Magnetising a Chaos Space Marine Aspiring Champion (Guide)

First of all, I'd like to wish all my readers a very happy new year!  I acquired quite a few new miniatures over Christmas, and I've already started to put them together.  My first little project has been to magnetise an Aspiring Champion model to lead a unit of Chaos Space Marines.  As my awesome girlfriend bought me a Night Lords conversion bitz pack, I'll be making use of these bitz in this unit. :)

I am a serial magnetiser.  I've struck before, and I'll do it again!  With the prices that GW charge for models nowadays (not to mention the time they take to paint), it often makes sense to magnetise a model so that weapons and other parts can be easily swapped out for others - allowing you to fine tune the model's loadout to the game you're playing that day and keep it WYSIWYG.  I got into this when playing Necromunda - which it's perfect for because you change weapon loadouts all the time.  With this unit of Chaos Space Marines I'm only planning on magnetising the Aspiring Champion and icon bearer - for other options I'll probably use extra models.  Please feel free to message me if you need any advice on a similar project - I've fully magnetised things as large as a flying Tyranid Hive Tyrant, so I can probably help.

Please note that this guide is for advice only, and I will not be held responsible for any injuries incurred, or damage to models as a result of using it.  Always get an adult to help you with scissors, etc.

Things you'll need:

Rare Earth Magnets
Pin Vice(s)
Drill Bits
Superglue
Scalpel
A good pair of Snips/Cutters
Small File
Paint (any colour)
Cocktail Sticks
CD Marker Pen (or similar)
Paperclip

I buy the magnets I use from Power Magnet Store, who I've never had any problems with.  You also get a discount for buying in bulk, which is nice.  For this conversion I used 2x1mm and 3x2mm disc magnets.

Don't get stung buying GW hobby equipment - most of the time it isn't even that great.  I bought a set of pin vices and drill bits on eBay very cheap.  This is cool - I remember when I was a kid and they were impossible to find anywhere - including in GW!  If you're thinking of using a Dremel for this, I'd advise against it - some of the holes you need to drill are only 1mm deep - and if you go much deeper you risk damaging the part that you're working on -  going slow/low RPM is key here.

Be extremely careful with the polarity of your magnets.  Use a CD marker to put a dot on one side of all your magnets, and stick to that convention.  With all my models I make sure that the dot sticks out of the body when the magnet is in place - so I can have Chaos Space Marines with Tyranid Scything Talons if I want lol.  Once you've got one model done it gets a lot easier because you can use it to test polarities.

The first thing to do with this model is to fit a 3x2mm magnet into each arm socket.  Unfortunately, because of the way this mini is designed, this is easier said than done.  The torso seam goes right across the arm socket - meaning that drilling will try to pop the mini apart (hold it tight in your hands even when glued, and be careful).  Secondly, the designers have put two locator studs inside the torso right where you need to drill.  Being a cynic, and having had similar problems with magnetising GW miniatures before, I reckon this is done on purpose (when will they learn?).  The picture below shows the problem:

You can see that I've drilled one side before the mini has popped apart.  This will happen because of the design unfortunately.  However, as with most problems, there is a solution:

Before drilling the second hole, I cut GW's locator stud and hole out almost completely using a pair of snips and a scalpel.  Next, I added a pin in the centre of the model where it should have been in the first place.  This will probably still pop apart when you drill the second hole because of the seam - you just have to persevere with it.  I use paperclip wire to make my pins - experiment and find the right size drill bit for your clips - I think mine are about 0.9mm.

To get the magnets stuck in the holes, I used superglue on the end of a cocktail stick, and wiped it round the rim of the hole (eeeew!).  Do one at a time, and always remember to check the polarity of your magnets!  You can adjust magnets once in the hole with a cocktail stick (just don't use the gluey one)!

Next, it's time to do the arms!  I started with the Power Fist because it looked most difficult (weird shoulder pad fitment).  I used 2x1mm magnets for everything from this point on.  For the magnet that connects to the arm socket one you just did, you can just eyeball the placement - try and get it in the centre of the surface you'd normally glue.  The easiest way to drill your hole where you want it is to use the end of your scalpel blade to mark the hole before you drill - just stick it in where you want it and give it a few turns.  For the shoulder pad magnet, I used a dot of red paint applied with a cocktail stick to show where the hole needed to be drilled.  The pad is quite a tight fit (especially using a resin one like I did here), so do test fit the parts before you put the magnets in.

Incidentally, when doing the other arm, I didn't take my own advice, and managed to get the magnet polarity the wrong way round.  Fortunately, this wasn't the end of the world, and I was able to drill through the arm and pop the magnet out like so:

I even managed to use the hole I drilled for the shoulder pad magnet, so this all turned out nicely in the end!

I was having some trouble getting my superglue to set today (I've now replaced it), so I decided to add a pin in between the torso and the legs - again using a paperclip:

Finally, I decided to add a custom head to the mini.  I'm not sure what the head is from, as it was given to me in a job lot of bitz (thanks Ben!), but I like the look.  Although you get a lot of winged helms in the Nightlords conversion bitz pack, I wanted my Aspiring Champ to have his face visible so he's set apart a bit more.  I'll leave the backpack off until he's been painted.  Don't forget to drill your gun barrels too - I hate it when people miss out this step!

Astute viewers will notice the tub of GW Kantor Blue behind him that I finally bought - watch this space for some fully painted Night Lords!