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Hello, as the title suggests Ive never worked with magnets before and want to do some pieces how do I do them and what magnets do I need for each piece.

Storm raven
Riptide
Marine back packs
Marine rifles

Get a calliper and check how much room for magnets you have, leave some safety margin and drill away. Use a hand vise to avoid drilling through. Get an assortment of magnets to be ready for different needs. I use 3mm to 6mm round rod magnets (1/8" to 2/8") for vehicles.

I recommend to avoid magnetizing generic infantry unless the model cost really makes it worthwhile. 3x1mm discs are suitable for marine arms and backpacks.

http://www.miniwargaming.com/magnet-guide#Space%20Marines

Here is a good list to help you out some. Won't have the Storm Raven or Riptide on it.

I usually use 3mm x 1mm, 2mm x 1mm or some smaller 1/16 x 1/32 for my space marines and figures. I also just hand drill ever hole, using a bit and my fingers, so I have more control and don't go to far into the model.

If you're going for rectangular models, use rectangular magnets, they will do better

One thing to remember that many tutorials don't mention - magnets have much higher pull strength than shear strength (i.e. they slide off more easily than they pull straight off). If a part is mechanically supported, it doesn't take much magnetic assistance to keep it from popping off. If it isn't, you need a lot of pull and surface area to keep the joint completely stable.

I tend to favor smaller magnets (2-3mm disks, 1-1.5mm thick), keeping that fact in mind, as they're more flexible. I can fit one in a wrist for weapon swaps, but they still work for vehicles - I completely magnetized my Predator using the same little guys. For something like Ork walkers or AC arms on dreads, where long, projecting parts cause enough torque to make the parts sag using even larger magnets, supplement with pins. Two pins negates the torque issue, meaning a little magnet to keep the parts in place is all it takes.

Protip: Always double (or triple) check polarity before gluing! Magnets aren't hard to install, even when countersunk (my preferred method), but they're a right to remove. Do it right the first time and you'll save yourself a lot of time and a serious headache. Some people color one face on all their magnets, others install them in a stack, others make a "magnet bar" (bit of sprue with a marked north and south end, with corresponding magnets in each)... whatever you chosen method of checking, do it religiously.

[edit:] typo

 oadie wrote:

I tend to favor smaller magnets (2-3mm disks, 1-1.5mm thick), keeping that fact in mind, as they're more flexible. I can fit one in a wrist for weapon swaps, but they still work for vehicles - I completely magnetized my Predator using the same little guys. For something like Ork walkers or AC arms on dreads, where long, projecting parts cause enough torque to make the parts sag using even larger magnets, supplement with pins. Two pins negates the torque issue, meaning a little magnet to keep the parts in place is all it takes.

My Skimmers are on 8mm x1mm x3.

I believe it's a lot better to use bigger magnets than pins.

Pins introduce another problem in my opinion, where the magnet can solve everything.

Plus, any magnet you like is just available in quantities of fifty for 3 bucks shipping included on ebay, so why limit yourself to the very weak 3mm x 1mm discs.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 oadie wrote:
One thing to remember that many tutorials don't mention - magnets have much higher pull strength than shear strength (i.e. they slide off more easily than they pull straight off). If a part is mechanically supported, it doesn't take much magnetic assistance to keep it from popping off. If it isn't, you need a lot of pull and surface area to keep the joint completely stable.

Instead of pinning, you should try countersinking one of the two magnets slightly too far, and the other one just too little, it would give you that shear protection while making the whole process a lot simpler.

2mm will fit into the wrist of a marine, but be very tight. They work fine for shoulders and backpacks though. For backpacks, if you leave the nub on and put the magnet above it, everything stays in place very well.

Thank you all so much this really helps!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I'm super unsure about this but the pieces I want to do aka storm raven, riptide and space hulk terms are so large it should *crosses fingers* work but you never know if the warp will rear it's ugly head

morgoth wrote:
Instead of pinning, you should try countersinking one of the two magnets slightly too far, and the other one just too little, it would give you that shear protection while making the whole process a lot simpler.

An elegant solution if the magnet is too weak to keep the parts from sliding right off, but I chose my words poorly - I was talking about (trying to, at least ) parts rotating, e.g. a front-heavy dread arm always ending up pointed at the ground. For the depth adjustment to prevent that, you'd need a tight friction fit of the projecting magnet into the recessed ones hole. At that point, there's no reason to use magnets, at all - a plastic peg, a la snap-fit kits, would serve just as well.

I should have mentioned that I was also talking about small to medium scale magnetizing jobs (crew, turrets, wargear options, etc), exclusively. If I was magnetizing a whole vehicle to a flying stand, I'd certainly go bigger, as well as relying on a mechanical joint (no need for pins when you're already dealing with a rod in a hole). On my (long neglected) Warhound scratchbuild, I used a pair of 1/4"x1/8" N42 disks against a steel washer (in a tubular coupling, allowing for both stability and free rotation) for each weapon. Big magnets have their place, just not (IMO) in what I consider 'standard' magnetizing jobs.

Yes most of the jibs I have slated are small end but riptidea gun is rather..large so I imagine that will be a bigger piece I just need to assemble him first