How to magnetise a forgefiend / maulerfiend - a tutorial

Hey folks,

Thought I would share this with people as it's bound to be useful. I set my self the challenge of magnetising the fiend and to mys surprise it wasn't actually that hard. I think I probably spent 2 hours total on it in the end and so it should take someone following this tutorial even less. Without further ado here we go:

Tools:

Files
Knife
clippers
Pin vice + bits
Some wire to make pins
Magnets - 4 large, 22 small*

Greenstuff
Superglue

 * The two neodymium magnet sizes I used are 3x8 (large; cylindrical) and 4x0.5 (small, flat)

Assembly:

Before you start to magnetise, assemble the main body and back legs, using the hoofs for the back legs. Try to assemble the fiend on the base so that it is approximately this height:

Head:

The head is relatively easy. Slice a thin part off the end of the neck stump, slightly larger than the diameter of the small, thinner magnets (so about 8mm diameter but precision not necessary). Superglue a small magnet to the stump and once it dries, take another magnet and pop it on the first. Then, take a small blob of greenstuff and place it in the head cavity. Push the head onto the stump and leave it about 20 seconds. When you try to remove the stump you should find the second magnet now embedded in the greenstuff inside the head. If not, detach it from the first magnet making sure you orientate the poles correctly and place it on the greenstuff manually, using the rubber end of your clipper handles or files to smooth it onto the greenstuff. Repeat for the other head. 

 
Middle limbs:

(read 'a note on poles' below first if you are new to magnets) These will be different for each build but the principle is the same. Drill out a hole in the centre of each leg cavity in the main body. This should be the right diameter to make a tight fit for two of you large magnets. Slide each of them in place so they are flush with the recess. Don't do the upper limbs yet as they are a bit more complex and are covered later.

Next, take each weapon you wish to magnetise to that slot and slice the end off the weapon stump so that a small magnet will fit in place of the slice - aim for about a 4-5mm flat surface to put the magnet on. Either glue the magnet straight on to the weapon making sure you have the poles correct, or place the magnet onto the larger magnet on the body, put a blob of glue onto the sliced weapon tip and attach that way, making sure not to accidentally glue the magnets together.

Note on poles - I try to make the poles of magnets aligned so that the limbs will only magnetise on the correct side. This is usually very simple if you follow a set method. First, place one of the large magnets in place in the middle limb recess. Then, magnetise a small magnet to it, then another large magnet, so you have a small magnet between to two. Remove the second large magnet with the small one still attached and then place the second large one in the hole on the other side, again with the small magnet still attached and protruding. Now both sides are the opposite polarity and whatever you attach to them will only work on that side. A good way to check this is to take a pair of magnetised weapons and put them together - if the polarities are opposite they should attract rather than repel:

Forelimbs:

This is where things get a bit more complex and so I will break them down into categories.

Maulerfiend arms:

These are the simpler ones to start with. There are two convenient slots in each of the arms just the right size for a 4mm magnet so glue one into each making sure the poles are opposites as before (so the arms should stick together, not repel). Here's where it starts to get tricky. Put the arm in place in the shoulder joint and try to get an idea as to the direction the magnet is facing inside the joint. Take your time with this, and when you think you have it right, drill into the shoulder socket and place a large magnet in as before. The left one should be more in the 9 o'clock position and the right in the 6 o'clock, rather than centrally as with the middle limbs. (note, the picture below shows the leg from earlier and the arm, refer back to the picture of the magnetised body joints to see the position of the right hand upper magnet relative to the middle one) 

Note, in order to accomodate the middle legs for the forgefiend, the maulerfiends arm that should be in contact with the ground will instead be free-floating the distance represented by blu-tack in the pictures below. I intend to get around this very simply by adding some scenery/wreckage to the base and would recommend the same.

 Shoulder armour:

This also needs to be magnetised in order to swap between the two variants of the kit. On the inside of the armour there should be two rounded stumps. Start by taking a slice off of the larger one as this will be the attachment point to the arm. Glue a small magnet onto this stump and then try to place it onto the arm. You will notice it will no longer fit in place as the magnet is too large and flat. Gouge the recess on the arm liberally until the shoulder armour easily fits in the gap and lines up nicely. Add some green stuff to the gouged area on the arm and place a second small magnet atop the other on the armour. Join the two together for a nice fit and then after 20-30 seconds take them apart again. If all goes well the second magnet should now be embedded in the green stuff on the arm. When it has started to dry but is not fully set, go back and check you still get a nice, tight fit of the shoulder armour to the arm. Repeat for the other side. 

Forgefiend weapon arm:

This is the most complex part and has several steps so try to bear with me. There are three parts to the joint: body to shoulder, shoulder to armour and shoulder to weapon.

Body to shoulder:

This is the reverse of the step used to attach the maulerfiend arm magnets to the body. Take the shoulder joint and place it in the already magnetised recess. Now you will have to make a best guess as to where to cut a slice off in order to attach a magnet that will line up with the large magnet in the joint. If you do take too much off by accident then you can always fill the gap with greenstuff, so just take your time and try to get an accurate idea of where things line up. One trick to make this easier is to put a big blob of paint on the large magnet, then place the shoulder joint in the recess. Remove it and you should find the paint now on your shoulder joint, showing you exactly where to cut and attach the magnet (don't forget to wipe the paint off the large magnet before it dries).

Shoulder to armour:

This again is more complex than the maulerfiend equivalent. You will already have the armour magnetised, so the only real thing do do is gouge away at the shoulder mount until you can fit the armour on flush. I then used a large blob of greenstuff to fit the magnet in as before with the maulerfiend arm. Only difference here is that there is nothing to mount half the magnet onto. I think that overcompensating with green stuff to fill the void is fine, but if you want something more secure then you can glue a small piece of plastic sprue for the greenstuff to bed in to. 

 

Shoulder to weapon:

This is pretty much the same as how we did the head way back when, by slicing a small part off the shoulder stump (4-5mm) and attaching a magnet to our flat surface. After that, place some greenstuff in the weapon joint and push a second magnet joined to the first into the greenstuff. The big difference here is that the weapons are just too heavy to be held in place by a magnet of that size and will sag towards the floor. The simple solution is to drill a small hole above the magnet on both the weapon and shoulder sides of the joint. Into the shoulder side, glue a small length of wire (4mm) into the hole so that half of it still protrudes. If you've lined the two holes up correctly (several attempts may be needed) then your wire should insert into the hole on the weapon side, stabilising the joint enough to let the magnet hold it in place without sagging. Repeat this for the other weapons. 

Well that about sums it up. I hope you have enjoyed the tutorial and that it helps some people who can't decide which version of the kit to build and/or don't want to invest in two kits like me. Any questions please comment below or contact me. Cheers.