NICE!

I'll have to try that if mine start falling apart!

If you magnetize the B's so they rotate, you should magnetize the cockpit as well. It's attached via a small peg, comes apart pretty easy on most of them. Just carefully wedge an Xacto knife in there and twist to pry it off.

Last reply by me. To decrease topple, especially with large ships, apply a light layer of super glue to the bearing. It will create the friction to stabilize the model for general use.

So, to those that have modded some of their ships... What do you think the feasability would be to be able to reliably countersink the doughnut magnets to have them flush with each ship?

I love the concept but I'm not a fan of all the "excess" metallic visual addition.

And for those ships that for whatever reason it would not be an option, what do you think would be the reality of actually painting the doughnut magnets so they "blend in" with the ship's color scheme better?

The problem I keep having with magnetizing models is that the magnets won't STAY stuck. Generally, after a dozen or so uses the magnet breaks off of the model. By the time I get one that seems to stay put permanently I end up with a huge glob of crystallized superglue surrounding the magnet, which looks horrific.

I think its a matter of the constant "clicking" together of the magnets creates minute shock waves in the glue causing it to eventually break, a situation that gets worse if I use accelerant, which makes the glue more brittle to begin with.

Have you tried roughing up the magnet surface a little bit (aka scoring) with sandpaper? It helps provide more surface area for bonding between the two items. I used the technique often in ceramics when attaching things like handles to a mug/vase before putting it in the kiln.

On my tie fighters that I magnetized, I acrually inset the magnets into the bottom of the model.. haven't had one come out at all..

I inset a ball bearing into the bottom of an advanced and it works freat and looks ok.. I have only as much of the bearing showing as would look good on the bottom of the ship.. so very little showing, and it looks great and looks like it is just part of the underside...

What size ring magnets do you use on the smaller ships? I've used 10mm spherical magnets on the yt1300 and a conical washer that we have lots of at my work. I've also done 3mm magnets and 3mm washers on the smaller ships, but ring magnets intrigue me.

What size ring magnets do you use on the smaller ships? I've used 10mm spherical magnets on the yt1300 and a conical washer that we have lots of at my work. I've also done 3mm magnets and 3mm washers on the smaller ships, but ring magnets intrigue me.

If this is directed at the original post, I included my shopping list for your convenience.

I used Gorilla Glue branded "crazy glue gel" to put these on all of my small ships:

KJ Magnetics - R421

These on a bunch of small pegs: (I have a ton of ships, so I only did 25 or so pegs - I mostly play at home with my son so I need to be able to field two lists at once and they often clock in at well over 100 points per side, so I erred on the side of extra.)

KJ Magnetics - NSB3

I just wanted to say thanks for the original post and all the links. I have almost finished magnetizing my entire fleet and couldn't be happier with the results. The Slave I mods were a little nerve-wracking, but came out nicely.

I just wanted to say thanks for the original post and all the links. I have almost finished magnetizing my entire fleet and couldn't be happier with the results. The Slave I mods were a little nerve-wracking, but came out nicely.

Thanks!

To be fair, there were a few scattered posts regarding magnetizing at the time. I consolidated a lot of info and put it all in one place, but I couldn't have done it without the members who magnetized before me.

The Firespray, though - you kind of look at it and realize there's just NO going back if you F it all up (and have piss-poor modelling skillz, like me).

The Firespray, though - you kind of look at it and realize there's just NO going back if you F it all up (and have piss-poor modelling skillz, like me).

Yeah, I started to drill on the model and came to the realization that the 3/8" bit I had was probably not going to work. I bought a different bit and everything went fine, but like you say, you're either going to get it right or buy a new one.

I'm curious about if reasonable effects can be achieved by putting the magnet on the bottom of the peg and the ball on the base, and then securing the peg to the Ship via glue of some sort. It solves the issue of ships going funny with magnets, but keeps the problem of separation from happening still I think. It also might be a strange concept to just speak about, I might try it and report back.

awesome work, nice upgrades, I never use magnets, maybe I should try

Doing my first run with these, I bought the exact same magnets that were listed in the original post, trying with just glue to start with, also as soon as I get some epoxy in the mail will try some with that too, will post the results. Thanks for the great info on magnets to use and how to do it. I've monkeyed around with magnets on a lot of different projects over the years but this will be my first attempt using them to base such small minis.

So you use the same size of ring magnets for two different sizes of steel balls? Is that right?

So, necro'ing the heck outta this one.

I just got a bunch of these, and have an issue with the large-based ships. They flop around a lot. I need some suggestions on how to get them to move less.

Have you tried roughing up the spheres and magnets?

