Hi everyone, I'm thinking on magnetizing my fleet for the cool factor (and to create a storage where the ships do not move around the box), so some help from people who already magnetized ships will be much appreciated.

I would use K&J Magnetics R421 + NSB3 for small base ships and I was thinking of R622CS-N + NSB4 for large base ( https://www.kjmagnetics.com/blog.asp?p=star-wars-x-wing).

Does anyone have tried this combinations and have some insights? I've seen the small base combination fairly used with small ships but I'm a bit worried with the "larger" ships within the small base group. Also in the K&J blog they mention the NSB6 for the large base but that ball looks way too obvious in the peg so I thought I'll try roughing up the previous one.

Please share any tip/remark/anecdote you have that can help me or anyone thinking on this modification, for example what glue worked best (or worst) for you. Thanks in advance!

Take a look to this thread, everything you want to know is there, and then some. For what I understand of that barbaric unit system, you may be going a bit smaller than you should.

In my case, for small ships I use 5mm balls and 6x2x2 ring magnets. For large ships, 10mm balls and 10x3x3 countersunk magnets. For medium ships (aka ARC-170 and so) I mix small balls and large countersunk magnets.

Superglue is good enough. Although you may want to reinforce the peg-ball/magnet union once it's already dry.

I've seen packs on EBay that are specifically made for XWM. I'd look for those.

1 hour ago, Kharnete said:

Take a look to this thread, everything you want to know is there, and then some. For what I understand of that barbaric unit system, you may be going a bit smaller than you should.

In my case, for small ships I use 5mm balls and 6x2x2 ring magnets. For large ships, 10mm balls and 10x3x3 countersunk magnets. For medium ships (aka ARC-170 and so) I mix small balls and large countersunk magnets.

Superglue is good enough. Although you may want to reinforce the peg-barll/magnet union once it's already dry.

Did you free hand the pin up on your Andrasta? That is fantastic!

You do need a larger magnets on some of the small based ships. It's not a question of size so much as center of gravity. The Quadjumper is one of the worst.

1 hour ago, Kharnete said:

Take a look to this thread, everything you want to know is there, and then some. For what I understand of that barbaric unit system, you may be going a bit smaller than you should.

In my case, for small ships I use 5mm balls and 6x2x2 ring magnets. For large ships, 10mm balls and 10x3x3 countersunk magnets. For medium ships (aka ARC-170 and so) I mix small balls and large countersunk magnets.

Superglue is good enough. Although you may want to reinforce the peg-barll/magnet union once it's already dry.

Did you free hand the pin up on your Andrasta? That is fantastic!

You do need a larger magnets on some of the small based ships. It's not a question of size so much as center of gravity. The Quadjumper is one of the worst.

Starting on p. 4 of the thread linked by @Kharnete , I have pictures up of every ship I've done so far, with magnet positioning and size.

I still need to snap pictures of my Wave 12-13 ships, but the short of it is the Silencer needs a large magnet (duh!), so does the Kimogila, the Gunboat works really nicely with a small magnet, and the Phantom II can go either way. It appears the Phantom II was too small to be hollowed out, yet large enough to weigh quite a bit. It's wobbly on a small magnet. This wave, the centers of gravity are almost entirely not where the pegs were.

I highly recommend getting properly sized Forstner bits, most ships can have their magnet inset which looks good, but also has a larger contact area between the magnet and the ship, ensuring a better glue up.

I also need to post my most recent storage solution, it fits 100 ships in a rather small space, thanks to the magnets. Then again, I just went over 100 small ships, so I need to go back to the drawing board

5 hours ago, drjkel said:

Starting on p. 4 of the thread linked by @Kharnete , I have pictures up of every ship I've done so far, with magnet positioning and size.

I still need to snap pictures of my Wave 12-13 ships, but the short of it is the Silencer needs a large magnet (duh!), so does the Kimogila, the Gunboat works really nicely with a small magnet, and the Phantom II can go either way. It appears the Phantom II was too small to be hollowed out, yet large enough to weigh quite a bit. It's wobbly on a small magnet. This wave, the centers of gravity are almost entirely not where the pegs were.

I highly recommend getting properly sized Forstner bits, most ships can have their magnet inset which looks good, but also has a larger contact area between the magnet and the ship, ensuring a better glue up.

I also need to post my most recent storage solution, it fits 100 ships in a rather small space, thanks to the magnets. Then again, I just went over 100 small ships, so I need to go back to the drawing board

Those look cool! great job! I would love to see your storage solution, might also help with what I have in mind
I agree that inset the magnets is the best option when possible so I'm gonna try to get my hands on a rotary tool. But do I really need Forstner bits? Where I checked those are expensive, can't I do with normal drills or is too dangerous?

EDIT: If someone has some advice on a suitable rotary tool it will be really welcome too

Forstner bits allow you to have a perfectly round hole with a flat bottom . The last part is the key, it helps the magnet to sit in. One of my IG's magnet isn't even glued in, I couldn't take it out after test fitting it...

If you look at my pictures, it's really evident where I went from my Dremel to proper bits. I think they were a few dollars each. And since you're drilling in plastic, if you don't plan to use them for something else, you're fine with going with cheaper ones.

If you really want to get fancy, getting a pin vise to drill pilot holes makes it even more precise and easier. Besides, you'll need it to make your StarVipers' wings flap and change your B-wing guns, might as well get it now