)
-Land Raider Crusader
-Land Raider Redeemer
-Land Raider Terminus Ultra
-Rhino
-Predator with Autocannon (Destructor)
-Predator with Lascannons (Annihilator)
-Razorback, with either tl Lascannons, tl Heavy Bolters, or tl Assault Cannons

What you will also need:
-X-acto knife (or any good hobby knife with a sharp blade)
-Superglue (I used Cyanoacrylate Zap-A-Gap, but i recommend a thicker-consistency superglue)
-Plastic glue
-Spare sprue frames
-clippers
-files
-green stuff (or simple gap-filling in assembly)
-Pin vice or drill (for predator only)
-Tweezers

MAGNETS:
There are various magnets of various dimensions readily available all across the world; a quick internet search will find them.
I have chosen to use disc-shaped rare earth magnets. These are 3mm in Diameter, and 2mm thick.
The supplier I used was Lodestone Industries (you can find them online) as they are the closest supplier in my city.

I you choose to magnetize the predator YOU WILL NEED to find a drill bit of suitable size to fit a magnet. In my case I used a 3mm drill bit. The importance of this will be explained later.

With all your magnets (you will need about 30-40 in all) it is helpful to paint or mark one side of each with a permanent pen or something else, to make sure your components fit together and the nodes match up.





PART 1: THE LAND RAIDER
Assemble the Land Raider base as normal, leaving the doors, hatches and sponsons unattached and unassembled.


1A: TOP HATCHES

For the hatches, i will demonstrate using the multi-melta. Assemble the multi-melta as normal, with the hatch doors closed.

Here's where the sprue frames come in. To make sure you can interchange the hatches, it's important to establish a set level at which the magnets will contact. I find having this flush with the hatch rims is best.

Cut a small piece of frame using clippers, and glue it to the underside of the hatches as shown. Center the magnet on top of this and glue it using super glue.

Next, construct a mount for the magnet sitting inside the hull. Do this by using a length of frame larger than the opening, with blocks of frame at either end. Pre-assemble this, and if you have glued the land raider together, glue it in, using tweezers to position it.

The 3 things to note here are that:
1 the magnets need to be glued AT THE CENTRE of the hatch/opening
2 they should be aligned to ATTRACT one another
3 They should be flush such that they CONTACT one another.



The attached hatch weapon can be seen below.




1B: SIDE SPONSONS
Assemble the lascannon sponsons for a start as usual, but do not glue them to the land raider.

Also assemble the Predator sponsons. You may have to choose between heavy bolters and lascannons at this point unless you know a way to swap the two. I found this too fiddly and did not really want the heavy bolters, so simply used the lascannons. YOU WILL NEED to have atleast the option of lascannon sponsons for the terminus ultra variant.

Glue magnets at the top centers of the sponsons as shown below.





As with the Hatches, make sure one of the poles is facing inwards for all the magnets. This will mean they are easily interchanged.

Now, with the magnets attached to the sponsons, you need to make blocks to mount the magnets glued to the openings themselves.

Take a length of frame, and, shaving it so that there is a right angle rather than the sloped edge, glue it to the inside of the door frame as shown.




Note: the mounts on the front door frames connecting the predator sponsons should be set further inwards than the rear doors. This is because the Land Raider weapons sit further out than the inserted predator sponsons.

Assemble the Flamestorm Cannons / Hurrican Bolters as shown, but don't glue them to the supports, as they can be interchanged easily for different variants.





1C: DOORS

Using the same mounts for the predator sponsons already on your landraider, use some sprue frame lengths to align magnets on the insides of your doors as shown. As said, because they are further set in, the sprue mounts on the doors will help make the magnets contact for a stronger bond.






1D: FINAL ASSEMBLY

Assemble your Hull-mounted weapons as normal. You should have the following:



Now mix-and match to your heart's content! Here's the variants I knocked up!


Godhammer


Terminus Ultra


Redeemer


Crusader




PART 2: THE PREDATOR
Assemble the Predator base as normal, leaving the doors, hatches and sponsons unattached and unassembled.


2A: THE TURRET

Assemble the turret as shown, but using the same ideas as before, place another magnet in the centre of the bottom opening and flush with the rim.



Do the same for the Predator mount shown below.



Now here's the tricky part to work out. Doing a weapons swap here means that they will not be able to swivel up and down, but this is the only limitation and probably the best method I've stumbled upon.

Trim the circular tabs off the sides of the predator main weapons and cut a right-angled section as shown below.



Having trimmed the tabs, glue the magnets to the inside as shown below.



Create a mount for the magnets on the inside of the turret using a length of sprue frame shaved to a right angle as before. Then glue the magnets as shown.



You should have the following finished components now.




2B: TURRET BACK COMPARTMENTS
Now to magnetize the various ammo compartments that it on the back of the turret. They already have grooves to help keep them aligned, so one central magnet is enough to keep them fixed on.

Using your drill bit, drill a hole the width of the magnet and glue one in place as shown below.



Align the compartments to fit and then drill another hole in each, inserting and then gluing a magnet in place as shown.



You should be able to assemble the Lascannon and Autocannon options as well as ammo compartments as shown below.





