Neodymium magnets for affixing ordnance.

[beany]

I have just bought some Neodymium "rare earth" magnets from eBay. They are very cheap - I got 500 for £6.00 delivered. The size I chose was 4mm diameter by 2mm depth with a view to using them to mount the ordnance and supplies on the Revell 1/32 Tornado I am building (for a "Love Luftwaffe" facebook page group build).

I glued some inside the wings and then made a recess in the top of the pylons to glue the matching half - after checking for the correct polarity first!! The pylon is then attracted to the wing but is fluid so will be movable when the wing angle changes.




For fixed wing a/c I will permanently attach the pylon to the wing/fuselage but then put the magnet under the pylon and the other inside the bomb or fuel tank or whatever to make the load interchangeable. For missiles I think I may have to experiment with strips of metal such as a cut down staple or some such as even a 4x2mm magnet will be too big.

This is not my idea - I must have seen it somewhere else on the net but I know these magnets are also popular with railway modellers. If anyone else has ideas for how they could be used in model making I'd love to hear them - I don't have a very good imagination myself for that kind of thing but will happily nick other peoples ideas!!

Cheers
Al.

[iggie]

I've got some (2mm diameter x 1mm thick) which I'll use to secure the engine covers on my 1/32 Tamiya Mossie and other large scale aircraft where engines are provided.
They do seem to 'stick' well to each other!

[fredk]

Put some inside a fuselage and some on top of a stand.
No hole in fuselage but it'll sit on the stand.
Interchangeable with other models, as long as you make sure of the polarity
or put more into the fuselage and just a bit of iron/steel on the top of the stand

use magnets on underneath of wheels and on display bases as contacts to allow electric current to pass up into the model for a motor or lights

[JohnRatzenberger]

Hmmmm ... if you reverse polarity will the model "hover" ?

[fredk]

yes.
Revell once issued a small series of 1/144 aeroplanes scenes in which you put a magnet in the aeroplane.
The base was a disc shape with a big C (wire afair) upright. In these you put other magnets. You need two other magnets to make the aeroplane hold position other wise it just scoots off.
Result was one aeroplane flying with no other support. It would spin around and tip front to back and side to side but unless you gave it a big whack it stayed there.
The sets sell for about £20 to £30, if you can find them. I think they only did 5 or 6 different ones.
But you can do it yourself
I tried it with a 1/144 Harrier but it didn't work as I had no idea what I was doing
Now that I do I might try again

edit: I just found one for sale on Kingkit, £35
https://www.kingkit.co.uk/product/revel ... ornado-f-3;

2nd edit. the magnet in the base is a large donut shape afair. so pushing the aeroplane a little bit its still within the field of the bottom magnet which pushes the aeroplane magnet back to the centre position

[mattbacon]

If my experience with them while trying to get the polarity right to hold down a car bonnet is anything to go by, a small plane so equipped wouldn't so much "hover" as light out for the carpet monster's maw at full afterburner... Fortunately, the steel base of my worklamp intercepted the high velocity magnet using a tractor beam and brought it to earth before it hit anything vulnerable!
best,
M.