SEARCH FINESCALE.COM

Enter keywords or a search phrase below:

Large, heavy figures, rare earth magnets for attach points?

846 views
5 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    November 2005
Large, heavy figures, rare earth magnets for attach points?
Posted by Anonymous on Monday, March 22, 2004 4:53 PM
This pertains to Warhammer (GW) figures, but could be applicable to any large figure.

I'm building my first Dreadnought, which is a heavy, pewter figure. The arms alone weigh almost 10oz. Obviously, glue won't keep these things attached (with game handling, transportation, etc), and I'd always read one normally uses pins to keep the articulating parts on the main body.

Recently, however, I came across a post in the GW forums discussing the use of rare earth magnets, extremely powerful, even in small quantities. Anyone use these?
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Monday, March 22, 2004 5:22 PM
Never used them, but you can salvage them from old Sonicare tooth brush heads. They are small, but very strong magnets. Maybe not Sumarium-Cobalt, but they are powerful.
  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Jacksonville, NC
Posted by Wolfp on Monday, March 22, 2004 5:22 PM
Nope...first I heard of them, I just use epoxy. As long as you can sit still for 5 minutes, you should be fine with it.

J.B. http://photobucket.com/albums/a303/jbrunyon/

    

On the Bench: !/350 TOS Enterprise; 1/72 Tie Interceptor

  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 26, 2004 5:03 PM
I'm a firm believer in pinning but I can testify that the magnets in my 1/32 scale slot cars are incredibly powerful. It's certainly an interesting idea.
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 26, 2004 8:36 PM
Thanks for the info.

If I wasn't interested in articulating my figures, I'd go with the pins. Articulation adds character, and I plan to 'retire' my Elite (I campaign Cool [8D]) units to a diorama some day.
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, April 1, 2004 11:40 PM
I know that people on the Battletech miniature boards have use rareearth magnets to hold swappable arms, but that results were disappointing. While the limbs stay in place, they always "Droop" down. Apparently, the magnets are very good at staying together, but can swivel with very little resistance, so everything always point down.
JOIN OUR COMMUNITY!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

SEARCH FORUMS
FREE NEWSLETTER
By signing up you may also receive reader surveys and occasional special offers. We do not sell, rent or trade our email lists. View our Privacy Policy.