When I got the word that realgenius wanted to do a magnetic Predator quick tip last week, I was really excited, because just the week before, I had started gathering materials for just that myself! And this being my first foray into magnets in minis, I was really looking forward to his insight into the subject. I was most definitely not let down either!
I decided I would start with the turret on mine. I know that I'm really not going to use the autocannon all that often considering the foes I'll most likely face ( most of them being marines ), but just having the option open to me, makes the Predator worth just that much more.
To start off with, I installed magnets in the turret weapon mounts themselves. I did this with the turret still open, and let both sides dry completely before moving on to gluing the turret together ( with yet another layer of super glue at the top of the magnets ).
From this view you can see both the placement of my weapon mount magnets and my vertical alignment magnet. I used the magnet at the top of the turret in addition to a magnet installed into the back of the weapon.
You can see the placement of both the balancing magnet, as well as the weapon mount magnets in the sides. For the weapon mount magnets I cut clean the normal studs and drilled out a hole to embed the magnets.
In this photo you can also see the ammo box magnets, these were simply glued into the slots on the boxes. The back of the turret was drilled and magnets placed in the corresponding spots.
All said and done, it was well worth the little bit of extra assembly and will really add value to every kit I purchase from now on. Magnets save you money, plain and simple.
Aha, very clever location for the third magnet to keep the cannon pointed in the right direction!
ReplyDeleteNothing worse that a bunch of tanks that look like they are hunting for gophers.
Nice work with the magnets, I will hopefully be following in your steps and making the new shadowsword magnetic. So many turrets so little tank.
ReplyDeleteSuch a simple, clever and effective bit of work! Thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteWow, that vertical alignment magnet really is a clever idea, I'll have to remember that one!
ReplyDelete(at my current progress with my 'nids it could be years before I work on my Marines again...)
Just got some pics up of my magnet locations for the rhino chassis. (http://gwpertinent.blogspot.com/2009/02/space-sharks-magnetized-rhino-pics.html) May need to steal that idea for the predator turret.
ReplyDelete