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Hello Again Dakka!

Once again I seek your wisdom in modelling and painting. As an IG player, I am seeking to magnetize my Leman Russ tanks. I know there are many articles out there on magnetization, and I have read many, but what many of them leave out, is the size of the magnets that are used. Usually, the authors only list the diameter, but not the magnet's measurements for its thickness/depth.

I am only interested in magnetizing the weapons for the side sponsons and the hull mounted lascannon/heavy bolter. I want to keep the "housing" for the side sponsons glued to the tank as I plan to use my tanks to support infantry advances and want to field as much firepower on them as possible. Additionally, I'm planning on using forgeworld turrets for my Russ variants further down the road because I think they look cooler, so I'm not too concerned about how to magnetize the tank's main gun.

What is the best size magnet to use for these parts of the tank? I've seen articles varying from 1/16 to 1/8, but haven't found any info on the magnets' depth/thickness. I've never magnetized anything before, but I want the weapons to appear as if they're glued to the model and not sagging. I was planning on just buying a "starter" magnetization kit from thewarstore that includes magnets and a drill bit for them, but I wanted to check with you all first regarding what size magnets to buy. I figured 1/8 would be a good place to start for magnet diameter on the sponson and hull weapons, but does the thickness matter at all in terms of the magnet's strength/polarity?

Thank you all in advance for your advice!

For my Land Raiders, I used these:

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=D201

They were the perfect size to fit inside the mounting holes. Remember, you can always stack magnets to increase the pull. When I magnetize arm sockets (hive tryant for example), I'll use 2 or 3 to a side.

Thanks so much Ifurita. I kind of overlooked the fact that you could stack them to increase their strength and pull!

I just use the largest magnets that will fit. Measure the space available and order to suit. I keep 1/8", 1/4", and 3/8" handy as they seem to be the most common and will order whatever else I find I need.

You can increase magnet strength by stacking them but to reach maximum magnet strength you need a steel cup surround all sides of the magnet you aren't using. The only place I know of that sells them is Lee Valley tools and they only go down to 1/4" magnets.

Alternatively you can put steel disks behind the magnets which will also increase the strength but not as much as covering all unused sides. Should be able to find steel washers in all necessary sizes at any hardware store. Just make sure they are steel and not zinc; bring a magnet to test them. It's useful if you are in a spot where there isn't enough room to stack multiple magnets as a washer is usually quite a bit thinner.