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UPDATE: OVERNIGHT PRICE INCREASES - MORE INFO LATER IN THE THREAD :(

I've had to hold off on releasing my Land Raider kit for a few days due to the fact that I'm waiting on delivery of the Crusader/Redeemer and Terminus Ultra sprues. Obviously, I want to make sure everything is compatible.

However, a number of you have asked me for starter sets and bundles, and this seemed like the time to sort that out.

First off, for those new to magnetizing stuff, I have a complete starter set: 100 magnets in the most popular sizes, four drill bits and a couple of my useful, but odd, little "helper" tools. All for the bargain price of $16, so under $20 even with shipping.



For anyone who just wants to start or re-stock a magnet stash, you can get just the magnet selection for $10.

Simon

I haven't used magnets in the past so I'm looking for a little advice. I would like to magnetize the skimmer bases for my DE raiders and ravagers. Could you suggest a magnet size/type that could hold up a raider on it's base. The contact point seems small to support such a large vehicle.

My Large Flying Base Kit was designed for Falcons and the like and ought to cope with pretty much anything you'd care to throw at it.

http://www.themanufactorum.com/kits/generic/lg_fly_base.htm



It's hard to tell, but this (not quite finished) Wave Serpent is banked over to the point where the wing tip is almost touching the ground.



Alternatively, the Simplified Flying Base has just good magnetic contact, but forgoes the ability to pose the model:

http://www.themanufactorum.com/kits/generic/simple_fly_base.htm

Hope that helps!

Simon

This large flying base of yours... how would it suit for very heavy metal minis like my BFG capital battleships?

I think it would be too big, and that the standard "Advanced Flying Base" kit would probably be better, but...

I have the original BFG Boxed Game - how big are your ships compared to the plastics in that?

Here's a couple of good comparison shots of a battleship next to some cruisers. The battleship in all metal and fairly heavy. They tend to snap the plastic rods in the gw flying bases they come with (large radius standards).





I have 4 battleships and I'd love a suitable alternative for basing them.

(also, for this to work, they need to be on the large radius base as differing rules apply according to base size in BFG).

Thanks for the info BloodQuest. I'll be placing an order this week for some of those flying stands. Not sure whether I want the simple or advanced yet.

@MGS, couldn'tm you just put a pin in each base? that's what I did with my 1 and only BFG ship (marker for orbital strikes).

Also @MGS: Actually, the simplified version would more than likely do for what you want, assuming you have no great desire for "dynamic poses"...

Check your PMs

That's really, really awesome. I've occasionally thought about getting into magnetizing my stuff, and this entry kit would be perfect for it.

Question, do the drill bits you're supplying fit into a pin vice?

Mr. Grey wrote:Question, do the drill bits you're supplying fit into a pin vice?

Absolutely. I do sell a basic pin vice, if you don't have one, or the GF9 one is nice if your FLGS has it.

Simon


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Just a quick update for those who've ordered the Starter Set already:

A glitch in the shipping calculations meant you guys got $1 shipping, which is fine, but it has been corrected to the usual $3, so if you've told your friends, they're too late!

As a suggestion, please put a link in your post for this kind of thing. I turn of sigs as they're 90% noise, so I have to hunt around when something neat like this is posted...

Ordered a starter set!

Hey BQ, very nice as usual. I just order 4 of you flying bases and i was wondering what type epoxy are you using?

Hi guys,

Just to let you all know that I've had to put things on hold as of last night.

The Starter Sets have been a huge hit, and I went to re-order some sizes from K&J last night only to find that they've raised prices by up to 87% since I last ordered just over a week ago.

Still waiting for an explanation from K&J and to see what we can work out, so please bear with me!

Simon

UGH of course this happens as I queue for my order XD

Darn, I just saw your site this morning and thought how this is just what I've been looking for. Let us know asap when your status is changed as I'm interested in the starter set too!

Just coming up to midday and I've spent most of the night on the internet and all morning on the phone.

Essentially, prices have increased dramatically overnight. The 1/16" x 1/16" Discs, which are the size I sell most of, have gone from $60/1000 to $110/1000. 1/8" x 1/32" discs have gone up a straight 50%, and there are 16 of each of those sizes in the Starter Kit.

