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I gotta make a new display base since I left my old one at a tournament and it grew legs and followed someone else home ... a fella in my game group ordered a big roll of a magnetic sheet from a sign printing place.. and made magnetic bases for his fantasy army.. so I was wondering, could that be done for a display base? Like if I lined a 2x2 board with it, flocked & painted over it, then stuck those little rare earth magnets to the bottom of the model bases, would they "stick' to the board? Or would all those teeny rocks and static grass make it hard for the magnets to work? just thinking it might make for safer carrying at crowded tournaments and stuff. Wadayas think?

It does take some effort, but it absolutely can work.

I saw an army and board on Saturday which used a more labor-intensive method. The player drilled out holes in the display board for the bases of the models to rest in. He glued metal washers just smaller than the bases into the bottoms of the holes, and put magnets on the bottoms of his models. He also put larger piles of washers in different spots around the board and magnets inside his vehicles, which sat over the piles of washers. At one point I saw him walking with the army on the board and it tucked under his arm at about a 45 degree angle, and everything was on solid. Very cool.

I expect that whether your models stay stuck to a metal or magnetic sheet which is covered by paint and flock and stuff is entirely dependent on the strength of the magnets. You can get some very strong Rare Earth Magnets out there.

I thought about trying something like that actually... but I didn't want to make holes for all the models since I want it to be a "multi army" base.. so I figured a magnetic sheet with mini magnets under the bases would work.. or would I want it to be a metal sheet for the magnets to stick to?

I am currently trying this. The magnetic sheet with the washers on the models works... ok. It helps with walking around but would not hold on if you tipped it upside-down. Since washers on the models makes the game easier for slopes and having the models climb things, I am keeping the washers but I am going to go the route of embeded rare earth magnets in the tray. Nothing too fancy since I have over 60 mutants and traitors but something effective.

With my current setup I had them in the back seat while I was driving some !@#$% pulled out to cross my lane. I should have tank shocked her but didn't. The models moved off the magnetic base and pilled into each other. One was damaged enough to split in two but the rest were ok. The magnet sheet was not enough to keep the washer bases still.

I use a piece of sheet metal, and ten add terrain too the sheet metal leaving areas where i want to place figures . then i use a thin rare earth magnet and a washer it holds the figure in place even upside down. After all that i get a picture frame like from (Michaels or walmart were you can have them customed made to fit the sheet metal..
sheet metal cost about 6 dollars
washers a bx of 200 for 2 dollars
frames is any were from 5 to 35 dollars
and the magnets I get off Ebay from 3.99 too 12.99 depending on the strenght i need
so the whole thing cost no more then 50. dollars and it looks great

Could you post a pic, Kult? I am curious to see some of these set-ups.

I used a product called "papersteel" back before Neodynum magnets became widely available and cheap. Still works great too, as the papersteel is thin but you get a very large ferrous surface area to use.

GW made a nice article awhile back on doing this. Here is a nice step by step article.

One caveat though, theyy will tell you to use foamcore for the top. Rubbish. use another piece of MDF board for the top. if youre going to spend the dough on a compass, you may as well buy hole saws for that price.

here is the article.

us.games-workshop.com/games/40k/painting/display/default.htm

Sorry if this is jacking the thread, but... If one were to go with rare earth magnets rather than this magnetic paper stuff, what size is good to keep models firmly affixed to a display board? I'm looking at a site that has some really small ones, and the smallest range from .67 lbs. of force to about 2 lbs. per magnet.  I want to keep a bunch of the metal grey knight terminators stuck on tight (those guys are much heavier than plastic), but not so strong that the termies get ripped off their bases trying to pick them up.

My concern would be magnet polarity. The little rare earth magnets are extremely potent, far more so than the magnet sheet. And barring extreme care on your part, the polarity on the magnets will differ from one model to the next (depending which end is up). As the sheet is some weird hybrid material, I see it's own magnetic field completely wiped out with very little use. After that, you have only the attraction of the magnets themselve to the semi-ferrous material of the sheet.

I'd recommend just sheet metal. Can be found at hardware stores, and is reasonably cheap. If you want to cut it, you'll need some decent snips, though. And it's got sharp edges.

Does anyone have a copy of the article from the GW site? It's not there anymore. I would like to do this with my Imperial Guard army.

Those neodymium iron boron magnets are crazy strong. I use a pair of those to hold my titan together through about 1cm of space and green stuff.

Look at the Uk GW site only the US site changed so the UK site might still have it, its at least worth the shot.

mDaro wrote:Does anyone have a copy of the article from the GW site? It's not there anymore. I would like to do this with my Imperial Guard army.

The Wayback Machine is your friend:

http://web.archive.org/web/20070807053903/http://us.games-workshop.com/games/40k/painting/display/default.htm

Also check weetoysoldiers, as there is a 'magnetic paint' (really, just a paint with metal filings in it to make it respond to magnets). That might work too.

do a google search for magnetic paint

If paint and flock are between the model and the board, you will need sheet metal on the board, and neodymium (rare earth) magnets in your mini bases. I buy 1/4" disc magnets about 1/16" thick. I used to use spacers to get the magnets to sit flush with the bottom edge of the base, but I found an easier way.

Mix up a ball of green stuff and put a small bit on the magnet then insert into the base. Take the model and press it down onto an Altoids tin or a piece of sheet metal. The magent is now perfectly spaced flush with the base. Allow to dry then slide the model off the metal. Add super glue with accelerator to secure the magnet further, or go the extra mile and add number 8 or 9 shotshell shot into the base. Add super glue up to the edge of the base and spray with accelerator.

It really doesn't take long and serves two important purposes. The magnet will be completely secured in the base, and the models will be extra stable on hills and sloped terrain. On plastic models it will also help to keep the magnets from jumping together when you are moving the unit.

Good luck!

Hellfury wrote:

mDaro wrote:Does anyone have a copy of the article from the GW site? It's not there anymore. I would like to do this with my Imperial Guard army.

The Wayback Machine is your friend:

http://web.archive.org/web/20070807053903/http://us.games-workshop.com/games/40k/painting/display/default.htm

You rock my friend! Thank you.