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Made in us
Regular Dakkanaut




How far do you go to magnetize the models in your army list? Do people usually just magnetize the big stuff, or is it common to magnetize basic troop choices as well? I'm new to the hobby and am worried that I'll make a few mistakes along the way with what I want my units to carry, so I was thinking of magnetizing everything. Is this advisable?
   
Made in us
Stealthy Space Wolves Scout



Middle Earth

It is fully up to you. If you wan to magnetize everything, then your army will be that much more customizable. It is advisable if you're willing to put in the time and effort.

I personally wouldn't magnetize troops, mainly because I usually use the same upgrades on my lists. Otherwise, I'll just proxy a weapon if it's alright with my opponent.

Magnetizing the expensive units (both points wise and $$$) is common, as they tend to have a larger variety of weapon options.


Which army do you plan on playing? We could give you an idea of which units you should magnetize over others.

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Made in us
Regular Dakkanaut




 kenneydee wrote:

Which army do you plan on playing? We could give you an idea of which units you should magnetize over others.


Probably Militarum Tempestus, but I'm also considering Tau.
   
Made in us
Stoic Grail Knight





Raleigh, NC

I magnetize vehicle weapons, most often turrets so they can rotate.

Other, small weapons on the tank I don't bother to magnetize, either because I'm lazy or I think putting a smoke marker over the weapon works well enough.

That is the extent to which I prefer, but YMMV.
   
Made in us
Stealthy Space Wolves Scout



Middle Earth

I know next to nothing about Tau.

For MT, magnetizing the vehicle's weapons is a no brainer.


If you really want my opinion, I would encourage you to just build what you like. When I first started, I went for whatever I thought looked the best on my models.

Or if you are really concerned about game play, get familiar with the rules and your codex. See which one sounds more appealing to you and go from there. It's easy to over-think everything when you go over all the different scenarios. But it really just comes down to what you feel is right for you, because after all, it's your army.

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Made in au
Automated Rubric Marine of Tzeentch





Perth

With my CSM i basically went full magnetized.

all tank options, maulerfiends/forgefeinds, cult elites, even a squad of basic CSM.

if you can be bothered doing it its well worth it for the above reason of customization wen you go to write your lists... also there is another reason, IF/WHEN gw write the next codex, if X weapon is made weak but Y is better then your not stuck with the weak option...

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Made in us
Regular Dakkanaut




Which magnets do you guys usually use? Rare Earth Magnets with galvanized metal sheeting?

And is there a certain glue I would need just for magnets, or would superglue work just fine?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/04/18 04:50:46


 
   
Made in au
Automated Rubric Marine of Tzeentch





Perth

Superglue is all you need, get a decent one i spose...

and it depends on what your magnetizing. on my infanty i went magnet--> on some of the vehicles i have gone magnet to metal.

also a #1 tip will be Make a master magnet, stick one to the end of a pen, so that the polarity is ALWAYS the same, now i say this so that all bits will be interchangeable, otherwise youll end up with arms that only go on some models etc etc

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Made in ca
Elite Tyranid Warrior




Edmonton AB

I'm currently in the process of magnetizing all of my Tyranids and pulling the arms off my Fire Warriors to magnetize them for carbines or rifles.

I already have all the MCs magnetized except for 1 tyrant because I was to eager to put him together and couldn't wait for my magnets to come in but I'll be fixing that soon. I will be magnetizing all of my termigants though.

Personally I drill holes for all my magnets and then just use the super gel glue you can get from Staples. I like that it's thick so it stays in the hole plus the plastic tube is awesome for bits.

When your magnetizing make sure your polarities are right though or you'll have to do a hack job to fix it and hope your skill with green stuff is good enough to fix the hack job.

When magnetizing I also recommend making sure all heads and weapons can fit any body. If you go Tau (which I also have a metric ton of) this will be incredibly useful for crisis suits and to a lesser degree your broadsides. You'll be able to put any gun you pull out for your suits on any suit. The same goes for wargear (target locks, shield generators, etc). Always always always triple check polarities.

As for how much to magnetize... That's at your discretion the main reasons have already been named (customization, future planning, etc). Personally I love magnetizing everything, if you drop it it's a very easy fix, if you want to use a different gun to try it out you're set, if you're on a budget you can cut your costs down ALOT! Plus I find a certain pride in doing it

Types of magnets I use are neodymium(sp?) I prefer the smaller ones as I drill my slots for them so a big magnet would mean a big hole(I use 1/8 I believe) but I wouldn't go smaller than that. If you need a stronger hold just double up the magnets and it works perfect. Small ones are also easier to disguise and cover with paint

Check out K&J Magnetics. They have any shape and size you could want and pricing is more than reasonable

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Made in us
Regular Dakkanaut




 Brutal Viking wrote:

Types of magnets I use are neodymium(sp?) I prefer the smaller ones as I drill my slots for them so a big magnet would mean a big hole(I use 1/8 I believe) but I wouldn't go smaller than that. If you need a stronger hold just double up the magnets and it works perfect. Small ones are also easier to disguise and cover with paint


So are 1/8" diameter the usual go-to? What about the thickness? Would 1/32" thick be good for both troop choices and vehicles/MC?
   
