GHQ Models Forums

I know there is a thread out there about magnetizing your turrets, but from what I've seen, that is if you want to base them as well. However, I'm looking at not having the armour based, but still want to have the turrets movable. One idea was to cut a small piece of plastic construct card, glue it into the hull with a magnet, then drill a small hole into the turret pin. That would be a bit time consuming though, any ideas would be great.

I got magnets glued between the tracks. Another tiny but long cylindrical magnet glued to the turret. That way the turret is fixed and I can transport my miniatures in a metal money box. It's bicycle transport safe Don't have photo's, but wil make some if you want.
Question is whether you want your turrets removable. That's why I chose for magnets. If you don't want them removable, it's much easier done in other ways: like drilling a small hole in the turret and glue a tiny nail (cut to lenght) into it (with the body of the vehicle inbetween).

Gompel- I was on your site and saw a pic...but it was very small. If you wouldn't mind, perhaps a closer look would be good. Just to give me an idea.

Here's a picture I just took:



The magnets between the tracks are glued with a thick epoxy. The magnets to the turrets with super glue gel.
To prevent scratches/paint comming loose, I put a round piece of heavy weight black paper between the turret and hull. This also solves the problem that some turrets are not 360 degrees turnable (the turret of the Tiger would otherwise hit the wires/details on top of the hull).

Problems with magnets that you might find:
-be aware of polarity. Preferable glue all magnets in the same orientation.
-rare earth magnets are strong! Even the tiny ones can prevent placing two vehicles very close (almost touching). Actually: I like this feature Or,... if the polarity for two vehicles is reversed, they might cling.
-the turret will turn less easily. This is more noticable when the turret and hull magnets are not touching each other. So I always use two fingers to turn the turret instead of pushing against the gun.
-always paint first, then glue magnets. Some paints have the weird habit to turn into different colours.

Hope this gives you an idea,
Patrick

Awesome...thanks

The original thread was by yours truly

http://www.ghqmodels.com/forum/viewtopi ... +temporary

8ball wrote:The original thread was by yours truly

http://www.ghqmodels.com/forum/viewtopi ... +temporary

Yep...I remember that thread. Everyone on there has some really nice looking stuff

I think ppl have asked before, but I would like to ask again.

Do most of you all magnetize or have ur turrets become movable?

Or anyone just glues it down?

Accidentally submit a repeat post. :p
But yeap.. Just thought of putting the question out there on are most of ur turrets movable or not.

exodusforever wrote:Just thought of putting the question out there on are most of ur turrets movable or not.

I prefer my turrets to be movable.

But I am not up to the level of work that is needed for the magnetization as others have described here. I have many hundreds (thousands?) of tanks already in my active forces, and far too many in my "to be done" boxes, for me to invest that level of time on this issue.

In the past I just left them loose on the larger tanks, and glued them down on the smaller vehicles (light tanks or armored cars).

About 5 years ago I developed the habit of using white glue to make the turrets stick. This only worked with models that have a through-the-hull hole for the turret. Put a large blob of white glue (Elmer's brand in the US) on the turret peg, and stick it onto the hull. Come back in 10 minutes and rotate the turret left and right 180 degrees minimum (better 360). Most of the glue on the peg will be worn off before it sets, while most of the glue on the bottom of the peg (under the hull) will remain. It works on about 75% of the models in any one batch, and needs to be re-done on the other 25% until it works. Even then it is not a perfect solution -- just makes the turrets less likely to fall off.

Now I just use tacky glue. Buy it at the crafts store. It is made mostly for kids' craft projects (glue-on patterns, etc.). You glue the turret down, but you can remove it and re--position it easily as it as the glue never really sets. This works for both regular-sized and small tanks, and for those with through-hull holes and those without.

exodusforever wrote: Just thought of putting the question out there on are most of ur turrets movable or not.

I like mine movable and am going to take a stab at the magnet route. Right now they're just on there, no glue or anything. The only ones that are glued down hard are some T-62's that are going to be stripped anyway and then will have movable turrets.

I use magnets to hold the turrets on, similar to the method suggested earlier, but I do not glue the bottom magnets on. Everything stays in place magnetically, so I only glue the magnet to the turret. I also use a much smaller magnet for the turret and the chassis, as you don't need much force to hold everything together.