2C: SPONSONS

The sponsons, with magnets already affixed during the STAGE 1B, should fit nicely into the door openings on your predator chassis. Now just glue magnets to the inside of the doors as shown below.



I had to shave off about half a millimetre of plastic beneath each magnet to make the sponsons sit flush, but this is purely a factor of the width of my magnets being 2mm. If you have access to smaller width this won't be a problem.


2D: FINAL ASSEMBLY

Place the top mount on the predator chassis (don't glue it, as you can swap it out for the rhino doors), then, as before, mix and match, and bask in the glory of your predator!


annihilator


Destructor without sponsons (the doors are explained in the next part )




STAGE 3: RHINO AND RAZORBACKS

If you've followed all the above steps, the following steps required to field rhinos and razorbacks are both few and simple.

With your predator model, take some rhino side doors and create mounting blocks on the inside for magnets to sit on. These should line up with the magnets connecting the sponson weapons on, and can be seen below.



Grab a pair of rhino doors, and using a piece of sprue frame as reinforcement, glue them as shown below.



This can be simply inserted into the top hatch space, and doesn't need to be magnetized (although doing so would be quite simple). Add a storm bolter and hatch, and you've got a rhino!




For the razorback, start of by grabbing some existing components. You should have the rectangular hatch with a hole in it from the predator stage, shown below.



Now, take your hull-mounted land-raider weapons, and place magnets beneath them as shown below, using sprue frames as mounting blocks to get the levels right.



You should now have the following razorback options!


twin-linked heavy bolters


twin-linked lascannons


twin-linked assault cannons


And that, my friends, is that!

Questions?

Constructive criticism?

All welcome! Please tell me what you think!

Hope this helps some people!

Great idea I will use this. The edgeing on the LR is AWESOME nice job!

Great tutorial, how did you make the edging so accurately?

I grabbed some plastic strips from a modelling store. Glad you like it guys!

Is there a guide for doing the land speeder as well?

sorry for the late reply mate!

I haven't gotten round to doing a guide for the landspeeders, though what i could recommend is using some smaller magnets and pins on the under-carriage weapons, shouldn't be too hard.

However, the back hatches where the missile pods attach could be approached in much the same way as the rhino/land raider doors shown.

Glue a magnet on each side embedded within the landspeeder in from the door, and then attach a magnet to the inside of the blank hatches (for standard land speeders) as well as the hatch/missile combination.

The key is to make sure the magnets line up, and in the case of the blank hatches, maybe make a little mounting block on the inside for the magnet to sit on, so the magnet mounted on the missile hatch and standard hatch protrude the same distance inside the land speeder.

Wish i could post a complete tutorial, but atm i'm studying for an exam and strapped for cash.

Maybe in the next few weeks, but just reply to this post if you're still interested!

Amazing. You just save me several hundred dollars in the near future. Haha

Hahaha thanks heaps SanguinaryGuard.

Should save a buck or two indeed, the frames as I said are available from gw's online store under the bitz section.

I've got that many options now I'm finding it hard to decide what to field.

Wish I could find a good way to swap out the predator sponsons between heavy bolters and lascannons though, but the small mounts make it hard.

If anyone knows a way, add it to the thread!

VERY nice.... iv been looking for this exact tuttorial everywhere haha.

Thanks Nirvana, glad to help.

While i'm new to dakka, it's quickly become my one stop shop for modelling tutorials.

Thanks Nirvana, glad to help.

While i'm new to dakka, it's quickly become my one stop shop for modelling tutorials.

Thanks Nirvana, glad to help.

While i'm new to dakka, it's quickly become my one stop shop for modelling tutorials.

awsome tute love the edging

Thanks man, as it turns out I'm getting a lot more feedback on the edging than on the tutorial so it's nice to hear positive comments on both!

That's great CK, thank you, a really helpful tutorial.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Will definitely have to give the edging a go on my LR too.

Good tutorial and nice clean pics. Really helps with placement when I can tell where you where putting them. :thumbs up:

Thanks, any advice on the best turret weapon option for a razorback...
I have 2x Multi-Meltas
7x powerfists, in a crusader, and a power sword sarge
I'm thinking my army could use the TL lascannon for some anti tank power, and a Predator as well, but I don't have that model and probably won't for some time...

mrwhoop wrote:Good tutorial and nice clean pics. Really helps with placement when I can tell where you where putting them. :thumbs up:

Thanks, glad I could help. Tried to be really thorough with this as it took me a long time to work out the specifics, and other tutorials I've seen just gloss over it or don't have pictures embedded.

@Axelsfolks: If you're in need of some anti-tank, I'd go with the predator kit. The razorback is supposed to be zipping around and augmenting the fire of the squad inside. I personally roll the tl lascannons, as the squad inside is usually a combat squad with plasma gun and combi-plasma, and the extra AP2 shot is nice, particularly strength 9.

If I wasn't using the crusader though I'd end up using the TL Assault Cannon on top, as it's a similar points cost iirc, and simply amazing.

The heavy bolter is always safe, underrated and very cheap.

