Just note the YT-1300 will not hold very strong, test it first before giving it the magnet love. That will make sure it holds to your expectation.

I really like the solution you have for the Defender, brilliant!

Hmm, you're making me a bit anxious about doing it to the YT-1300; I wouldn't know how to test it beforehand :S

If I knew you lived close to me is let you see mine, I live in Ohio. The thread about painting the pegs has tightened up the slop in the hold a lot.

Heh, I live in the Netherlands... I'll buy you a few beers once you do come over to show it though

I have no clue what you meant with your second sentence, is that a saying specific to the Ohio-region?

Well I magnetized the YT-1300 and Lambda-class Shuttle, and both initially were unstable (when tilted too far they would slide all the way to the bottom of the ballbearing). But after sanding the nickel ball, they now stay in every position I tilt them in.

I also sanded the steel ball. The thing that really stopped the sliding was painting the pegs and balls.

What tool did you use to cut away part of the Firespray? I'm afraid I'll injure myself badly

Also, the HWK-290 turret just screamed "make me rotatable!":

As you can see, I did not glue the ringmagnet on the spot where the peg originally was, but instead further back towards the center of gravity of the model. This leaves room for the rotating turret.

I heated up an X-Acto Knife. this way it melted it's way through. The plastic is fairly thick in that section and very difficult to cut. you just need to be careful to not touch the model with the hot knife as it will melt very quickly where you don't intend to cut it.

What tool did you use to cut away part of the Firespray? I'm afraid I'll injure myself badly

Also, the HWK-290 turret just screamed "make me rotatable!":

As you can see, I did not glue the ringmagnet on the spot where the peg originally was, but instead further back towards the center of gravity of the model. This leaves room for the rotating turret.

That turned out great man!

That turned out great man!

Lol, No pun intended right

Great thread guys! I think I'm going to convert my fleet to magnets now

Not sure if anyone mentioned this already (please excuse me if I missed it) but there's a very very easy way to avoid doing anything to the ship itself while achieving the exact same effect the OP describes.

Instead of cutting the ships's stand thingie and glueing the metal washer there, you can simply get small nuts of the exact gauge as the stand and wlightly screw it on there - I found some pretty standard nuts that fit neatly with just a little rotation and they stay there securely without damaging the base itself, so if you decide go back to the stock stands, you got that as an option too.

The downside is of course that those nuts and the magent ball are more visible but it's something you can live with. You can minimise this by spraying all the nuts, magents and the stand stems black.

I'll post photos tomorrow - all my X-Wing stuff is at the office!

Cheers

That turned out great man!

Lol, No pun intended right

Wuz accident!

Not sure if anyone mentioned this already (please excuse me if I missed it) but there's a very very easy way to avoid doing anything to the ship itself while achieving the exact same effect the OP describes.

Instead of cutting the ships's stand thingie and glueing the metal washer there, you can simply get small nuts of the exact gauge as the stand and wlightly screw it on there - I found some pretty standard nuts that fit neatly with just a little rotation and they stay there securely without damaging the base itself, so if you decide go back to the stock stands, you got that as an option too.

The downside is of course that those nuts and the magent ball are more visible but it's something you can live with. You can minimise this by spraying all the nuts, magents and the stand stems black.

I'll post photos tomorrow - all my X-Wing stuff is at the office!

Cheers

Am eagerly anticipating your photos! :]

After a slight delay - this is how my mods look like. Note that I haven't sprayed all my rods yet and the rare earth magents I use are green - getting a set of black ones soon!

Also the ones here use two nuts - one on the ships base and another on the rod. The second can be replaced by glueing the magnet to the rod itself (which I'll do once I get the black magnets)

After a slight delay - this is how my mods look like. Note that I haven't sprayed all my rods yet and the rare earth magents I use are green - getting a set of black ones soon!

Also the ones here use two nuts - one on the ships base and another on the rod. The second can be replaced by glueing the magnet to the rod itself (which I'll do once I get the black magnets)

Wowzers!

You went all out huh?

I just picked up both Wave 5 ships and the magnets are inbound from K&J. I should be able to get pics up this weekend.

personally I'd recess the ring magnet into the model, this would give a cleaner appearance and avoid the issues people are having getting the magnet on their ties.

Dang! That looks great, I've been wanting to do this upgrade too, but I've not had the opportunities to play as much as I'd like, and I've been spending time in other hobbies over the summer. Maybe Fall/Winter will change my X-Wing time, either way: Great mod and great pics guys! I really want to do this.