Magnetizing Your Imperial Guard Sentinel

After completing my Valkyrie, I had to try the new Imperial Guard Sentinel. I figure with the new Imperial Guard codex out and the ability to take up to 3 squadrons of these, the impact of magnetizing is huge. The kit comes with all of the weapon options needed to model in a number of different ways including making it a Scout Sentinel or an Armored Sentinel. Overall, I was pretty happy with the overall ease at which everything assembled and magnetized.

As a note, I get my magnets from K&J Magnetics and have provided their part number and link when I first reference a magnet size. However, you can find magnets from a wide range of sources.

What Will You Need?

For this project, not including the lascannons, you'll need the following:

• 11 X 1/8" x 1/32" disc magnets (D201)
• 29 X 1/16" x 1/32" disc magnets (D101-N50)
• Pin vise with a 1/16" and a 1/8" drill bit
• Superglue
• Toothpick

Step-by-Step

Cockpit hardpoints

We're going to tackle the cockpit hardpoints first as all other pieces will attach here. There are a total of 5 connection points, which I'll refer to as the main weapon, top of the armored cover, chin, left shoulder. and right shoulder. The main weapon and the top of the armored cover will each take a 1/8" x 1/32" disc magnets. Expand the existing guide holes with your trusty 1/8" bit and then glue the magnet. Check your polarities here as you want the same orientation on all of your hardpoints.

The chin hardpoint will also require a 1/8" x 1/32" disc magnet. The chin mount is a little stub that needs to be cut off and sanded flat. Once the area is prepped, mark the center of the hole with a scribe, drill out a 1/8" hole, and glue your magnet.

Do the same thing with the right shoulder hardpoint and glue a pair of 1/16" x 1/32" disc magnets into the square slot. Take extra care to ensure your hole is deep enough, otherwise parts of the magnet will stick out and you'll have to shave down the corresponding peg. The left shoulder will take a little bit of thought. It really comes down to where you want to missile. I chose to attach mine from the side, so the magnet is attached to the side and back a ways. I found it easiest to glue the magnet to the missile first and then see where I needed to place the corresponding magnet on the left shoulder.

Weapons and Right Shoulder Accessories

The weapons were all very straight forward because they all have attachment pins. Clip off the pin, file flat, and then glue a 1/8" x 1/32" disc magnet. That's it. I didn't have to drill anything on the weapons. The missile might be a little more complicated, depending on how you want to attach it. I chose to attach it to the side, so I shaved off some of the cabling and glued a magnet and called it done.

For the 3-4 right-side accessories, use your scribe to mark the center of the square guide post and glue in a pair of 1/16" x 1/32" disc magnets. I considered gluing the plasma cannon's hoses to the gun but in the ended, didn't feel like this was necessary. Everything is pretty secure without any additional gluing.

Armored Cover

This was the most difficult piece to magnetize, mostly because pre-existing guideholes and tabs don't exist. First, clip off the posts for the Scout Sentinel. The armored cover won't fit on it they're still there anyways. Also, make sure you don't glue your pilot in, as he's just a tad too tall for the cover to fit.

We're going to make 3 connection points. Use the scout cage to mark where the two rear feet meet the cockpit (more on this later). Drill out 2 holes in these spots and glue in a pair of 1/16" x 1/32" disc magnets. Use the end of your scribe to push down on them pretty hard to ensure they are flush with the surface of the cockpit, otherwise there will be a nasty gap where the top cover meets the main cockpit. Next, use a drill bit and file to slightly expand the guidehole in the front of the cockpit and glue in another pair of 1/16" x 1/32" magnets.

Put a small dot of red paint on each of your connection points and push the top cover onto the main body. Push hard enough so that the join is as close as possible. When you pull the pieces apart, you should see 3 dots on the top cover that will tell you where to drill. Glue another pair of 1/16" x 1/32" disc magnets into each of these spots. Naturally, if you're set on running only Armored Sentinels, then you can skip this step and save yourself a significant amount of work.

Scout Cage

Remember how I told you to use the feet of the scout cage as a guide? If you did this right, then all you need to do it trim down your rear legs slightly, glue a single 1/16" x 1/32" magnet onto each and you can now swap out between the armored cupola and the scout cage. Be careful, those little magnets are a pain to glue onto those little posts.

Miscellaneous Pieces

The rest of the pieces were magnetized in a hodgepodge of ways. The smoke discharger simply had a single 1/16" x 1/32" disc magnet glued into the recess. I clipped the mounting post off the searchlight and replaced it with a pair of 1/16" x 1/32" disc magnets to make a new post. The sensors on top of the armored cupola was drilled to take a pair of 1/16" x 1/32" disc magnets.

Here's the finished product.

Notes

Last updated	5/23/09
Author	Michael Kan
Pre-requisites	None
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