Made in us
Regular Dakkanaut





Virtus wrote:
 Brutal Viking wrote:

Types of magnets I use are neodymium(sp?) I prefer the smaller ones as I drill my slots for them so a big magnet would mean a big hole(I use 1/8 I believe) but I wouldn't go smaller than that. If you need a stronger hold just double up the magnets and it works perfect. Small ones are also easier to disguise and cover with paint


So are 1/8" diameter the usual go-to? What about the thickness? Would 1/32" thick be good for both troop choices and vehicles/MC?


Depending on what you're magnetizing, yes. I've used 1/8" x 1/16" to magnetize the portals/death rays on my scythes and they're also the perfect size for magnetizing terminator arms to torsos.

I think 1/16" x 1/32" is the smallest you can get and it's generally used for "troop weapons" or "small gear" according to this package I have.

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Made in ca
Elite Tyranid Warrior




Edmonton AB

Yeah the thickness I use is1/32. I think for MCs the next size up (1/4?x1/32) Would be a better a better fit and would have a stronger hold and wouldn't pivot. If you don't have them use 2 of the 1/8 ones in the body and 2 in the attachment (works perfect for me) and that should stop the weight of the attachment from pivoting it. For vehicles I would use the 1/4 ones or rectangle ones depending on if you want that piece to be able to pivot or not. I use the rectangle ones on my Riptide main guns, nhammerhead main guns and on my Tervigon birthing sacks.

Thickness I wouldn't go thicker than 1/32 as any thicker is wasted in most cases. As it is the holes I drill almost always go all the way through the plastic so thicker would just hang out inside the model doing nothing. Plus when you have to magnetize the other side the closer it gets to that side the harder it is to get the polarity right as the magnet will want to flip.

Another thing I forgot to mention is to use a jiffy to mark the side going into the model so if it does flip you can tell and adjust it. I've seen it done where people take a stick of magnets and mark each one that's going to be used for attachments in 1 color and drop them in a container so they just need to grab magnets from that cup when doing attachments and mark the ones for the body in a different color and drop them in a different cup. It should save you some time so you don't have to recheck polarity each time. Just grab the color you need for what you're doing and away you go.

I also found that a little sticky tack and a drone flying stem helps in getting magnets into those harder to reach areas (MC slots are concave and fingers don't fit) it will also help keep the magnets from flipping on you.

If you go the drill holes route as opposed to just gluing them on or using green stuff I would recommend picking up a dremmel. Rechargeable cordless if you can swing it works best. It will speed up the process immensely.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/04/18 13:08:35


6200
6th: 127/17/21 - 7th: 1/0/0
4800
6th: 6/0/1 - 7th 0/0/0
1820
WIP
1427
WIP

All points are base units with no upgrades



 
   
Made in us
Smokin' Skorcha Driver





Central MN

I use 1/8 x 1/16 for magnitizing arms and the like. Anything bigger I got 1/4 x 1/16 having a forge fiend always aiming at the ground is no fun.

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Virulent Space Marine dedicated to Nurgle





Florence SC

I've also magnetized my heavy weapon squads, (not that I've even really built an IG army yet. But a little bit at a time...)
   
Made in us
Dakka Veteran





When it comes to magnetizing Tau, The only things you really want to magnetize are Crisis suits, I found 1/8th inch magnets are the perfect size.

One Tip I'll give, is that you want to use a tappered drill bit to round the arm holes, before using a regular drillbit to make the hole. otherwise the bit fits perfectly into that hole in the arm of the Crisis Suit, and it'll break the arm.

The other thing you might want to concider using a Magnet for, is on the "chin" mount of the Devilfish/Hammerhead to switch in and out the burst cannon for switching between the Dfish and Hammerhead.

I like to say I have two armies: Necrons, and Imperium.....
 
   
Made in au
Tea-Kettle of Blood




Adelaide, South Australia

All of my Tyranid Monstrous Creatures are magnetised, but I haven't bothered with anything smaller.

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Made in us
Trustworthy Shas'vre




DFW area Texas - Rarely

Things I do magnetize;
Things that are expensive or too big to have multiple units of;
Crisis suit arms and accessories
Tank turrets (main turrets, sponsons).
Missiles on vehicles (seeker missiles, hunter killer missiles, etc.).
Arms and weapons on MCs.
SM captain models (the arms, at the shoulders).
Some terminators (at the arms).
Necron spyder arms
Hive guard weapons, tyrant guard weapons
centurions
dreadnought arms

Things I don't;
Troops
devastator squads
landing gear
drone weapons

Magnets I use;
1/8" x 1/16" for most small parts.
1/4"x1/16" for bigger parts.

I use super glue, and super glue accelerator (sometimes called insta-set, or kicker).

Check youtube for magnetizing videos, and of course do a search on the painting and model forum here, you will find even more info.

