things for pinning and magnetizing

[me_in_japan]

OK, here's what you need for pinning, magnetizing, and generally prepping a mini:

1) tools.



saw, knife, big drill (with elastoplast handle), small drill handle (there are 2 here. 1 is fine.) small drill bit (propped up on the drill handle), superglue, magnets.



magnets. The smaller chunky round ones are the ones I got from Rakuten. the bigger chunky ones I got at school, and the big flat ones I got from some 100yen shop butterfly decorations.



florists wire, bought from girly craft shop (sewing, knitting, and, crucially, flower arranging)



masks, if you intend to work with resin and/or an airbrush.



To get a really strong, yet removable join, (double-pin-magnet) do the following:

1) use a big drill, slightly larger in diameter than your magnets, to drill a hole in one of the parts to be joined. Right in the middle is best. Put a little blu-tac on the other part to be joined, wet the exposed side to avoid stickage, and press the two parts together as best you can. When you move em apart there should be a sticky-outy-bit in the blu-tac. Drill the partner hole here. Once both bits have had a hole drilled to the correct depth to fit the magnets, superglue a magnet in each hole. You'll find that this will hold a regular 28mm mini's arm, but will struggle to hold a big wing on something.

Onto stage 2:

2) about 3~4 mm from the magnet, drill a small hole to fit your regular pinning wire. e.g. a paperclip or florist's wire. Use the blu-tac technique to align and drill the partner hole. Now you have a hole and a magnet in each half of the join. Cut a piece of wire to fit, dry-fit it, and then glue it into one side only. Repeat step 2 for another wire/set of holes on the opposite side of the magnet (see pic). Make sure the pins are both in the same part.





note: the model happens to have a male/female joint. This is not necessary for the technique. Also note, there is a magnet in the hole on the arm, you just cant see it.

et voila - a sturdy yet removable join for most anything Robert's yer muvver's bruvver

[me_in_japan]

alternatively, if the size of your mini allows, just use a really fething big magnet and avoid all the fiddliness of the above

[Primarch]

If you dont want to use florists wire, paper clips work fine for pinning. I have used them several times. I have also bought coils of wire from Tokyu Hands as well. I still have about 100 metres of the stuff. (ok, so maybe I exaggerate a little).

I guess you can use just about any kind of short metal pieces for pinning really.

[me_in_japan]

yup. paperclips are stiff little buggers, while florists wire is a good deal more bendable. This is handy for reposing Tau battlesuits, but inconvenient for heavy wings. Use whatever youve got that bests suits your purpose.

[The Other Dave]

One thing to be mindful of is that paper clips, usually being a harder metal than florist's wire, can mess up a pair of clippers but good, if you bought a cheaper pair.

[waite]

killer thread! this will be super helpful as I start some new projects.

is that saw specifically designed with minis in mind? is it the kind of thing you can buy a version of at, say, Komeri or its equivalent?

[Mike the Pike]

My two yen worth (actually worth more than 2 cents)...

For magnets I have used these guys:
http://www.magfine.co.jp/magnetjapan/

They have a huge selection of magnets and orders usually arrive within one or two days. Japanese only though.
I magnetized most of the weapons on my Eldar vehicles with 0.5mm(D) x 3mm(C) magnets and they work just fine. I also magged all the bases for my Flames of war army with these too. One thing to watch out for is that they are polarized so you have to make sure of which way round you are putting them. Not particularly cheap but worth it IMHO. For the weapon mounts I either cut/filed a small groove in the plastic or just left them as is and painted over them.

Dremel-like tools are readily available in most hardware/DIY stores here. They are called routers (pronounced like 'cow'). I picked up a basic kit for around 1000yen. It came with a variety of heads and I find it great for cleaning up mould lines, filing off Khorne symbols etc etc

As for pinning, I also vote for paper clips for smaller models. Cheap and readily available. For larger models such as my Brass Scorpion I used wire from the DIY store. I use a Tamiya(IIRC) pin vise for drilling out the holes with the thinnest bit I can get. As for model saws, a cheapo from the local model shop is OK if you plan to chop a few small plastic pieced. However, if you are planning to cut something thicker and/or stronger, then a fairly decent grade of modeling hacksaw is better. You really need one with a metal brace(?) on the spine, like the GW one in M-i-J's photo. This stops the blade from bending as you cut.

[me_in_japan]

Aye - that saw is a GW saw. Ive only ever used the GW one, and to be fair to em, its been bloody great. Its gone a bit rusty of late, but hey, what doesnt in this bleedin country. *shakes fist at weather kami*

ps - when pinning stuff, try not to have more than the minimum amount of drill bit sticking out of the vice. They can and will snap, and if youre putting pressure on it at the time (i.e. in the middle of drilling, which you will be...) what happens is the drill snaps, part of the bit is left inside the hole in the mini (neatly screwing the joint up) and the remainder gets buried in the meat of your thumb. This inevitably leads to, as they say, Bad Language...

[Admiral-Badruck]

Listen to MIJ on this one his pining and Magnet work is the best I have ever seen.... course other than my own half ass attempts it is the only Magnet work I have ever seen... love the idea about the pins to help the magnets stay were the are supposed to be.
And let me just add my opinion about paper clips as pins... THEY SUCK not only do they beat the hell out of your clippers but they are very hard to bend. if you want them to be strong then they are the best but if that is not your goal then... it is best to leave them on the paper work they were made for.

[me_in_japan]

@waite: dont mind the madmiral. He can get carried away sometimes. he's also often wrong. (altho not always, by any stretch. Just...often.)