Have you tried roughing up the spheres and magnets?

A little. Need to go and actually get sandpaper...

How well does that work? Any problems afterwards? I really need this to work, or I'll have no more large ships!

Have you tried roughing up the spheres and magnets?

A little. Need to go and actually get sandpaper...

How well does that work? Any problems afterwards? I really need this to work, or I'll have no more large ships!

Using sandpaper on the ball bearings works very well. I have converted all of my ships with these magnets both large and small. Painting the pegs/ball bearings with a matt paint also helps a ton. The biggest thing is to make sure your magnet is on the true center of gravity for the ship. For some ships this location is not where the peg used to be.

Guys, I just finished my Decimator with magnets and I have an issue with the position of the magnet. It turns out that the peg spot on the miniature is not on the weight center and now the ship leans back all the time. I did some modifications and it will work, but if someone wants to mod the Decimator, I advice to place the magnet next to the turret instead of the peg spot. I also found that using oval head screw works better than metal ball on the peg.I could post some picture if someone is interested with the steps of how to do the mount.

Guys, I just finished my Decimator with magnets and I have an issue with the position of the magnet. It turns out that the peg spot on the miniature is not on the weight center and now the ship leans back all the time. I did some modifications and it will work, but if someone wants to mod the Decimator, I advice to place the magnet next to the turret instead of the peg spot. I also found that using oval head screw works better than metal ball on the peg.I could post some picture if someone is interested with the steps of how to do the mount.

Would be interested. One of my children broke off a Hawk. Now I am playing around with a magnetic solution. Only got 3mm flat supermagnets. So I am planning to have the magnet on the stand, and an oval headed screw or nail in the Hawk.

Have you tried roughing up the spheres and magnets?

A little. Need to go and actually get sandpaper...

How well does that work? Any problems afterwards? I really need this to work, or I'll have no more large ships!

A little sandpaper worked well for me. Carefully adding a thin layer of super glue (accidentally, in my case) also contributes just enough friction to keep the big ships nice and stable.

Guys, I just finished my Decimator with magnets and I have an issue with the position of the magnet. It turns out that the peg spot on the miniature is not on the weight center and now the ship leans back all the time. I did some modifications and it will work, but if someone wants to mod the Decimator, I advice to place the magnet next to the turret instead of the peg spot. I also found that using oval head screw works better than metal ball on the peg.I could post some picture if someone is interested with the steps of how to do the mount.

Yeah, this is why I posted pics of exactly where I placed the magnets, because some of them have their pegs off their proper center of gravity.

The HWK needed to go substantially back from the peg, but the Decimators I got to work by going just a little back. As I recall, everything else worked fine at the original peg location. (Caveat - I haven't done Wave 7 yet.)

For the 1300 I actually moved the magnet back a little just so I could mount the lower quads properly - It's actually not on the proper center of gravity anymore, but it's close enough that it hasn't given me any trouble.

eta: I'm totally interested in your oval head screw method. Please elaborate!

For reference:

B-wing Detail:

As you can see, so long as there's just a little overhang on the steel ball, the B-wing will mount nicely. I was pretty lazy, so I just glued the ring magnets over the engines. Another option would be to glue the magnet to the end of the bent peg that used to stick out the back. I'm pretty happy with it as they are, though.

Small Rebel Mounts:

For the rest of the small Rebel craft, the magnets go pretty much right where you expect them to. The X-wing magnets are on a slope, but once it gets mounted on the steel ball, it works perfectly. I put the magnet for the HWK a little closer to it's natural center of gravity.

Large Base Rebels:

So yeah, I'll cover a B-wing's engines and not think twice about it. But do you know what's ALWAYS bugged me? The quads on the underside of the Falcon being mounted backwards. If they were just POINTED backwards, that would have been fine, but since the gunner is supposed to be sitting in the window, aiming more or less straight down the barrels, I always hated how they had to be mounted to accommodate the factory peg. So with a little careful prying and cutting and gluing, I reattached the lower quads the right way and I'm MUCH happier with it.

. . .

Small Imperial Mounts:

Like their Rebel counterparts, the magnets get mounted pretty much right where you'd expect. It's a little tricky to get them just exactly right on the TIE balls, that's where I got the most glue on my hands, but it all worked out pretty well.

Large Imperial Mounts:

When it comes to mounting magnets on TIEs, I managed to avoid gluing myself pretty easily. Dab of glue on the ship, then hold a toothpick in the glue, slide magnet down toothpick, and remove pick before glue dries.

A few bags of magnets finally turned up from the US! Revisiting this topic before I get gluing and the one question I have to ask is did you make that awesome 3D background yourself?!