Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I've come to a point in my GW hobbying that when I spend $85.00 on a Line breaker squadron I want to be able to use it for both my Marine army and CSM army. Both Armies will have Black vehicles, but with magnetized areas so that I can add spikes and whatnot to make the vehicles more Chaos-y. I've used magnets on my Eldar tanks, but that was relatively simple as the weapon mounts conceal the ugly embedding job that I placed the magnets into. My question to you all is, How can I make a neat hole that the magnet will fit into that will be invisible once it is painted over?

I've not worked with magnets, but I'd think you could make the hole a bit deeper than normal, and green stuff over it with a very thin layer. This would make the spot invisible after you painted over it.

I use a low volt power drill. I just match the drill bit to the magnet diameter, in my case 1/8". A wooden dowel works well to level the magnet once you drop it in. It should come out very flush and nice looking. With paint you should only see the circle outline of the magnet. The real trick is to make a small pilot hole with your Xacto first to ensure proper alignment.
Like the last poster said, you can always drill the whole a little deep, and green stuff over the magnet. You do lose the very satisfying click noise that way though.

You could always just buy a stronger magnet and put it on the inside of the plastic.

Having done a bit of what you are talking about, I would recomend using the best modeling tool ever made, the Dremel Stylus.



Drill a hole just slightly larger than the magnet. Put green stuff in the hole and press the magnet in. The green stuff will flow up the sides slightly and you can scrape it (or let it harden and file it if that works better for you) so that the surface of the magnet is even with the remainder of the model. Once you paint over it (you may need a couple of coats), it will be virtualy invisible. If you are using rare earth magnets on both ends, you can even green stuff over the magnet and it will still stick for light weight things. Just make darn sure you get the poles of the magnets aligned properly. Nothing sucks more than doing all this work only to find that your pieces repell eachother.

Find the size of your magnet.

If you have a Dremel, great. If not, get one please.

On metal I use 25k RPM, on plastic 15k RPM.

Match your magnet diameter exactly to a drill bit.

Drill it out.

Match polarity.

Drop a bit of glue around the edge of your mount point, and a bit behind it.

Put a bit of instaset on the back side of your magnet.

Drop it in. Use nonconductive material (I too use a wooden dowel) to push it where you need it.

I use rare earth magnets found off ebay, but just remember the stronger the magnet the harder it is to mount another of the type near it--they literally rip each other out of their mount points.

I try and keep 1/2" between the magnets.

It helps if you are doing a line, for say Chaos Spikes, that you reverse the polarity every other magnet. This will stop your spikes from sliding to another magnet or jumping across your paint job.

For the actual spikes, if you can't drill out the magnets location then you can try putting metal on the bottom instead. If you have very small magnets for the spikes you can use like a 3/32 bit to get them in and use a 1/8 on the vehicle. They'll stick fine.

I avoid green stuff at all costs, it simply isn't necessary. Superglue will hold the magnets just fine.

I also don't make a hole larger than the magnet. Being a physically snug fit helps keep it in place.

Oh and last tip, I use a permanent magic marker to make sure I have my polarity correct. The marked side goes 'up' into the piece I want to attach, and the marker comes off the magnet easy if it's got a good nickel finish.

Last but not least, if there are holes where the magnets can go through (and on the Rhino chassis there will be) do the magnets BEFORE you build the hull. Otherwise they'll shoot through to other magnets. Once I get the magnet in place, on the inside of the model I use plastic sprue and superglue to provide a 'back' to the magnet.

Hope that helps.

Another thing to consider. Instead of doing individual spikes, you may want to do spike strips. One magnet on each end of the strip will give you a whole bunch of spikes with minimal problems. You'll just need a length of sprew to mount them on (some green stuff will probably need to be used to make sure the thing fits snugly) and you are good to go.