DavePak
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Made in us
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Fixture of Dakka






Chicago

Pretty much what Davethepak said. A lot is based on the cost of the model. Having an extra guy with a special weapon is not a big deal. Having to buy multiple $60 tanks to have different sponsons gets expensive.

   
Made in au
Grizzled Space Wolves Great Wolf





Mostly just magnetise elites and vehicles and also some troops that have a lot of varied options (like tyranid warriors).

There are some infantry that are worth magnetising, I magnetised a bunch of Saurus warriors so I could swap between spear and CCW, but that's because it was easier to magnetise them than it would be to paint another whole regiment if I decide to change.
   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut





Vallejo, CA

So, I don't magnetize, but do have swappable weapons (using friction and/or gravity instead), and I found out that there is a limit somewhere based on personal preference, as people have said.

On the one hand, you don't want to waste money, but on the other hand, you don't want every game to begin with "space marines, assemble!" as you add an extra half hour to your prep time by attaching all the guns to all the models.

I guess, if I'd learned something, it would be two things. The first is to not be afraid of making options permanent when they're options that you're always taking over and over again. For example, I built 18 fully convertible guard heavy weapons teams. After two editions of nearly exclusively fielding lascannons, I finally glued down 9 of them so that they just had lascannons. That way I still have the rest if, for whatever strange reason, I want to field heavy bolters or autocannons, but it makes it so that I can also just unpack 9 lascannons when, surprise surprise, that's what I need in my list again this time.

The second is for those easy things. I set up my leman russes to have swappable barrels that just lock in nice and tight so they can stay in game after game, but at the same time, the swap is easy, and moves towards wysiwyg in a big way. Meanwhile, magnetizing both wrists of a grey knight terminator so that you can swap between sword and storm bolter and two-handed halberd, forget it. It's going to take forever to get them all swapped and then I'm going to have to keep messing with them because the joint is probably going to be rather loose because you can only use SO big of magnets in wrists. Better just to proxy, or build 2 or 3 extra dudes with halberds.

In any case, magnetizing tends to be better at the beginning than at the end. Eventually you'll have enough minis that you'll just have what you need, rather than swapping.



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Made in us
Regular Dakkanaut




When it comes to drilling holes in plastic or resin models, Is there an alternate tool to use other than a dremmel?
   
Made in lu
Witch Hunter in the Shadows





Earth

I really like magnets, especially on models where there a ton of options. Take for example, my current project, an all scout spess mehreen army. Yeah, I could build 60 guys with bolters, 60 guys with bp/cc, 60 guys with shotties, 60 with sniper rifles, a bunch of heavy weapons, not to mention all the options on the sarges. But why bother? Why throw away all that money?

Instead, I just bought a bunch of LSS boxes and scout boxes, and ebayed all of the weapon options in bitz, plus several hundred magnets. So instead of having nearly 300 scout models, I have 60. 60 guys that will be able to get in and out of their LSS, 60 guys that will be able to take absolutely any option in the codex, and fully customizable sarges.

It is definitely some extra work up front, but once it is done...

   
Made in ca
Rampaging Carnifex




West Coast, Canada

I use my cordless drill, though it is overkill. So efficient and speedy!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Virtus wrote:
When it comes to drilling holes in plastic or resin models, Is there an alternate tool to use other than a dremmel?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/04/18 21:30:09


   
Made in us
Smokin' Skorcha Driver





Central MN

Just make sure when you do magnetize to TAKE YOUR TIME and do it right! you don't want arms hovering away from the torso, you don't want to put the wrong polarity's and have arms not stick right, and you don't want to have to always put your guys back together in game so make sure the magnets are not crooked or have limited contact.

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Made in us
Preacher of the Emperor





St. Louis, Missouri USA

step 1: https://www.kjmagnetics.com/
step 2: get a really good pair of plastic tweazers.
step 3: magnetize everything. if it has a hole, stick a magnet in it. if it doesn't have a hole, make a hole and stick a magnet in it.

 
   
Made in gb
Keeper of the Holy Orb of Antioch





avoiding the lorax on Crion

At the min tanks. Sponson weapons and such so expensive stuff is more multi role and adaptable.

I have a great magnetized land speeder, with little help from friend with far more experience!

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Hangin' with Gork & Mork





The Ruins of the Boston Commonwealth

I've magnetized Nobz...

 
   
Made in ca
Elite Tyranid Warrior




Edmonton AB

You could use a "hobby hand drill" green stuff world has 1 in the toll section for 8 Euro but I'm sure most hobby does will have them or be able to get them

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6th: 6/0/1 - 7th 0/0/0
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All points are base units with no upgrades



 
   
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Unhealthy Competition With Other Legions






Tied to a bedpost in an old motel, confused and naked.

It seems like a very annoying process...

 
   
Made in us
Angry Chaos Agitator





I'd magnetize
Tank turrets
Heavy Weapons
Special Characters (sometimes)
Anything where I really have a tough time choosing between different loadouts

I wouldn't bother magnetizing
Troops
Most Elite/Fast Attack choices
Anything which has one loadout that is obviously my favorite and that I'd use all the time
   
 
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