Anyone using base magnets?

[BigBadAndy 640]

I’m sitting staring at the 30+ miniatures from the core set and wondering how I’m going to store then all.  Anyone using the magnetic base, metal plate method?  I’m curious what size magnets I would have to get.

[SeijiTataki 19]

I'm using a Kobalt Toolbox to transit two core boxes, two of each of the trooper expansions, and one each of the other currently available expansions. It all fits, but some of the troopers have to be stuck to the side walls of the toolbox.

I just glued 6x2mm Neodynium magnets (which I picked up on the cheap from China via eBay. Something like $3 shipped per 100) to the bottom of the bases. For infantry bases, there's a little molding point in the dead center that it fits in, and for the medium bases I did one toward the front and one toward the back (there are those little round marks on the underside of the base), and then for the large bases (the AT-ST and the Airspeeder) I did four of them in each quadrant with the same placements.

With them in this configuration, there's pretty much no movement. (There's a small amount of sliding if I really give the box a good hard shift when driving, but because of the number of minis in the toolbox, there's really no real movement. Sometimes the ones on the sidewall slide down a little.)

[Patteous 112]

47 minutes ago, BigBadAndy said:

I’m sitting staring at the 30+ miniatures from the core set and wondering how I’m going to store then all.  Anyone using the magnetic base, metal plate method?  I’m curious what size magnets I would have to get.

I was thinking of glueing washers into the base and getting a magnetic strip and mounting it on my wall and storing them that way. The added weight from the washer should help keep the minis stable on the table too. 

[BigBadAndy 640]

57 minutes ago, Patteous said:

I was thinking of glueing washers into the base and getting a magnetic strip and mounting it on my wall and storing them that way. The added weight from the washer should help keep the minis stable on the table too. 

That’s a good thought.  I am keeping my IA minis in a pair of pluck foam trays and that works fine.  These are a bit bigger but I could probably make it work for the regular troopers.  But the vehicle models are way too big to keep in foam (in my opinion).  Maybe I will try the washers and build a foam core under with magnetic strips to hold the minis.  I will have to see if the box is tall enough for the ATRT...  I suspect it’s not.

[magnumhan 32]

what about using them for the flight stands to attach the stand to the base? ...i saw where this one painter did this to cut down on the flight stands ability to eventually break ...right now i have blue-tac doin' the job on a temp basis (pun intended) 

 

[SeijiTataki 19]

4 minutes ago, magnumhan said:

what about using them for the flight stands to attach the stand to the base? ...i saw where this one painter did this to cut down on the flight stands ability to eventually break ...right now i have blue-tac doin' the job on a temp basis (pun intended) 

 

There's not a huge amount of tolerance in space between the flight stand and the base. The easiest way to do this is probably to magnetize the base as I said above, but put one in the center, as well. Then you can put a thin metal washed and glue it onto the to underside of the flight stand. This should have enough magnetic attraction to hold it in place, in theory. Though I don't know if it will hold up once the mini is on it and in place. Another magnet would probably make it hold, but then you're raising the flight peg up quite a bit.

[JBar 353]

7 hours ago, BigBadAndy said:

I’m sitting staring at the 30+ miniatures from the core set and wondering how I’m going to store then all.  Anyone using the magnetic base, metal plate method?  I’m curious what size magnets I would have to get.

Here is a video I made. I think it's what you're looking for. Magnet sizes in the description

https://youtu.be/wG_hV7dm_9I

[BigBadAndy 640]

1 hour ago, JBar said:

Here is a video I made. I think it's what you're looking for. Magnet sizes in the description

https://youtu.be/wG_hV7dm_9I

That’s perfect.  What did you use for the metal plate?

[JBar 353]

3 hours ago, BigBadAndy said:

That’s perfect.  What did you use for the metal plate?

Metal flashing from Home Depot. It's really cheap. Make sure it's magnetic first. I found a piece around 2ft by 4ft for around $6. I've also seen 8"X12" sheets for a dollar.  I then spray painted it with primer:  

[BigBadAndy 640]

3 hours ago, JBar said:

Metal flashing from Home Depot. It's really cheap. Make sure it's magnetic first. I found a piece around 2ft by 4ft for around $6. I've also seen 8"X12" sheets for a dollar.  I then spray painted it with primer:  

That’s great, I will definitely look for it.  What did you cut it with?

[JBar 353]

1 hour ago, BigBadAndy said:

That’s great, I will definitely look for it.  What did you cut it with?

