WarriorFish's AdMech and Knight House Blog

[Canadian_F_H]

I've read that some people just put the biggest magnet they can into the waist leg connection. I'd go that route because then it can probably pivot a little bit to...

[WarriorFish]

How big are we talking? The largest I have is the ones I've used on the feet, I've left the waist bits unassembled as I'm not sure how best to do this.

[Canadian_F_H]

How big are we talking? The largest I have is the ones I've used on the feet, I've left the waist bits unassembled as I'm not sure how best to do this.

I don't recall, I saw it on here somewhere. Search for knight magnetization and you'll probably find it. If there isn't one already somebody should make a sticky on knight magnetization to go with all the tank ones.

[WarriorFish]

Thanks Canadian, Immer seems to have used three magnets successfully, plus this looks good for positions albeit perhaps OTT! Across the web I've also found this, which will be very useful as I plan to have the weapons swap between both Knight weapon sets. Last but not least a quick guide on the Paladin/Errant weapon swap. I know a perfect swap isn't possible without extra work from following the Queen Bee but I'm not too worried about that for my first Knight.

 

I'll have another look along with the model to see later, maybe look at getting some more magnets. It'd be cool to have the torso being able to rotate too but we'll see!

[jbaeza94]

Personally I have 2 knights, part of my mechanicum army. They're a mmaronish/pinkish red color with black. I didn't do it cuz mmechanum but I liked the pinkish red and black made good accents. Back story wise they have mechanicus inspiration and share colors with the rest of the forge world, but personal details such as heraldry are a little different such as the hierarchy. Each has a custom banner (I use tape and make shapes, looks nice and simple) and the carapace reflects their personality. This is what I do and will do for my expanding collection, similar but different

[WarriorFish]

It feels like I'm a long way from getting paint on her yet, time is relatively short at the moment and I need to do some more research into magnetising options. I'm keen to get a clear House theme going but also retaining the individuality but I'll decide on the exact details closer to painting :)

[WarriorFish]

I've had an idea about magnetising the waist. What about a magnet on the top of the ball joint type part which goes into the torso, and then fashioning a beam across the torso with a complementary magnet attached in the middle to link to? I think the existing parts are probably enough to hold it, albeit with some extension, so doing this should give it the additional support so I don't have to worry about it wobbling or not sitting right.

[Frater Cornelius]

I do not see a need for magnetizing a regular Knight, unless you are planning to do it top-heavy. In that case, you need one big magnet as opposed to multiple small ones. I suppose a magnet is a good choice either way, but if you are lazy, then the regular version does just fine without one.

[WarriorFish]

I'm thinking of the weapons more than anything, especially when I get the Warden kit and add those as it'd mean there's a lot of variety in the weighting depending on the weapon set up. I'd rather have it more stable for what shouldn't be much work :) I'm not sure if I'll get time to do anything this weekend though. My free time is being eaten up and I'm desperate to get to work on my Knight :(

[WarriorFish]

I've taken inspiration from all the hard ETL work I've been seeing, the Omnissiah has blessed me as my plan for magnetising the waist has succeeded! It is a little ugly but that's fine for a first attempt and it's not like anyone will see it. Here's how I did it:

Start off with the simple, a small magnet on top of the join. I think it best not to use a magnet larger than the plastic so there's no issues getting the torso to fit:

The partially assembled torso slots neatly on top:

A chunk of blutac to keep the torso from not moving is essential. Helps you line up the magnet and make sure it all glues in the right way. I had mine standing level, you can see the sprue resting neatly on the front, back and just as importantly the magnet:

One this was glued in place and importantly left to dry I gave it a careful test. Worked, but the sprue swayed a little to the sides so I needed a solid anchoring but this wasn't unexpected. No swaying now:

That worked nicely, but after some more waiting and careful use I noticed that the strength of the magnets was nice and strong. This is great of course but I saw that on separation the sprue bent a little. To rectify this I glued the sides on and put in a couple more support struts bracing it on the top. It's a bit fiddly to get in with the glue but there are lots of good anchoring points for the supports so it wasn't difficult:

Not the prettiest thing but it does the job, it's not like I'd get the chance to repair it if it broke after assembly so better to put in extra effort now right? No movement at all from the magnet sprue and the torso even rotates smoothly as a bonus. Here's the finished article:

I'm very pleased, the Omnissiah's blessings did wonders as everything went right. Sprue sizes were found easily and glue found quick purchase Next time I'll glue something more sturdy than a bit of sprue in for the magnet to avoid the bending but I'll expect I'll still put in plenty of anchoring and support anyway just to make sure I hope this helps other adepts of Mars for their magnetised Knights

[BetterOffShred]

Quick and dirty!  That's the way I like it!  

