Magnetizing the Manticore

If you haven't tried out the manticore missile tank, I serriously suggest that you do. While the weapon cannot dish out the punishment to Space Marines that a basilisk can, it is a perfect weapon for popping rhinos or Armor 4+ or worse troops. I have not had the chance to use it against another guard or ork army, but I am waiting that chance gleefully. Despite the bad rap it gets against MEQs, I felt that the amount of wounds it dished out was well worth the lower AP of the missiles.

This post is not just about how awesome the manticore is, but to advise people on how to magnetize each missile. This adds a nice game play aspect of removing a missile each time it shoots, allowing you to more easily keep track of the remaining payload. I was not able to magnetize the boxed set so that you switch between the manticore and the deathstrike missile launcher, but if you follow this link to find a fellow that did. I'll also put some links at the bottom for some other methods I found out on the internet for doing this, so if you don't like my method (I do serriously lack pictures) you save some time by checking these out.

If you are unaware, you can purchase magnets for use from amazon, which are 1/8" in diameter cylinders that are 1/16" thick. They are extremely strong, but small, so are ideal for use in miniatures, but easy to lose if you let one loose.

So, I suggest building the body of the manticore before you apply the magnets, but leave the missiles in this halves. Then in the missile halves with the slits, you will apply superglue on one slit at a time, gluing the magnets in place. It is not too important for these magnets to lie flat, but you should make sure that the polarity of the magnets are all the same (for instance, the positive sides should all be facing towards the outside of the missiles). It is also important to one glue in one magnet per missile at a time. Even the minor distance between the two slits is enough for these magnets to attract each other.

At this point you can glue shut all of the missiles if you wish, but in a word of caution, you won't be able to flip the magnets after you do so. If you messed up one of the magnets, there won't be any correcting it after you glue shut the missiles, so you may want to save that until you have all the magnets in the body complete.

At this point you need to find yourself a 1/8" drill bit. You can pick up drill bit sets at any hardware store or store that sells hardware for less than $20. You'll use these bits when doing other magnetizing work, and possible with home improvement, so they are worth buying at some point. I took the drill bit, and as much in the center of each of missile racks, drilled down about 1/16". You can measure that out with one of your magnets since you want it as deep as one is. After the holes are drilled, you'll want to begin gluing magnets in these holes. Again, you must make sure the polarities match up with the missiles before placing them in the racks. Also to save time, I suggest working on the outside racks on both sides first, then doing you inside racks, since you again will run into the problem of magnets being attracted to each other at close ranges, but the drilled holes do help keep them in place.

Once your rack magnets are place, it is time to double check that all the magnets are facing the correct way. Use your half missiles to check each rack. Do each missile on each rack just to be sure. If a magnet is backwards, it shouldn't be too late to pry it free from the glue and try again. Once you are sure all the magnets are in the correct polarity, glue shut your missiles, prime and paint. Mine is still in the painting phase, but I might update this post in the future to show how the magnets look once they are covered up with paint. I hope the paint will help hide that fact that they are there.

Now that you have magnetized the manticore, you are ready to do this all your other vehicles. I've used it on the sentinel with good effect, and I plan to try it out on an ork truck so that you can swap out vehicle options such as boarding planks and wrecking balls. As promised here are some alternative links for magnetizing your manticores (I only found one as of today).


http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/115876-Ruckdog%27s%20Manticore.html