A bit OT though.

sorry for the Hijack, but thanks for putting it all in perspective for me... I will definately look back to this post when I do some magnets... I will be building 2x Predators next and will definately need this info
+1 GREAT TUTORIAL

Thanks again to all who make Dakka so great!
Isaiah

Captain Klaw wrote:Wish I could find a good way to swap out the predator sponsons between heavy bolters and lascannons though, but the small mounts make it hard.

If anyone knows a way, add it to the thread!

I devised a method that I like, but it's a bit fiddly. Well worth it, though, in my opinion, due the fact that it is A) entirely internal and, therefore, invisible and B) retains all the articulation possible with conventional mounting. Conveniently, I used pretty much the exact same magnets that you did (maybe 0.5mm thinner). I don't, however, have any pictures handy so I'll try and be as clear as possible (apologies for the wall of text, this is just how I talk - really, the internet is no place for me ).

Predator sponson weapons come in two halves, each with an internal socket that receives one half of a pin centered on the end of the vertical mounting post, running perpendicular to it. This allows the weapon to swivel up and down on this post which also rotates within the sponson mounting. It would be easy to chop the post and stick a magnet on the bottom and corresponding magnets on top of each weapon, but this would be ugly and entirely too simple for my tastes - I wanted to maintain the full range of motion without having to buy another set of sponsons. My solution was a magnet sandwich. I removed the very end of the mounting post (the aforementioned pin or "nubbly bit"), carving/filing a semicircular depression to match the curvature of my magnet, which was secured on its edge (admittedly, with less strength than I would like, but I'm gentle with my models) with superglue. I then widened the holes of the sockets in each weapon half with the appropriately sized drill bit, which allowed me to countersink another magnet in each. Provided the magnets were attached with the proper polarity and spacing, weapons can be slid on and off of the mounting post with little effort, but friction will hold the weapon in place at whatever angle it is set.

I feel I should include a few more important details regarding my method. For one, magnet size is crucial. Mine were 3mm x 1.5mm, and that specific thickness matched the mounting post perfectly, which made the whole process easier. Numerous test fittings were necessary to get the right depth for the weapon-side magnets and I ended up having to shave away sections of the socket, at times, to tweak the positioning to my liking. Being less anal will result in a much faster build (but the result won't be as nice as mine! Actually, it probably will...). I also haven't glued the two halves of each weapon together, as the mounting magnets are strong enough to hold them together, whether on the tank or off. This also allows the weapon halves to be peeled away from the mount instead of the whole thing being pulled off. While this isn't really a benefit for normal use, it certainly will be if my fear that the post's magnet may eventually come loose ever come to pass.

Hope this was as clear as intended. I tried to be concise, but I like to talk (or type, in this case). If I can get my hands on my girlfriend's camera, I could sum the process up in a picture or two...

[edited for a single typo - I said I was anal, did I not?]

Automatically Appended Next Post:

axelsfolks wrote:sorry for the Hijack, but thanks for putting it all in perspective for me... I will definately look back to this post when I do some magnets... I will be building 2x Predators next and will definately need this info
+1 GREAT TUTORIAL

Thanks again to all who make Dakka so great!
Isaiah

Thanks mate

@ Oadie:
Thanks heaps man, I just played in a tournament and saw how devastating and cheap a predator destructor can be so my next conversion will include swappable sponsons.

Thanks Again,
I posted a youtube vid under same screenname, tell me if I'm worthy.... it's almost done now, and built enough to play with...
between youtube and forums like Dakka, everyone can gather enough info to brave new projects... I was nervous .... but it came out OK and I'm happy I did try...

+1 Thanks for the inspiration......

Axelsfolks

Can't find it, can you put up a link?

Haha don't worry, almost everything is inspired by something else, I know I wouldn't have written this article if I hadn't been trawling dakka beforehand.

cool to see how different people do different things, I have done a similar job with my tanks, including making interchangeable predator sponsons.
Still, really cool. Might try that land raider stuff myself.

Will post tutorial as soon as I figure out how!

great work

Fantastic guide.

Great artical. I just magnatized a Razorback I had sitting around. I went a little crazy with it and went so far as to magnatize the Hunter Killer Missile and Searchlight as well. Easy enough to take the hatch that they mount on to and drill from the side with the cross shape in it. I drilled fairly deep with Ø1/8" x 1/32" magnets. For the Hunter Killer mount I initially drilled it to the appropriate size and had a hard time due to using a point drill as opposed to an end mill. I ended up just using a hobby knife and removing the appropriate material as it's all sub flush mounted. I kept enough of the insert tabs to maintain position as it's mounted as well. With the magnet deep enough in the cover hatch, I set the magnet on the Searchlight to attach to the opposite side. So basically you flip the hatch one way and you can mount the Hunter Killer, flip it the other and you can mount the searchlight. I then used the open hatch with the pintle mount to attach the storm bolder with the gunner. The only combination I cannot support is all three, though it would be easy enought to just put a magnet on the underside of the body anywhere to mount the searchlight. I did also do all weapon load outs as well as the side doors making it interchangable with Predators as well. All in all, this was a fun modeling project. Coming back to the game after years, I found this alone to be pretty rewarding.

great guide, helped me out with my razorback