# Magnetising Dark Eldar Infantry



## Shadowbadger (Jan 2, 2011)

Today I started putting together my Kabalite which I had decided to magnetise. To allow me all of the options I want I did the arms, half of the heads and the backpack items.

I used 1mm Neodymium magnets and they managed to hold on the Dark Lance (heaviest) and agoniser (furthest from body). You cannot lift models by the weapons but given how fine they are I would lift them by the base or legs anyway.

The biggest thing to watch is the same as with normal assembly, not all parts are interchangeable so remember to keep matching arms together and to use the correct torso and back pieces.

I have not done the bases yet as I am thinking about using 2mm magnets for those (will see). I think using 2mm magnets on some of the other parts would risk breaking the model and 1mm ones are enough to hold things up.

Many of you will know how to do this, for those who do not a full walkthrough can be found here: http://shadowbadger.wordpress.com/2011/03/11/magnetising-dark-eldar-infantry/. The light grey marks are just model filler that I still need to file down.


----------



## ashikenshin (Mar 25, 2010)

wow great job! I have dificulty just glueing the damn things. This is just way too much for my skill level.


----------



## Shadowbadger (Jan 2, 2011)

Thanks,

To glue them in I used a thin (about 0.5mm) bit of wire to coat the inside of the hole and put a little bit on the end of the magnet that was going in.

The magnets going in were always stuck to the end of my knife or the matching part (like the head to put in the neck magnet). The parts then just slide off or pull apart once the glue has dried although for the latter make sure and wipe up any surface glue with a cotton bud or something so glue is just in the hole.


----------



## Shadowbadger (Jan 2, 2011)

On some further testing I am going to put 2mm magnets on the torso side of the arm join to hold them a bit better. It will not stop any rotation but since the magnet fits.

The head and the backpack definitely need 1mm and I would still be worried about the drill going out the sides if I did 2mm holes in the arms.

Edit: forget that, 1mm is fine. 2mm in the feet though where possible.


----------



## Shadowbadger (Jan 2, 2011)

I have since decided to put pins alongside the magnets (0.5mm ones) to stop the rotation. The magnet will still take most of the weight but they will hold better.

I also discovered that the special and heavy weapons do not all fit so well on the female bodies because their breasts are too large. Fortunately I discovered this before I added them to a back mountable back although you could make them a Sybarite only in that case.


----------



## HorusReborn (Nov 19, 2008)

Is there a reason you'd want to magnetize just rank and file? I can understand say, a Ravager, or the Hellions for storage purposes, but this seems like it's a little too much effort, especially just for kaballite warriors LOL I commend you on your effort, as I just put a box of these fiddly little buggers together myself, and I gotta say I was much more dainty than I would normally be for fear of breakage!


----------



## Shadowbadger (Jan 2, 2011)

I may not do all of them, just enough that I can swap heavy or special weapons in and out.

It my take me longer to assemble but it will be quicker to paint than buying another box to use 20/30 troops or whatever.


----------



## Shadowbadger (Jan 2, 2011)

As well as magnetising the infantry to bases I am going to magnetise the raider so that the whole 10 kabalite can go in it. To make it an easier fit I am going to use the hangers on which come with the raider. One of them (the one hanging on by chains) will not work but the other two will. This is the first one, he is magnetised to the rock and will likely get a magnet in his hand to grab the raider.

I think he looks quite cool posed on the ground.

The other one (with the impaler) I am going to either put a splinter rifle on the back or magnetically attached to the hand when it is not holding the raider, will see.


----------



## Shadowbadger (Jan 2, 2011)

This is the other raider passenger that can be easily put on the ground. She needed quite a steep slope to be mounted on so I used a craftworld eldar helmet with a 2mm magnet and a 1mm pin sticking out of it (to stop rotation). The sword arm is magnetised on as well.

I have not quite finished painting it yet, I may put a splinter rifle on its back as well.



















The base on the left is from the first hanging kabalite, the magnet is in the rock. The one on the right is the craftworld helmet where you can see the pin. This picture is not so good but it is enough to see where I put the pin and the magnet silhouette is just visible below it.

Having these two hangers on means I only need to fit 8 kabalite on my magnetised raider deck, at most.


----------



## KhainiteAssassin (Mar 18, 2009)

you do know you do not need to model, or place ANY models physically on the raider right?


----------



## Shadowbadger (Jan 2, 2011)

Yes,

I want to because I think it will look better, especially for gunboat kabalite ones.

The infantry are setup with magnetic bases anyway (for different terrain) so it is just a case of putting something in the cavity under the deck and it is a good 3mm thick in most places which is large enough to put in big magnets that can pull right through the deck instead of embedding them in the surface.

Doing these two hangers on makes it less of a squeeze and I may swap in/out the third hanger on as well but it is not a good shape for basing.


----------



## KhainiteAssassin (Mar 18, 2009)

well yeah it would look cool if your magnetizing all your units off their bases, though for pratical games it would be kind of slow so people might dislike facing you if your doing that.

ill probably buy extra squads of warriors for the modeling aspect.


----------



## Shadowbadger (Jan 2, 2011)

I do not tend to play random opponents and my normal opponents will not care. I will see if it becomes a pain but I do not think it will take much longer, 15 seconds maybe and only a few times a game. If my opponent has issues with a game taking 1 minute longer then I probably do not want to play them although I do see your point that if it took a lot of fussing then it would be a pain.

Just drop the bases then lift off the troops (the raider is heavy enough that they will easily pull off). The base and feet magnets are powerful enough that they snap together quickly and in the right place.

The main reason I am going this magnet crazy, other than because I can, is transport. I will from now on usually be playing games at someone elses place. In one standard KR case I will be able to fit a good sized army with tons of options, this is easy for me to take on the train.

I can also do the model work a hell of a lot faster than I paint so doing up extra units to get more options does not appeal to me.


----------



## Shadowbadger (Jan 2, 2011)

double post


----------



## locustgate (Dec 6, 2009)

I have a question about magnitising, what kind of magnites do you use and do the arms stay in place.


----------



## Shadowbadger (Jan 2, 2011)

2mm diameter, 1mm deep neodymium magnets, 2 in arm sockets then one in each arm.

The only movement issue I am having is slight rotation of the non-gun arms. Sometimes they will drop slightly away from the gun (like 1mm away) although this could be remedied by glueing the hand to the gun (would still come off). If something rotates badly though I put a 0.5mm pin next to the magnet, like on the eldar helmet base but that one is unusual in that there is just one foot to hold the model to the base and it is at a crazy angle. All the rest of the bases hold great.

The one with the sword above you can pick up by the sword tip and it does not move.


----------

