So who can tell me all about this whole "magnets" thing?

[direweasel]

I am FINALLY in possession of my first unit of Doomfire Warlocks, made a trip to my not-so-local gamestore this week. My gaming budget for June, July, and August had been eaten up in anticipation of GenCon, so I am just now able to buy stuff again. I'm thrilled to have them. Going to buy another box soonish.

Anyway, I've seen posts and hints about using magnets to dual-purpose units. I particularly remember seeing one about using a Cauldron/Shrine interchangeably, and I think the idea is brilliant. I've seen the magnets for sale on eBay, they look pretty cheap. I think I saw 100 of them for $16. That's WAY cheaper than another box of light cav and I'd presumably still have a ton left over for other projects.

So, I'm looking to all of you for help in this; I've not been disappointed in the past when doing so. I want to build the horse as normal, and the legs and lower body attach directly to the horse. No problem. What I want to do from there is have the torsos magnetically interchangeable. So I want to paint up the Warlock torsos and heads (doing a drow skin theme on them btw), and then I want to do the dark riders torsos. But I've never done this before and I'm nervous about it.

Also, once I buy these magnets, am I right in thinking I can more or less forget about having to pin larger models anymore? Pinning has had mixed results for me - I either suck at it, or it's just not as good in practice as it seems to be in theory. My pin joins often either don't fit together properly, or they do fit, but don't stay joined well. I'd say I'm about 50/50 on getting my pinnings to stay pinned for an extended period. So can I use magnets on large models in the same way I would pin them to hold joins together? For example, for those of you with the Manticore Beastmaster mini that is now out of print, mine keeps losing his tail. Would magnets be an effective solution there as well?

Thanks in advance to any and all help and advice I can get on this. In fact, if somebody has the wherewithal to do a tutorial of some kind on it, I would appreciate it greatly!!

[Malys the younger]

I just used magnets on my dark riders/warlocks a few weeks ago with great success. As far as pinning goes, it depends on the model. I have magnetized Khaine to the Cauldron of Blood and he will stand up right but he is still a little top heavy and can tip. Rare earth magnets are strong, but again, it depends on the model. I don't know if magnets are a complete replacement for pinning, it would depend on the weights of the model components.

I use a dremel bit to bore a small hole in the torsos. There is already a natural groove in there so use that as guidance. If you are worried about them lining up correctly, particularly on larger, flatter areas, you can glue one magnet into place and add attach another magnet to that one. Apply a dot of paint on the bottom of the magnet and place it where model pieces go together. This should leave a small guide mark to aid in drilling.

The key thing is to make sure your magnets are polarized correctly before gluing them in place. I don't say this to insult your intelligence but rather because I've done it myself

If you still have any doubts just use a test model first. Good luck!

[Scythe]

I've done the same procedure as Malys, and if you ask me it's totally doable. The Dark Rider torsos were much easier to drill a hole into and place a magnet, as there is the recess already there. Drilling into the Warlock torsos was a much more precarious task, and in the end I had to do some patching up with green stuff. Nonetheless, ended up working out great!

[Malys the younger]

Scythe is correct. I should have included the warlock pics in the post. I didnt have to patch anything up but it is a little more careful work. Just take your time and you'll do fine.

[direweasel]

Sweet thanks!

[ferny]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwVDDxoKBk4

[Bobruisk]

I would have left the crossbow and sword of the horse though!

[Heartsbane]

Slight addition to what has already been said: 16 cents per magnet might seem cheap compared to another box of models, but it's still pricey for magnets! A 2 minute check of ebay showed that £5 (approx $8) per hundred seems to be available from a range of suppliers, such as http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/50-N52-tiny-Neodymium-disk-magnets-3mm-dia-x-1-5mm-magic-wargames-craft-models-/141107827139?pt=UK_Toys_Wargames_RL&hash=item20daae91c3 (disclaimer, I've never bought from them, they just happened to be a cheap seller who popped up on my first page of search results)

[CitizenKhaine]

another good location is Deal Extreme[url]dx.com[/url]
There stuff is really cheap and free worldwide shipping. You can buy stuff cheaper than it would be cost to ship it!
I have bought stuff from DX.Com and although it can take 5-6 weeks to deliver but the magnets are great.