Steampunk Saturday: Magnetizing the New Cygnar Heavy Jack Kit

You might think this...

was a different model from this...

And you'd be absolutely wrong!  Magnetizing the new Cygnar Jack kit, or any of the awesome plastic kits from Privateer Press, is incredibly easy with just a few tips.

The first thing you need to do is count the total number of magnets and the size of each that you might need for the job.  I am using entirely 1/16th inch thick and 3/16th inch wide magnets (http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=D31) because they are what I have on hand.  They also happen to be the perfect size for the shoulder mounts.  I calculated I would need 10 to make all three variants in the kit, 14 to do the head as well (More on that later).  I also have my hobby knife and a 3/16 inch drill bit along with my super glue.

I started by drilling out all the parts which would be getting magnets BEFORE I assembled it.  It makes it much easier to do this if it is in smaller pieces.  I scored the ball joint on the left shoulder with my knife and then used my drill bit to drill out the hole to counter sink the magnet so it would be flush with the plastic.

The right arm would be glued in place because it is the same part for all three Jacks.  I then did the same thing to the left arm and the Avenger's cannon.  You need to be more careful here so you don't drill through the mount completely.

Next I moved on to the hands.  Using the existing holes in the forearms, gently deepen and widen them so that the magnet fits in flush with the plastic as before.

The last part to work with is the hands and weapons.  Simply clip off the nubs on the wrists and glue the magnets in place.  If you want, you can use a smaller magnet and drill it in as well, but you won't have the same strength between them and you might be dropping your weapons all game.  Embarrassing!

That's it!  Incredibly simple and useful.  Here is the finished Jack with the options I built.

Note that I did not magnetize the Hammersmith's hammers.  There are two reasons for that; I am not as big a fan of the Hammersmith as I am of the others and I ran out of magnets!  Rest assured, when I restock later this week, I'll finish it up because I am obsessive compulsive about things like that.

As for the heads, you can use the same process with smaller magnets because they are so small.  I didn't happen to have any, and I don't think it is really worth it, so I just glued the best looking one in place (Centurion, I think).  Some players might get a bit testy if your Avenger has a Centurion head, but the guys at GS and in out club aren't that picky.

Go ahead and give magnetization a try!  It's a great way to save some money, add some versatility to your army, and show of to your friends!  Just remember to keep the magnets facing in the same direction.  The best way to make sure you do this is to keep them stacked while you glue them.  Put glue on each end of the stack and pull out the magnets in the middle after the glue is dry (Insta Set works perfect for this!).

Good luck!