Hobby Basics- Magnetizing How Does it Work?

Posted by Man Boy Genius Monday, September 26, 2011

It's the age old question- Magnets how do they work?

Some say magic, but I am almost 100% sure Tom Cruise has something to do with it.  Regardless, they just work and its awesome!

Today we have a Two-Fer for you, how to magnetize your Stormraven, and how to magnetize stuff in general.

So back earlier in the year I posted up my Stormraven assembly guide, and explained how to magnetize the kit. Well it turns out I was a little magnet crazy, and you don't really need that many magnets to keep this kit together.

After I magnetized the first one, it was so heavy in the back that it rose up off the ground on it's rear skids like a firebird funny car!  Not good.....

I think because Games Workshop designs kits on the computer now they have such tight tolerances (uniformity of the gaps between each part), that most stuff just sticks together with little or no meddling.  Once you paint it, the parts are even more secure.

Magnetizing 101

Let's take another look at this Stormraven kit and how to magnetize it. As it turns out, you only need one set of magnets to make the wings stay on!

To magnetize your model, you will need a few things; glue, kicker, and the magnets/ a drill that matches them.

I use use the pump kicker, as spraying the stuff gives me nausea.  You can use any super glue with the kicker really, Zap, GF9, or P3 it all works fine for this.

First off build a superstructure for a magnet under the intake assembly out of spare sprue. Be sure to dry fit the magnet to so it sits flush with the bottom of the intake, that way everything sits flat on the jet itself.

Use some plastic glue on the sprue and super glue on the magnet to lock it down. Now go back and add a tad of kicker to the superglue around the magnet to accelerate the drying process on this one. If you have to add more glue to secure the magnet as well!

When using kicker- take the nozzle out of the bottle and gently depress the top, which drips some kicker out of the bottom feeder tube.

This way there is no spray and the kicker goes right where u need it.

For the magnet itself, use a 3/8" x 1/16" thick one and line it up to mate to a 1/4" one in the jet.  Because the first one is nice and big, if you messed up lining up the two magnets chances are it would still be close and the whole thing would still work.

Next up just put a ton of sharpie marker, or paint, on the magnet and push it flat into place. Now it should have rubbed off some and you will see the place where you can drill the other magnet so they will line up.

Get out your handy drill and make a 1/4" hole for the next magnet. When mating magnets into recesses I like to dry fit them to make sure they'll work right. After that take a stack of the magnets you are going to use, and dribble some kicker down them.

Then after checking your polarities with the top magnet, put a tab of glue in the hole, and insert your magnet stack.

I like using magnets in stacks because it gives you better control of them. You can also gauge the depth of the hole you are putting them into using the lines between each one.

That way no matter how deep the hole is you can generally line a magnet up flush to the top.

So now you magnet should be glued firmly into place.  Test out the pull of the two together and then stick on the wings and you're done!

Now your Stormraven will break down for storage easier!  No expensive or large foams required!

I put a few shots of my new Iron Hands Stormraven for you to checkout below.