Gaming On a Budget: IG Hull Weapon Magnets

I've made a promise to myself that I must keep regarding this article.  I will not make mention of a certain band oft linked to magnets in the popular culture.  Let's all hope I can make it because even I, ever late to a new meme, am sick as hell of that one.

Having turned in my black V-Neck and coca cola cup at the end of the HoP Idol competition, I'm free to start blogging again.  After Lauby's rousing treatise on using plastic bags for hand protection last week, I'll be returning to this series on the regular.  I hope you've all missed it a little, because I've missed writing it.

Rather than talk at length about the virtues of saving money by using magnets for your miniatures, I'm going to dive pretty much straight into a very common, useful project for all of you guys.  Sufficed to say that the executive summary of "dethtron's treatise on the cost savings and ROI of magnets in the gaming hobby" reads something like 'buy magnets to put guns on your shit so that you can use different guns on your shit without having to buy totally new shit since magnets are pretty cheap and shit.'  I buy my magnets from here. 

Note the ugly, uneven hole

I used to fear a lot of things.  Maybe spiders a little bit and especially trying super complicated conversions- especially those involving magnets.  I was really worried about doing a crap job and leaving rough looking cuts.  I'm not the neatest person alive when it comes to working with my hands.  Then, when I was doing some remodeling around the old house, I realized that I shouldn't worry.  With certain types of projects you can be totally sloppy and still come out ok because you're covering up giant holes that you might put in your ceiling while installing a fan or shoddy looking work you've done putting a magnet on a mini.  Seriously though, it's true.  Ever wonder why doors have frames?  It's totally because whoever blocked out the door did a shit job and wants to cover it up.

Now with the miracle of the collar, the hole has disappeared!

Other than a rhino, the most ubiquitous vehicle chassis in 40K would have to be the Imperial Guard Chimera.  Beyond the transport, it forms the backbone of most of the IG's artillery, Hellhound variants, and sundry other vehicles.  Being built on the same base, all of those vehicles can benefit from the tutorial I'm about to drop on you. 

Depending on the vehicle, you've got up to 3 choices in hull weapons- the bolter, heavy flamer, and multi-melta- all of them good in various situations.  To give your army maximum flexibility, it's a snap to magnetize them all, making sure you're always able to field the proper weapon system when you need it. 

In addition to your vehicle kit, you're going to need two magnets (I honestly don't recall the sizes I used, but it's largely irrelevant, though I will update this if I ever figure it out) and a specific bit of the chimera hull sprue in the picture below.  It's got just the right angle that we're going to need later on.

Simply cut that piece off of the sprue and you'll be left with this:

Now cut that in half and you've got this:

Next, prepare the front top piece of the chimera hull.  Do not attach it to the bottom section of the chimera yet.  It's much easier to work with if you don't do this.

Flip this piece over and glue your sprue bit from above to the inside corner of the hull weapon mount.  This will give your magnet some stability.

When you're done with this, you should have an angled piece of sprue floating recessed in the weapon mount hole. 

While this is drying, it's time to prep your magnets.  I have a few sizes as you can see, mostly due to buying a bunch of magnets that were larger than I thought.  No worries, though, we're going to be putting the bit ones to use.

Take a small and large magnet and stick them together.

Label the poles.  The easiest way to do this is to mark the edges on the outside, rather than separating the magnets to label the two sides that are touching.  Be careful to use a marker that won't wipe off.  Proper labeling will save you a ton of headaches down the road.

Using super glue, affix a magnet to the "floating sprue bit" once it has had time to dry.

Here's how that should look from the other side.

With that done, prep your hull weapon(s).  Here I'm using a heavy flamer, but I also prepped the multi-melta and heavy bolter at the same time (after grabbing and labeling 2 more small magnets).

Glue the small magnet, making sure that your poles are facing the right direction to the bottom interior of the hull weapon.

After this is all dry, you're ready to stick your weapon on.

Et Voila!

That's it for today folks.  If you've got a magnet tip of your own or liked what you saw, drop a comment below.  If you have an idea for a future installment of 'Gaming on a Budget,' be sure to hit us up at info@houseofpaincakes.com.