Friday, March 21, 2014

How to Magnetize Hive Crone Wings

Here's a walkthrough on magnetizing Tyranids Harpy/Hive Crone wings.



JJ typing,

If you plan to magnetize the wings I highly suggest not to assemble the body or tail, at least don't assemble the tail.  Reason is because the magnets embedded into the tail are so close together that they can pull the one your gluing in place out of its mooring and connect itself inside the tail.  That is what happened to me.

Here's a pic that you can hopefully see the depth of the hole drilled for the wings.  Used 1/8" magnets to hold the wings on.  Plus the male end of he wing0 sitting in the socket helps to keep the wing attached.



This is possibly the most difficult part of magnetizing.  Need to go slow with the pin vice.  Keep it centre on the male end of the socket.  Going too quick you could end up removing more material then you want.  Try to keep the pin vice flush with the socket.

Put two drops of superglue into the drilled part.  One on either side.  When the magnet is inserted it moves the superglue around to make a good seal.




This is a trick I've read on several blogs regarding magnetizing.  Take a marker and mark the side that you want to glue or polar opposite of the magnet its connecting to.  Reason is you might accidentally glue two magnets that have the same polarity.  They won't be drawn together.




This is the issue mentioned earlier.  When putting this sides magnet in it was pulled towards the other magnet.  Rather than lose another magnet I stuffed the hole with a bit of foam.  This allowed the second magnet to stay in place.  You can use the end of your paint brush to push the foam into the tail.

Column of magnets to ensure proper polarity.


This was my favourite magnet to install.  Simply put glue in the body socket (above).  One magnet on the wing.  Press it in firmly then tilt wing down after a few seconds and let the superglue work on the magnet in the body.


Wings stay on surprisingly well.  They also come off rather easily also.  Just a little tilt down and pop wings off.


Would heavily suggest pinning this bit.  Believe Zab suggests to use plastic glue for a stronger bond.


slainte mhath

4 comments:

  1. Awesome post! I was going to try this myself, but after using similarly sized magnets for my Carnifex, I found that the arms tended to droop. Do you find that the magnets are strong enough to reliably hold the wings up?

    Also, on an only somewhat related subject, have you ever tried magnetizing a Hive Tyrant's wings, and what size magnet did you use there?

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Cold Comfort. Great name by the way. Also the name of an excellent episode of Dark Angel season 1.

      That stinks the Carnifex arms droop. Have you tried using a pin to support the arms? Put a pin near the magnet and in the body. Pin and magnet should be able to keep the arm in place. Yeah, the 1/8" magnet was strong enough to hold the wings up. It wasn't just the magnet it was also the socket that helped to keep them in place. If there wasn't a socket the wings would fall off. That and the thin part of the membrane pushes against the tail also helps.

      Have not tried magnetizing Hive Tyrant's wings. If it has the same type of socket as Hive Crone I would use 1/8" magnet.

      If you happen to give a try, let me know. Like to know how it turned out.

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    2. Pretty late on this one, but I had some drooping issues with my early magnet work because the magnets I got from my shop were pretty weak. If buying online, I suggest N42 or N52, and no lower. The magnets I got from the shop, even the 1/4" mags aren't very strong, meanwhile the N42 1/8" magnets hold my second Flyrant's wings pretty well.

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    3. Great info, Evan S. Magnets I used for the Hive Crone were D101-N52 ordered K&J Magnets.

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