Magnetising a Harpy / Hive Crone tutorial

Hi chaps,

Following suit I ma posting a magnetising tutorial as I have previously with kits such as the forgefiend/maulerfiend and nephilim/darktalon. This time the tutorial focuses on the new Hive crone and Harpy dual kit. I haven't got ahold of a Haruspex/Exocrine yet but if I do in future then I will post a tutorial for that also.

Before you start you will need the following:

Hobby drill
Neodymium magnets (see below)
Superglue
Plastic glue
File
Greenstuff
Hobby knife

1 - Magnets - here are the sizes of magnet I used for the project (1.5x2mm rod, 3x0.5mm discs, 2.5x5mm rods) DON'T forget to line them up before gluing or greenstuffing in place as if the polarities are wrong you'll have a nightmare correcting it.  

2 - Assemble the following components as per normal as these require no magnetisation. The talons pictured seperately will not be needed, unless you choose these over the other set of talons that I used. (too much effort to magnetise as they will likely not be distinguishable)

3 - In general, assemble the other parts of the kits making sure to leave any parts that are specific to the Harpy/Crone unattached to the generic body. (tail, head, weapons etc) Importantly, DON'T attach the dorsal and ventral carapace to each other at this stage. (but do glue the left and right sides of each together)

4 - Head - drill a hole to accomodate the large rod into the neck and body. I tend to drill a hole slightly smaller than needed then widen it with a drill / pointed file as needed - easier than drilling one that's too big to start with. Another good tip is to drill and position the magnet in the body first. Once done, put a blob of paint on the magnet and locate the as of yet untouched head. Remove it and the blob of paint will have transferred to the head, leaving you a perfect target for where to drill.

5 - Tail - hollow out both the body and scythe sides to more than accomodate a disc magnet. When done, put some greenstuff in the hollow and pop a disc magnet in, making sure it lines up flat (or slightly recessed) with the plane of the join. Repeat the same on the other surface ensuring the polarities are correct and positions the same (the hole and peg should have been a good guide of where to centre the hollowing).

6 - Posterior - this is the part where you either attach a spore mine cyst or a big spike. Using a similar technique for the tail, hollow out and attach disc magnets using the greenstuff to embed the discs into. This has the added advantage over superglue of allowing some wiggle room with the positioning.

7 - Ventral blades - an option for the crone. If like me you've added the spike upgrades onto the ventral ribs already, check in advance that they leave room for the blades. Drill a couple of small holes for the small rod magnets and attach using the same technique as for the heads. Best to drill the magnets into the base of a blade to ensure there's enough depth to embed it into.

8 - Dorsal carapace - this is a bit more tricky in that you need to position something beneath the holes for the magnets to attach to. Sprue and greenstuff are ideal for this. Prep all the crone/harpy bits that are going to be attached by trimming off excessively thick parts - the craters on the sides of the crone and the central spike on the harpy are the ones I needed to trim. Position your sprue in blobs of greenstuff and add a disc magnet centrally. Using the paint blob technique described above, target the area on the swappable parts to have the magnet glued onto it. Once the magnet is attached, push the part into place and ensure that the sprue is depressed enough (it will still be mobile thanks to the greenstuff) that the part does not protrude, but not so depressed that the magnets don't make contact. This is probably the trickiest part of the magnetising so take your time to get it right else the model will look awkward.

9 - Weapons - The harpies options will push fit onto the guns so no need for magnetising. (same goes for the tentaclids but feel free to use a couple of small rod magnets if you wish) As for the arms, use large rod magnets and drill holes as before for the neck. The tricky part is getting the join of the arms to line up corrrectly. Best way around this is to locate the rod magnets in the body then drill large and excessively wide holes into the arms. Place some greenstuff in these large cavities then push the rod magnet into the greenstuff before locating it in the socket. This will allow you to move the arm into position and for the magnets to align properly yielding a strong hold and tight join.

10 - You're done! The last two steps particularly are a bit complex so please post any questions you may have and I will try to help further. This particular project worked really well as so I'd encourage people to try it. I'm aiming to convert the flying base into a capillary tower in a similar way to how I made an Eldar flying base and will post a tutuorial for it ASAP. Until then a few parting shots to prove it really does all fit together. CHeers.