Man, what a chore this was. I set out to fully magnetize this thing so it could be a Maulerfiend or a Forgefiend. I succeeded in doing so but it was a ton of work. First up, a few shots of the completed model. Quality is lacking as I just took some shots with my phone. Click to enlarge.
Oh, I get all my magnets from K&J Magnetics. I’ve been using them for years, their prices are great, they have fast shipping, and I’ve never once had an issue.
Maulerfiend
Magnet Points
Now, I’ll show some of the key points of magnetizing this sucker. Here’s all the parts I’m using for the Maulerfiend. I have the lasher tendrils as well but I have not magnetized them just yet.
Torso
So the torso was the easiest part. The entire model is setup with a ball joint socket system and I put 1/4″ x 1/32″ magnets inside each socket joint*, as seen above. I didn’t drill, just set them inside and made sure they were level.
Update: I’ve since magnetized another model and I went with the 1/4″ x 1/16″ magnets for the socket joints. It makes a HUGE difference in the limb stability.
The rest of it was a matter of cutting off the ball joints on each part so it was flush and then adding a 1/4″ x 1/32″ magnet where the ball joint was.
Feet
The feet were a bit different. The ball joints were smaller and so I had to drill into the joints and set in magnets. For this I used 1/8″ x 1/16″ magnets.
The feet had to be done, as much as I didn’t want to. When you use the Forgefiend instead of the Maulerfiend you have to put the clawed feet on the front where on the Maulerfiend those clawed feet are on the back. The hoofs on the Forgefiend then go on the back legs.
Update: You can glue the feet on and not have any issues with the foot placement if you leave the legs where they are. Meaning, don’t move the back legs to the middle, or the other way around. It really makes life easier by gluing the feet on; trust me.
Now, I then used the larger magnets on the bottom of the clawed feet. These fit in the arch of the foot almost perfectly. I had to do a little cutting but not much. The foot rests level on the base, which was the goal.
Arms
Now, the front arm shoulders had to also be magnetized. Those shoulder plates needed to be able to be swapped onto the Forgefiend’s weapon arms. I drilled into the shoulder plate’s ball joint and set a magnet there and then one on the shoulder itself in the hole the ball joint sits.
The Base
Lastly, the base. Note the placement of the magnets. The back is for when it’s a Maulerfiend and the clawed feet are on the back legs. The mid ones are for the Forgefiend when those clawed feet get moved forward. The front single one is for the power fist when it’s a Maulerfiend.
Doing the base was pretty easy. Once I had the legs and power fist magnetized I just set the model on the base where I wanted it. I gently lifted it and let my magnets (with glue on them of course), find their natural position and glue in place. This gives the Maulerfiend 3 points of contact and the Forgefiend 4.
Update: In the latest one I magnetized, I used the 1/4″ x 1/8″ magnets for under the base. It helps a lot during games to keep it steady.
Wrap-up
There you have a fully magnetized Maulerfiend that can be a Forgefiend. I have not done the Forgefiend parts yet, as my intent is to mostly run it as a Maulerfiend, but doing those parts will be no different from the other parts that have been done thus far.
If you’re interested, you can check out the painted Maulerfiend/Forgefiend.
I love painting miniatures and teaching people how to paint. I also really love blogging, so I've combined those two passions here.
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WOW! That’s awesome. I would have loved to do this with the Forgefiend I put together, but with my limited knowledge couldn’t even wrap my head around where to start. Well done.
Overall it wasn’t that hard, just very time consuming.
Lots of magnets indeed. Does it fly out of your hands if you walk by a refrigerator? And never set that bad boy near any valuable electronics! lol
I should stick him on the fridge. Good idea!
You show the maulerfiend, and all of the magnets that allow you to assemble it as a forgefiend, but no picture of the forgefiend?
It looks good as a maulerfiend though. Nice work. It’s going to be quite a project to paint, I’m looking forward to seeing more!
Well, I have the Forgefiend legs setup but I have not done his arms/guns yet. What you see took me forever and getting the Maulerfiend done was good enough for now. I’m very tired of drilling and gluing magnets :P Once I field him as a Forgefiend I’ll get the guns setup and get shots of it.
That makes sense. You can already field it the way you want it, but there’s still the option to change it up later.
Yeah, painting will be a chore but at least having him magnetized lets me take it in sections so it won’t seem so overwhelming.
So maybe we’ll see him on the table with the one primer colored arm like some second hand beater?
Won’t be that bad. I’ll prime him all at once but paint it one part at a time.
How many different pieces is the end result in? That seems like a small erector set from the photos. I’m a big fan of magnets, but if I have to completely assemble a model from 20 different pieces, I’d change my tune quickly.
Hmm. The amount of pieces isn’t bad, the amount of magnets is crazy though. There’s over 20 magnets on the model and then 5 on the base. I’m a sucker for this stuff though. I enjoy all elements of modeling EXCEPT dealing with mold lines.
I agree about the love of magnets. If I’m going to play with my little dollies, I might as well be able to play dress-up too.
Would be interesting to see the “finished’ parts all laid out, to see just how many parts there are.
That is an awesome model and while i’m sure it was a lot of extra work magnetizing everything, at least you get both builds for it. Getting your money’s worth! Nice work.
I just can’t spend that kind of money on a model and not make it swappable.
Looks really great! Out of curiosity, what kind of drill/bits did you use for this? Trying to pick a drill that’s right for this kind of work, but there are a lot of options out there. Thanks for posting this!
I use the multi-use bits that do wood/metal/plastic. I use the type that have a lower profile on the point too (speed tip) to prevent drilling through. Something like these: https://amzn.to/37qaHF5
I spent the evening assembling and magnetizing all the bits on a forgefiend/maulerfiend and I can’t thank you enough for how helpful your article was for the process. I’m still relatively new to magnetizing bits, and this was great.
Glad you found it useful. Be careful though. Once you start magnetizing stuff there’s no end to the madness :)