 

-Brett

[WarriorFish]

If it works ;) Even better if nobody will see it in the finished article :P I was giving it some more thought and next time I may adapt it. The sprues as support struts works well, but maybe some GS would be a better way to secure the magnet? You'd probably need a reasonable amount but I have plenty of GS to spare.

 

I'm happy this is sorted now as that means I can carry on with assembly. I'll try and steal some more time today to assemble some more I reckon I can assemble all but the weapons/arms. The largest magnets I have are the ones in the torso/feet and I don't think they're large enough to hold the arms in but I'll see how it goes.

[Jolemai]

Could do with adding a truss (?) to my Knight's torso at some point. Nice to see the progression, you'll probably finish yours before I finish mine!

[WarriorFish]

I think truss is the right term, though a rose by any other name would be as secure :P At this rate I might well do, the ETL has inspired me and its paying off as everything keeps turning out right! I'm currently working on magnetising the face masks so I'll post up some pictures on that soon :tu:

[Jolemai]

I look forward to seeing some Blood Angels then ;)

[WarriorFish]

Success! Once more everything went exactly to plan without and problems. If only this luck extended to the lottery...

Using the ever useful Dremel I carefully drilled a hold in the back of the face. It's relatively thick but even so always best to err on the side of caustion.

Glueing the magnet in I used a counter magnet on the front to make sure it aligned nicely, also gave me a spot so I know how much to remove from the mask tab. It's just there for positioning so isn't entirely required as you'll have the magnet and the lower "cheek" tabs to help the alignment:

I cut out a small bit of card to rest the magnet on before adding some glue and the mask. This was to make sure it aligned correctly as well as if it went wrong no glue defaced the face. It also means the magnets won't be pulling too close so the mask magnet shouldn't damage the face paint in case I ever want to run it without a mask. Otherwise what was the point of putting the extra effort in to hide the face magnet?

Done!

This is hungry work, so a break for lunch before doing the other two masks is in order methinks

[WarriorFish]

Done!

The side pipes are just resting in place for the moment. Here she is standing, I'll leave the head off to make painting easier.

Plus a close up of the head resting in place:

Progress is excellent, the Omnissiah continues to watch over me. Perhaps more than just watching as I had an idea that is pretty cool and I think should be possible without too much work. I'll do some research on it and report back

In the meantime next on the list is to assemble the carapace and then move on to the weapons

[Canadian_F_H]

Neat work with the masks... Must keep that in mind

[WarriorFish]

Oh no! The head has mysteriously fallen apart. Whatever shall I do?

WarriorFish boldly goes where no WarriorFish has been before... lighting! I have a fibre optic kit and intend to light the eye pieces up. This may all go horribly wrong but with some research and talking to the right people I'm sure I can bodge my way through. Time is sadly extremely limited right now but I wanted it to be known I am still making progress albeit slowly This is only going to make it slower of course but as I said I want to give this model a good shot and I don't like half measures

[JeffTibbetts]

Yes! If ever a kit cried out for lighting, it's this one. Good luck, man! There are plenty of trailblazers that have already done it, so hopefully they'll prove a good resource for your own. Looking forward to seeing this all come together. 

[WarriorFish]

I need to source a battery but once I have done so I'll be able to start figuring it all out and I'll document my progress of course :) Fortunately I've got a lot of help from the kit provider so I am armed with the right knowledge I've just got to put it to good use and try not to kill myself or worse ruin the model :lol:

[JeffTibbetts]

I see you've got your priorities straight. Just make sure you bequeath the model to someone in your living will, in the untimely event of your early demise. 

[Jolemai]

Which fibre optics kit did you get? One from Blood and Skulls or somewhere else?

[WarriorFish]

I got this kit, handily UK based. I also got a tutorial .pdf as well as a nice email chat over stuff so it was a very good purchase Apparently most people use this kit for the eyes, as the two LEDs are good fits but that's ok because I have a slightly different plan for my Knight (assuming it works as I hope). I might add some more lights to it, but I'll see how it goes for the moment as I won't be able to tell until I've tested the various ideas I have.

[Kaljerico]

I went the whole hog with my knights in my mechanicus force and made sure that they matched my mechanicus.

 

Here's a wip of one of Skitarii.

 

http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx130/Patrick_John_Magee/skitarii_zpss07jsq7j.jpg

 

And my two knights that support my combined mechanicus force.

 

http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx130/Patrick_John_Magee/8944F123-17B3-4D0C-8B10-8DAA5D523869_zpsnncnpfko.jpg

I think it adds to the whole effect when they match up, and makes it look much better on the tabletop, but of course that's personal choice / preference.