Aviation snips https://www.homedepot.com/p/Wiss-Straight-Cut-Aviation-Snips-M3RS/100060795

They cut through the metal like scissors with paper. I was amazed. Very easy

[Nakai 1]

I glued a Magnet under the Base.

and i use the Original Box to Store/Transport the Mini´s :-)

[BigBadAndy 640]

11 hours ago, JBar said:

Aviation snips https://www.homedepot.com/p/Wiss-Straight-Cut-Aviation-Snips-M3RS/100060795

They cut through the metal like scissors with paper. I was amazed. Very easy

I was able to order three 8x12 inch steel ones for like $4 online from Lowe’s.  May be a while before the get here but I will keep you posted.  Thanks for the helpful input.

[magnumhan 32]

On 4/13/2018 at 9:24 AM, SeijiTataki said:

There's not a huge amount of tolerance in space between the flight stand and the base. The easiest way to do this is probably to magnetize the base as I said above, but put one in the center, as well. Then you can put a thin metal washed and glue it onto the to underside of the flight stand. This should have enough magnetic attraction to hold it in place, in theory. Though I don't know if it will hold up once the mini is on it and in place. Another magnet would probably make it hold, but then you're raising the flight peg up quite a bit.

i am slow to read what you said but i came to this same conclusion 3 nites ago when i was trying to figure how to mount the missile launcher on the at st...2 magnets made it stick out way too much..found a super small washer and it worked great...then i figured i could find a simler washer the same diamiter of the flight stand...i had planned on using 3 magnets anyways so it should hold well enough but yet break away if there is any pressure to the stand..which will save the any damage to the stand...thanks for the tip and for making my mind think properly

[Rogue Dakotan 5,213]

I got a piece of steel and glued it to the bottom of my core box. Just used some tiny magnets and they all sit in the box wonderfully. 

[EvBeek 3]

An easy option for Europeans could be Neodymium 3x2mm magnets in combination with 29x29 whiteboards from Dresz. 

This whiteboard, in Google shopping

I can just force the board into the Legion Core box. Remember to paint it before if you want to paint it, since it will never come out again (I didn't know how snugly it would fit, now I am stuck with the picture of a croissant on the bottom of my Legion box).

Any other magnets would of course also work, I just wanted you guys to know that you don't need big ones as the small Neodymium magnets will also work.

[BigBadAndy 640]

I apologize - I never updated my progress on this.

I got the flashing tiles, primed them black and then dull coated them.  They work great and I currently have them held in a pair of storage boxes with double sided adhesives.

The ATRTs are two tall to put the lid on it stack the boxes so I cut a strip and put them on the side.

its not in the picture, but I can fit two pretty easily along with the magnetized guns.  

The imperials have no problems.

Do far I have lots of room for my entire collection between the two boxes and the imperial speeder bikes have no problem fitting upright.  I just can’t fit the Airspeeder and ATST. I haven’t really thought of a solution for those yet.

 

If you drop the box the models may still fall out, but for normal use this does a great job keeping them from sliding around or rubbing against each other.

[Woobyluv 117]

On 4/13/2018 at 5:00 AM, SeijiTataki said:

I'm using a Kobalt Toolbox to transit two core boxes, two of each of the trooper expansions, and one each of the other currently available expansions. It all fits, but some of the troopers have to be stuck to the side walls of the toolbox.

I just glued 6x2mm Neodynium magnets (which I picked up on the cheap from China via eBay. Something like $3 shipped per 100) to the bottom of the bases. For infantry bases, there's a little molding point in the dead center that it fits in, and for the medium bases I did one toward the front and one toward the back (there are those little round marks on the underside of the base), and then for the large bases (the AT-ST and the Airspeeder) I did four of them in each quadrant with the same placements.

With them in this configuration, there's pretty much no movement. (There's a small amount of sliding if I really give the box a good hard shift when driving, but because of the number of minis in the toolbox, there's really no real movement. Sometimes the ones on the sidewall slide down a little.)

I saw a tutorial on youtube that suggests using steel wool to take any coating the metal may have and then use a type of gripping tape in order to prevent any sliding.  If it still slides, you might need stronger magnets?

[DwainDibbly 52]

After seeing a youtube video a month or two back, I went with 6x2mm Neudynium. I glued one to the centre of each minis base and glued two spread out for the speeder bikes and AT-RT. For now I'm using a metal plate in each of the two core boxes to hold the figures in place and a little blutack to hold the metal to the box.

Once I've outgrown the two core boxes I'll probably move to some stackable containers and bolt the metal plates in place (as others have done).