Hello everyone,

In this case I will share with you the process of magnetizing a flying base of a Piranha Light Skimmer

1. Remove the thin top part of the flying base and smooth it using a file.

By nickfun at 2011-07-16

2. Drill 2 holes, one next to the other, on the belly of the skimmer using drill bits of the same diameter as the magnets which are going to be used. Here, I use a 4mmx2mm and a 3mmx2mm (drill bits 4mm & 3mm)

By nickfun at 2011-07-16

3. Secure magnets at the drilled holes with superglue.

By nickfun at 2011-07-16

4. On a plastic card of 1mm thickness drill holes using drill bits with diameter equal to the diameter of the magnets used (4mm&3mm). Then, remove the drilled holes taking care that they are surrounded by sufficient amount of plastic.

By nickfun at 2011-07-16

By nickfun at 2011-07-16

5. Glue the magnets on the holes prepared at the previous step using superglue. Magnets used: 4mmx1mm and 3mmx1mm

By nickfun at 2011-07-16

6. Place the glued magnets of step 5 on the magnets of the belly. From 1mm thickness plastic card cut a piece large enough to cover both magnets and the part of the plastic card which surrounds them. Glue it with plastic glue.

By nickfun at 2011-07-16

By nickfun at 2011-07-16

7. From 0.25 thickness plastic card cut a strip of 1mm height and 10mm length and glue it to the uppermost spot of the flying base forming a spiral. At this point, we have full control of the angulation of the level that the skimmer will be hovering, so a test is advisable.

By nickfun at 2011-07-16

By nickfun at 2011-07-16

By nickfun at 2011-07-16

8. Using plastic glue, glue the flying base at the area of the spiral with the construction of step 6.

By nickfun at 2011-07-16

By nickfun at 2011-07-16

9. Remove the excess of plastic around the magnets of the bases. I did it using a power tool but it can be achieved with a blade and files.

By nickfun at 2011-07-17

That's it. More time takes for the glue to dry than the execution of the steps.


By nickfun at 2011-07-17

The modification of the base can be even less visible by filing down the excess plastic more or by painting it a darker color or same as the skimmer.

From my experience flying bases were a nightmare before the above modification. After my second battle, the thin tip at the top of the base broke and remained stuck at the socket of the vehicles belly and this happened with almost all my Devilfishes and Hammerheads. Furthermore, if there was not a tight fit between the base and the socket, the vehicle used to spin or the base was left at the point were your Hammerhead was at the start of the movement phase!

Thank all Ethereals, all of the above is history. Hope the present article offers some help.

Regards,

Nickfun

Great tutorial nickfun! I had thoughts of using magnetic flying bases for my vehicles as well.

However I seem to be lazier than you, as I just removed the 'thin bit of the flying base if it became stuck, and then enlarged the hole slightly so the larger section fit. Since the section gets wider towards the base, the vehicle doesn't completly sink onto the base.

Works wonders in my opinion

That's what I was going to suggest. Alternatively, I have some Taurus shaped magnets with a hole in the centor that fits over the top part of the flying stand (under the small piece) and can place a second on the vehicle bottom.

See I've now magnetized my Hammerhead's bases and all I did was drill into the underside of the Hammerhead and insert a magnet, then cut the top peg off a flying base and glue a magnet onto that. None of this plasticard biz and it seems to work perfectly fine.

I totally agree with you guys.

The only difference is that I pose the models not on the standard straight and totally level position. I prefer (especially for the piranhas) a little variation so that the squadron does not look as if they are on a parade but having a more 'dynamic' pose as if they are maneuvering. In these cases a single magnet makes the model spin until the heaviest side of the model is at the lower level. In addition, in order to provide the best cover behind my Hammerheads and Devilfishes I used the shorter flying base which (in combination with the big rock I placed on it during basing) did not give me lot of space to go further down on it and I had to use an area of 3mm.

As I told you before I wanted the most permanent solution. Something that will not break not even after an accident. Now I have to wait and time will tell.

Oh geez I didn't think of the rotatey thing!

You probably mentioned it earlier and I skimmed past it, now I feel like a dope. Was wondering why you were using 2 magnets

Yeah I was thinking once I get back to my Piranha I'd like to have it "maneuvering" like you've got there but I totally didn't think of the weight. I've magnetized some Dark Eldar Jetbikes so that they are maneuvering like your Piranhas, but of course they're significantly lighter and just stay on the base without effort.

So anyway, thanks for the tutorial!

Great tutorial nickfun!

The poses you have on the Pirahnas in your picture really make a difference to the model, I may have to use this myself!