The percentage increase is less significant on larger magnets, but the small sizes we generally use have all gone up by between 40% and 87%.

I have good stock on most sizes, so I can absorb some of the increase in the short term, but the success of the Starter Kit (and a run on Assault Marines) has left me low on some sizes, particularly the aforementioned 1/8" x 1/32".

Anyway, the long and short of it is that the prices will have to go up. The Magnets Only kit will go from $10 to $12 and the Starter Kit will go from $16 to $18. I am a bit pissed, because that brings the Starter Kit to over $20 with shipping, but it's the best I can do.

Those prices reflect the fact that I do have stock and once that's gone (probably before the end of the month) the prices will be $15 and $20.

It's also going to take me a while to update the "a la carte" magnets and kits, so those will be unavailable for a few hours while I work through it all.

So, everything is sorted out, and back online.

The magnet prices should hold at their new levels for the time being and I believe I now have adequate stock for the foreseeable future.

Essentially the magnet prices are up by almost one third, the kits generally less than that, especially those that have non-magnet components because those didn't go up.

The Starter Kit is at $18 (which equates to £12.99 including shipping for those in the UK).

The Magnet Only kit I can hold at $12, but will almost certainly go to $15 at the end of the month.

All the existing orders shipped yesterday (Tuesday).

Cool! I need to sit down and see which ones are useful to me as I really only use the tiny ones...

Hey BloodQuest,

I just wanted to say that this kit is pretty awesome. I got it just last night, and I immediately used all of the 1/16" cylinders to magnetize the weapons on the Lightning I've been in the process of putting together. The magnets are surprisingly strong for their size, and I was able to magnetize even the narrow and fragile missile racks for the underside.

Your additional tools are also amazing. Compared with my previous way of installing magnets (painstakingly determining which side of the magnet was the polarity I wanted and then clumsily inserting it using the tip of a knife and sliding the knife edge to the side to keep the magnet from falling out of the hole) the metal tool is a lifesaver. I've not used the polystyrene rod much yet, but it looks to be handy as well.

I'd say so far the only downside of the kit was that didn't exist when I started trying to magnetize things.

Good work!

I'm glad to hear you're having fun not only with the magnets, but with the Helpers as well!

If I had realised how many of the things I would end up making, I might have thought twice before doing the Starter Kit!

Glad to see you're back up and running. Just placed an order for some simplified flying kits. Can't wait to get them and get my raiders and ravager properly based.

BTW, thanks for offering the starter.

Did they ever give you a satisfactory answer for why the magnets shot up in price?

GW decide to buy the producer?

Uriels_Flame wrote:Did they ever give you a satisfactory answer for why the magnets shot up in price?

GW decide to buy the producer?

Probably just the economy. I think there have been articles that rare earth magnet prices have recently spiked. China has been tweaking the regulations concerning export of them and they produce something like 97% of the annual production.

They blamed China.

The weird thing is, their pricing is all over the place and continues to change. The 1/16 x 1/32 discs have now increased 122% in 8 days.

And I don't mean 22% - the price has more than doubled!

BloodQuest wrote:They blamed China.

The weird thing is, their pricing is all over the place and continues to change. The 1/16 x 1/32 discs have now increased 122% in 8 days.

And I don't mean 22% - the price has more than doubled!

It's probably a good thing I'm stocking up then.

I've been hearing that US stocks have run out, and China holds the majority of rare earth mines (it does come out of the earth, right?).
How easy are these things to cut to size, if we got hold of big chunky industrial magnets?

Actually, Rare Earth metals are not particularly rare - the US has plenty. But the processing got shifted to China years back and now, of course, we're at their mercy.

There is a startup venture someone's doing in the US to raise capital restart things here, but it's been a while since I heard any more about it.

The magnets we use are sintered, so cutting or machining them is not a good idea. If they don't explode or catch fire, they're likely to lose their magnetism, so don't try that at home kids!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Don't want to clutter things with yet another thread, so thought I would post this here...

I got an email last night and it seems I broke the ordering function on small quantities of magnets when I was doing all the updates between the 13th and 15th. Essentially, you couldn't order quantities less than 100.

Because plenty of orders for kits were coming in, I hadn't noticed, and no-one complained until last night.

Anyway, it's sorted now!