DIY Magnetic Movement Trays (on the cheap)

[Patimuss]

The other day I was going to buy some of those fancy magnetic movement trays and bases for my new empire army. Unfortunately the store was sold out so, not wanting to wait for more to come in, I embarked on a journey to find a viable DIY alternative. While my journey was founded in impatience, I ended up being very surprised by the affordability of this method I discovered. So, for anyone who doesn't want to shell out the money for proper magnetic bases here is what I discovered.

Materials
Normal bases that you probably already have your guys glued to
old movement trays whether they are gw ones, plasticard, or whatever else you have on hand as long as they can take spray paint
Magnetic spray paint (normal spray paint laden with iron particles)
magnet tape/strip

These last two items can be obtained at hobby lobby for around 10 dollars and will make, by my loose estimate, around 100 20mm bases worth of trays/bases. the magnetic spray paint is $11 but Hobby Lobby has 40% off coupons online that will drop the cost to around 7 (link below). The magnetic tape stuff is $3 for 10 ft.

Directions:

To make magnetized bases:
1: Cut from the magnet tape pieces that are about the size of your base but still fit comfortably in the bottom part.
2: glue these into the bottoms of the bases and make sure they sit flush with the bottom of the base.
Things to be aware of:
1: The beveled edge of the bases make it so that simple cutting the magnetic tape into 20mm lengths is too long, so they need to be slightly smaller than the length of a base.
2: Cavalry, or other slotted bases need to be ground down (I used a dremel tool) so that the tape can sit inside.

To make old movement trays magnetic:
Simply spray the magnetic spray paint onto old movement trays
Things to be aware of:
1: the strength of the attraction between the magnets and magnetized spray paint depends on thickness. I put about 8 fairly thick coats on my trays to obtain a decent level of attraction.
2: this spray paint can be primed and painted over while maintaining the magnetic quality so you are not stuck with the color of it.
3: you could just as easily use any magnetic material for your trays and skip the magnetic spray paint entirely. I just used the spray because I already had plastic movement trays.

Anyway this is a relatively quick easy and cheap way to upgrade existing bases and trays to be magnetized. These are not quite as strong as the ones sold in the shop, but they are still strong enough to allow me to hold my handgunner unit sideways (picture included). I actually prefer this lesser strength because it means the models still stay put, but removing and shifting models is still quite easy. I hope this helps some people

Link to Hobby Lobby coupon: http://www.hobbylobby.com/weekly/weekly.cfm

[TommySalami]

Great write up Pat. I might give that a whirl for my Lizardmen.

[dasnation]

nice write up, i do this with magnetic paint already but the spray paint might be better i will have to try. thanks!

[Asandiril]

How does the "polarity" stand up to painted and based models? Bare plastic weighs less than a fully based model, after all (paint is negligible to weight, unless you cake the crap on).

[FormShaper]

Related tip: You can find 4"x6" sheets of stick-on sheet magnet at office supply stores. They're marketed as supplies to turn a favorite shapshot into an instant fridge magnet.

I say: ?!? Snapshot? Rly?!? Pictures printed on paper is so 2003. Nah, that's a solid 6-wide, 4-deep infantry unit.

Slap one of these on some plasticard or balsa wood and you're good to go. I've had some difficulty with the adhesive on the bottom of a typical GW infantry or cavalry base, but it's easy to work with at least.

MB

[Patimuss]

Update: Today I bought a quart (technically 30 oz.) can of magnetic paint at homedepot for 20 dollars (the spray cans were 10 bucks a pop). It is made by the same company as the spray (rustoleum) but has two distinct advantages over the spray. The first is that so far it seems like it has taken much less of the stuff to get a much stronger attraction (4-5 coats instead of 6-8). I believe the iron content is much higher in the paint on stuff as it doesn't have to be forced through a nozzle. The other advantage is that this can will literally be enough to last you your entire fantasy lifetime, and you'd still have enough left over for at least 5 friends. No joke here the paint on stuff goes so much further then the paint on. So if you don't mind the hassle of cleaning a brush I can't recomend the paint on stuff over the spray enough.