When you are trying to store your Warhammer minis, you want to use the best method. Recently, magnetizing your miniatures and storing them on a baking tray has been becoming more popular because it is sturdy and doesn’t do much, or any, damage to your miniatures.
It is important to make sure you have the right size magnet to ensure that the miniature is stable during storage. Since some miniatures are different sizes than others, it is likely that you will need multiple different sizes.
You will want to have several different size magnets to make sure you always have one for your miniature. You should consider sizes like 1/16×1/32, 1/16×1/16 if the 1/32 isn’t strong enough, 1/8×1/16 for 25mm and 32mm bases, 1/8×1/10 for 40mm bases, and 1/8×1/8.
What Kind of Magnets Are Used for Miniatures?
There are so many different kinds of magnets available which can make it difficult to make sure you are using the right kind for what you need. Rare Earth are going to be the best kind of magnets that you can use for your miniatures.
Rare Earth Magnets are different than ones that you can just pick up at the grocery store. These magnets are much stronger than regular magnets. Due to their strength, they also have the ability to be really small. Their size makes them perfect for miniatures.
You will be able to find this extra-strength magnets in a hobby shop or online. It is really important to keep in mind that these magnets are so strong they can damage electronics, so make sure you don’t have any electronics around when you are working with them.
If you plan on transporting your miniatures, you will need to choose a magnet that will keep them sturdy and prevent them from falling over when you hit bumps in the road.
Rare Earth Magnets are perfect for transportation because they will prevent your miniatures from wiggling and falling over.
To check the current price and availability of The Army Painter Rare Earth Magnets for Miniatures, click here to view the listing on Amazon.
What Magnets Should I Use for Warhammer?
There are two popular magnet types that you can use for your Warhammer miniatures. First is the Rare Earth Magnets.
These are permanent, strong magnets that are developed using rare-earth elements. They are the strongest permanent magnets made and will definitely keep your miniatures sturdy.
There are two different types of Rare Earth Magnets. You have neodymium and samarium-cobalt. Both are great options, so whichever you can find will work best.
While they are the strongest, they are also pretty brittle and prone to corrosion. This means they will usually be coated or plated for protection.
The other popular types of magnets that you can use for your Warhammer miniatures are K&J Magnetics magnets. These magnets are going to be very small, so they are great for altering your miniatures as much as possible. Though they are small, they are sturdy and will keep your miniatures in place during storage.
K&J Magnetics has magnets that are also made with neodymium, like Rare Earth Magnets. This means they are also incredibly strong and will hold your miniatures firmly in place during regular storage and when you transport them.
They will also be coated to make them less brittle and protect them from any corrosion they might experience.
How Do You Magnetize Your Warhammer Minis?
Magnetizing your miniatures is the process of integrating a magnet into your miniatures or gluing them to the base.
Before you magnetize your Warhammer miniatures, you will need to make sure you have all of the right tools for the process.
Make sure you have plenty of magnets for your miniatures. You will mostly want disc magnets, but you can also use ring or ball magnets. You don’t want the magnet to be visible, so get ones that are small and can’t be seen.
You will also need a tool to make holes in your miniatures for the magnet to sit in. Stay away from power drills and dremels because they will move too quickly and ruin your model. The tool you want for this is called a pin vise.
This is a very small, cylindrical hand drill that allows you to control the speed and pressure to prevent ruining your miniature.
Finally, you will need something to hold the magnet in place in the hole. Superglue will work just fine for this. When you have all of the necessary tools for the project, you can get started by making the hole in the bottom of the miniature.
After you have your hole, add a drop of glue inside. Now you are ready to add the magnet into the hole. You can do this with a hobby knife that you have sitting around that can help you position the magnet and push it in the hole.
You will also want to have something plastic handy to hold the magnet in the hole while you remove the hobby knife.
You don’t want to use your finger to hold the magnet in place while you remove the knife because you can end up with the magnet glued to your finger. If you don’t have anything plastic, you can also consider using a toothpick or a popsicle stick.
The biggest mistake that will be made in this process is putting the magnet in the wrong way. It is incredibly important to make sure you have the proper, negative or positive, side of the magnet facing out.
The easiest way to do this is marking the right side of the magnet with a marker so you can clearly see that you have the proper side out.
How Do Magnets Attach to Miniatures?
If your miniatures are metal, you don’t have to worry about making a hole in them and gluing the magnet inside. The magnet will easily attach to the bottom of the miniature, and you can remove it when you are ready to use that miniature.
If you have a plastic miniature, you will need to put a hole in it and glue the magnet inside the hole. You can also glue the magnet directly to the bottom of the miniature, but this isn’t ideal.
It can make your miniatures difficult to stand up on non-metal surfaces. Glue also has the tendency to come off, and if the magnet is just on the surface, you can lose it.
Final Thoughts
Storing Warhammer miniatures with magnets and a magnetic surface is a great way to keep them organized. You will want to make sure you use the right kind of magnet and apply it properly for the best results with the magnet.
If your miniatures are metal, you should be able to stick the magnet right to your miniature and remove it when you are ready to use it. If your miniatures are plastic, you will need to add a small hole and glue the magnet to the inside of the hole.
It is important to use a very strong magnet to ensure the strongest hold and prevent your miniatures from falling over and breaking if you need to transport them. The most popular magnets for this job are Rare Earth Magnets because they are some of the strongest magnets you can buy.