excal88
01-21-2010, 07:44 PM
hey guys, just wanted to tell how great the plastic kits are, and seeing how some people were asking on how to magnetize these suckers, i'd thought i'd post up a how to thread *versus posting a video of someone doing it*
first off, the khador kit is awesome for magnetizing cause all their sockets are nice and big. secondly, you'll be needing a few things. the magnets that i used are rare earth magnets, one package of 100 sized at .125" diameter with thickness .063". i'll be using these for magnetizing the different heads. the second magnet i used *for the arms* are slightly bigger, at .250" diameter with thickness .063". you'll be needing an x-acto knife, a file, some type of wire cutters, and 2 drill bits, specifically 1/8 inch for the smaller magnet and 1/4" for the larger one. you can pick up the magnets at www.rare-earth-magnets.com. i am currently looking for some place online where i can buy the bits, and i will post them up when i find them. or alternatively you can buy a bit set, but those might be a bit pricey.
ok, so theres a few things you can magnetize other than the head and arm joints. you can also magnetize the shoulders and torso *i didn't magnetize the torsos cause i realized after pinning and gluing them i could do it =(* which gives a ton of pose ability for a normally static model. for the torso, use the smaller magnets and use the smaller drill bit. however, before you start drilling, i would mark how deep you'd hafta go with the drill. i would put the bit up against the magnet and use a sharpy to mark the depth of the drill. do this for both drill bits and magnets.
for the shoulders, there's no need to drill. just lots of cutting and filing. the shoulder joint has a pseudo ball joint that fits into the main body; cut that and file it completely down. once that's done, its as easy as gluing the .250" magnets onto the shoulder and body and matching it. simple.
now, for the weapon choices. these are a bit trickier, but not that bad. in the shoulder joints there are these protrusions that fit into a slot in the weapon ball joints. i would cut them off or shave them off cause they'll get in the way if you really want totally movement of the weapon arm. after that, use the larger drill bit and make a hole *according to the depth* for the weapon joint, it's tricky since its a round shape, but just work at it and find a good spot where it'll give you a good fit. once done, just glue and let it set.
finally, the last things to magnetize are the wrist joints. theres 2 of em, the axe weapons for the juggernaut and destroyers, and the open hand for the juggernaut. depending on your patience, you can just glue the open hand of the juggernaut or go crazy and magnetize them. the drilling process for these are a lot easier since they're both flat surfaces, so again, using the large drill bit, make a hole and pop in the magnet. glue and let it set. simple as that!
when you're done, assuming you magnetized everything, you should have 6-7 parts of movement! not too shabby for a table top model turned action figure! hope this helps some people, and sorry in advance if this was posted up already and sounds patronizing =(
and a disclaimer, for those who haven't worked with rare earth magnets, they are SUPER strong. one thing that i encountered was that letting the magnets get close to each other, they get attracted at around 2-3 inches away and get stuck. when you're gluing the magnets on, keep them a safe distance from each other to let the glue set. one problem i had was that they kept attracting one another and got stuck, and they pulled off before the glue set. it gets mess really quickly. so yea! thats it! good luck and have fun!
*edit*
i'll post up pictures when i get the chance.
first off, the khador kit is awesome for magnetizing cause all their sockets are nice and big. secondly, you'll be needing a few things. the magnets that i used are rare earth magnets, one package of 100 sized at .125" diameter with thickness .063". i'll be using these for magnetizing the different heads. the second magnet i used *for the arms* are slightly bigger, at .250" diameter with thickness .063". you'll be needing an x-acto knife, a file, some type of wire cutters, and 2 drill bits, specifically 1/8 inch for the smaller magnet and 1/4" for the larger one. you can pick up the magnets at www.rare-earth-magnets.com. i am currently looking for some place online where i can buy the bits, and i will post them up when i find them. or alternatively you can buy a bit set, but those might be a bit pricey.
ok, so theres a few things you can magnetize other than the head and arm joints. you can also magnetize the shoulders and torso *i didn't magnetize the torsos cause i realized after pinning and gluing them i could do it =(* which gives a ton of pose ability for a normally static model. for the torso, use the smaller magnets and use the smaller drill bit. however, before you start drilling, i would mark how deep you'd hafta go with the drill. i would put the bit up against the magnet and use a sharpy to mark the depth of the drill. do this for both drill bits and magnets.
for the shoulders, there's no need to drill. just lots of cutting and filing. the shoulder joint has a pseudo ball joint that fits into the main body; cut that and file it completely down. once that's done, its as easy as gluing the .250" magnets onto the shoulder and body and matching it. simple.
now, for the weapon choices. these are a bit trickier, but not that bad. in the shoulder joints there are these protrusions that fit into a slot in the weapon ball joints. i would cut them off or shave them off cause they'll get in the way if you really want totally movement of the weapon arm. after that, use the larger drill bit and make a hole *according to the depth* for the weapon joint, it's tricky since its a round shape, but just work at it and find a good spot where it'll give you a good fit. once done, just glue and let it set.
finally, the last things to magnetize are the wrist joints. theres 2 of em, the axe weapons for the juggernaut and destroyers, and the open hand for the juggernaut. depending on your patience, you can just glue the open hand of the juggernaut or go crazy and magnetize them. the drilling process for these are a lot easier since they're both flat surfaces, so again, using the large drill bit, make a hole and pop in the magnet. glue and let it set. simple as that!
when you're done, assuming you magnetized everything, you should have 6-7 parts of movement! not too shabby for a table top model turned action figure! hope this helps some people, and sorry in advance if this was posted up already and sounds patronizing =(
and a disclaimer, for those who haven't worked with rare earth magnets, they are SUPER strong. one thing that i encountered was that letting the magnets get close to each other, they get attracted at around 2-3 inches away and get stuck. when you're gluing the magnets on, keep them a safe distance from each other to let the glue set. one problem i had was that they kept attracting one another and got stuck, and they pulled off before the glue set. it gets mess really quickly. so yea! thats it! good luck and have fun!
*edit*
i'll post up pictures when i get the chance.