Magnetizing 40k

A couple months ago I posted about my Black Templars army. What I did not show then was all the magnetizing I did on it, so to allow the models to work with different weapons and stuff.

Let's see some of those conversions here:

 One of my Predators

That tank shown above has several magnets. First, let's check the turret:

I used a piece of  T-shaped sprue to work as a stand for the magnet on the hull. Another magnet goes on the turret. There was some careful measuring to place the hull magnet in the exact height needed to contact the turret magnet, without being so high that the turret would be hanging without contacting the hull itself.

After the work was done, I gained a 360° turning turret that stays firmly fixed on the tank's hull, without risk of falling off.

I also magnetized the sponsors:

A close look reveals one magnet on the sponsor support, and another on the weapon top

The magnet on the lascannon

The magnet on the sponsor support

Not only those magnets allow for 180° turning without risk of breakage (anyone who handles 40k tank sponsors know how fragile those plastic turning pieces are), but also allow for easy exchange of weapons:

Magnetized heavy bolter

Finally, I magnetized the weapon on the turret, too, so I can have the option to use the twinlinked lascannon or the autocannon.

Here is how I magnetized the turret. One magnet is enough, no need of using on both sides of the openning. I had to drill deep to create room for the magnet, or else the weapon wouldn't fit in after that.

And if you use a single magnet on the turret, you only need to fit a magnet on one side of the weapon, of course...

Did the same thing with the dreadnoughts, which now all have interchangeable arms/weapons.

Now let's take a look on the Land Speeders. I'm particularly happy with them:

The crewman holding the Multimelta has a magnet between his hands. There is also a magnet on the weapon botton:

The bolter that comes along in the Land Speeder box has also been magnetized, and so now I can exchange them whenever needed. Also, showing weapon destroyed results are pretty obvious now (of course, the same works for all other magnetizd models, such as the tanks and dreadnoughts).

The missile launchers received magnets, too. Check the magnet on bottom of the weapon piece, and another on the speeder's internal compartment.

A closer look on the magnet placed on the vehicle

The flight stand got magnetized, too, so to make it easy to represent when the ship gets a immobilized hit (simply take away the base). It also makes transport waaay easier/safer.

(Never mind the terrain work I did on the base. I'm still learning how to do realistic rocks/grass)

Finnaly, we have the Vindicator tank, which got some magnets on its dozer blade:

Here again, drilling was necessary to create room for magnets. The one on the dozer blade is barely visible because I glued it in before painting.

The final aspect of the model is perfect. The dozer blade stays firmly in place:

Held aloft...

...Aaand upside down!

Some additional dreadnought weapons I'm working on already got their magic metal pieces:

2 Lascannons, an Asault Cannon and a Plasma Cannon, along with a pair of sponsor heavy bolters

And last, but certainly not least, I found a guy on ebay who makes resin bits for 40k (bitspudlo_com), mostly those which are mentioned in the rules, but never got released by GW (!).

I purchased 2 razorback Lascannons with Twinlinked Plasma Guns, for U$13.00 each:

It goes without saying that I used magnets on them, too...

The models came fit for turret turning, already, but since it was all resin, the risk of that mechanism breaking eventually was big.

And here it is, 2 fully and safely moveable sets ready for painting!

*End of Transmission*