Tau Online

Many people have been wondering about how to use magnets on a Crisis Suit, and I believe that I have figured out a way without using the really expensive rare earth magnets.

1) Tools

I just use the standard strip magnets (they have a glue-adhesive on the back with some kind of paper covering it) that you can get at any craft store (or better yet, Wal-Mart), a sharp hobby knife, a thin file, Games Workshop plastic Glue, and a ruler.[gal_img]1344[/gal_img]

2) Cutting

This is the most important step, so don't try to mess it up. When you look at the arm, it has a small slot that hold the weapons on, so I used this as a center when I was cutting down. I went about 0.5 cm in width (hand to elbow). This provides enough space for a nice magnet that will hold a weapon in place. As I went deep into the arm, I used the size of thickness of the magnet to help figure out how far into the arm I should go, about the thickness of a penny will do fine.[gal_img]1345[/gal_img]As an extra bonus, I went and made the magnet flush with the arm, so it looks great! I did this to both arm and the left shoulder. The shoulder was no more difficult than the arms, other than it is a little bit trickier to carve out (a picture later).

3) Magnets

I made the magnets fit the hole, not the other way! It is also important to get the polarities straight with the magnets, for there is nothing more frustrating than finding out that your weapons repel instead of stick! The normal polarity on the strip goes like this:| N | S | N | S |You can test this easily because when you bend the strip together, it won't stick to itself and slides over. I used one polarity for the magnets on the crisis suit, and the other for weapons (so it ends up being using with outsides of the strips). I cut the magnets slightly smaller and they slid into place nicely. Be sure to test the magnets before gluing them![gal_img]1346[/gal_img]This is an example of magnets in one of the arms:[gal_img]1347[/gal_img]And an example of the shoulder magnet:[gal_img]1348[/gal_img]

4) Weapons

There is no real problem when it comes gluing the magnets on the weapons. Just file off the little "nub" that is originally used to stick the weapon onto the arm or shoulder, and just glue down an small square opposite polarity magnet! (Sorry if you can't see it that well, but it's there!)[gal_img]1349[/gal_img]

5) Done!

The weapons do stick out a bit, but that's just a small flaw, seeing how you can change your weaponry to match any army. When figuring out points, make the most expensive configuration you can find and go from there, that way you'll even have points left over when you decide to swap the Missle Pod to a Burst Cannon. Now it's time to paint your model! It's fine to paint over the magnets, just don't slop too much on.... here's a look at my configurations:

Plain

[gal_img]1350[/gal_img]

Configuration 2: Plasma Rifle, Sheild Gen, Rocket Pod