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I'm going to magnetize either the weapons or the whole arms on the plastic killa kans I'm building. Which makes more sense--the arms, or the weapons? The set doesn't come with any extra weapons, so this is mostly to give me the option of swapping in parts from elsewhere later. The weapons seem easier, but all the online tutorials I've found have done the arms. This is my first try at using magnets.

Given that weapons and arms are often combined in the Kan model you may need to magnetise the arms.

The ripper/buzzsaw ect arms are wrist attatchments so could be magnetised but most of the shooty arms will need to be magnatised at the shoulder. this sounds cool and something I'm going to try if I ever get round to buying my new deff dread or even another box of kans. do you have the materials ready to go or do you need to order the magnets?

Ah, you're right! I didn't look closely enough. Shoulders it is!

I have the magnets--they're 1/8 inch by 1/16 inch (about 3 mm by 1.5 mm) but I'm a little worried they aren't big enough for this. I've just been drilling some practice holes in the sprue. Using a 1/8 inch bit in a pin vise turns out to be a lot slower and harder than drilling 1.2 mm holes in slugga barrels.

I think the magnets you have will hold the arms on, but not sure that they'll be strong enough to hold a pose - I suspect you'd have problems with the arms rotating downwards so that they end up pointing at the ground.

I haven't seen how the Killa Kans go together in enough detail to offer any advice on the way to go, though.

Well I would sugest you try one arm on one Kan to test the magnet strength before you drill everything. I assume your using neodynium magnets. do it and take a pic to let us all know.

In order to keep the arm pose you can combine a short pin with the magnet. This should be enough to keep the arm from rotating under its own weight.

The fact that kan arms are so long and sit at odd angles makes magnetization a little tricky, due to the torque overcoming the magnet's meager friction, regardless of the pull strength. I'd recommend adding a matching pair of holes, slightly offset, with a pin glued into one side. It'll take most of the weight and keep the arm from rotating, while the magnet keeps it from simply popping off.

That makes sense, thanks! I'll post pictures when I've actually done it.

Killa Kanz are the first models I ever magnetized and Oadie is correct, the length of the arm causes them to sink down.

They look fine as-is, but if you want dynamic looking poses you will have to pin them as well. I'm also toying around with using blue-tack or either the blue or yellow part of green stuff in between the magnets to add some friction.

When I first spray painted the minis the layer of paint provided enough grip to pose the arms up and down, but after putting them on and taking them off repeatedly the paint came away, so I believe that something with a bit of tack to it will allow the arms to stay in place.

So I got started on this, and have already screwed up a bit. Haven't tackled the arm itself yet, but here's the magnet in the body socket:





I'm starting off with just one arm on one kan, as suggested above. Good thing too, as I've already learned a lot! If anybody has any suggestions or can point out anything stupid I'm doing, I'd really appreciate it.

The arms attach to the body with ball-and-socket joints. I thought it made sense to drill the hole deep enough that the ball fits just as deeply into the socket as if the magnet wasn't there. That meant drilling pretty deep. Unfortunately, the difference between a hole that deep and a hole that went all the way through to the interior turned out to be very very small. I was using a Tamiya handy drill (a very low-powered electric drill, basically a motorized pin vise), which worked great, except that I didn't get the kind of warning that I was about to break through that the pin vise would have given, and I busted right through. I knew I wasn't being cautious enough and I'll do better next time.

So, first lesson: either do the main work with the electric drill, and switch to the pin vise when I get close to the end, or drill out much less each time.

I decided to back the hole from the inside using green stuff. Second lesson: don't glue the whole kan together before you drill. Luckily there was still an opening where the engine will go, so I was able to get a glob of green stuff in there and mash it into place with a toothpick and the flat of a hobby knife. The pictures show the magnet sitting on the green stuff. When it dries, I'll glue it into place.

Next step is putting the magnet onto the ball of the arm. I'm unsure what approach to take with that. Would it make more sense to drill deep enough that the ball still has the same profile as before, or drill more shallowly so that the magnet protrudes a little?

Once I've got the magnets in and made whatever corrections turn out to be needed, I'll pin it. On the next one, I'm definitely going to do the magnetization before putting the body of the model together.

For my kanz, I've given them all converted grotzookas with wide gun barrels, so that i can then put rokkit/shoota inserts into the barrels when I need to change weapons. Working pretty well so far.

I was thinking of doing what you did but then I ended up just green-stuffing my mags right into the arm socket, here's a quick pic for reference:



You can see the magnet on the closest one, but from most angles you can't.

Show us what yours looks like once you get the arm in.

Wow, that looks really good! If I were starting this again I might do that instead. I like the slightly daddy-longlegs quality it gives. Also, gorgeous paint job!

So, here are the body and arm with magnets glued in:



And here's how it looks put together. As BloodQuest, Flinty, and oadie said, the arm tends to swivel down--the magnet holds it securely in the socket, but won't hold it upright. First one is the arm up--it's stable in this position, but it's not a good position for a grotzooka:



Here's the position gravity wants to put it in:



And here's the position I want it in (I'm holding it up with my finger):



Luckily, I think pinning this will be easier than I thought. The arm ball has two recesses, one on top and one on the bottom. I should be able to just put a short pin in the socket in a position to catch on the edge of the lower recess and prevent it from rotating:



Thanks to everyone for the advice! Will post more pics when I get the pin in.

There are a couple of things you might try to help with holding the arms in place (also depends on the strength of the magnets):

- Run a bead of PVA glue around the edge of the socket

- Coat the ball with PVA

Dry PVA is quite rubbery and helps parts to grip.

I think that's looking good, much more refined then how mine look without their shoulder guards.

I like BloodQuest's suggestion, I will try it on my own Kanz. With mine the arm tends to sit in a decent place, not really dynamic, but frankly the Killa Kan kit doesn't lend itself to crazy poses without conversion.

Thanks! I'm pretty happy with the look of it.

That's a great idea, BloodQuest, thanks! I'm trying the bead around the rim of the socket first, I'll report back when it's dried and I see how it works.