The joys of magnetizing

   One of my many projects is to magnetize my Centurions. Sure,  I could just put them together with grav-guns and call it good, but would it be? There are just so many options and each one has is merits. As the saying goes, right tool for the right job.
Magnetizing the weapon load outs is going to give me many more options when it comes to fielding these models.
   The arms come in three sets. Each set is paired by the details that adorn them. With three sets of legs, torsos and arms, that comes to 27 different combinations you can build. Add in the four different weapon potions (not counting flamer vs. Melta on the siege drills,) that jumps you up to 108 different combinations. Yet,  by filing down the details on one, or both arms, giving you the option of using different arms and not mixing iconography, you then end up with a whopping 324 different builds you can use to make each centurion! If I decide to, and I'm able to, magnetizing the secondary weapons of assault launchers, hurricane bolters and missile launchers will give me 972 combinations!
   Although it is possible to magnetize everything and get all the combinations, I don't find it to be practical. The 4 main reasons being; time to do all the work, cost and supply of magnets, stability will be desired between waist and torso and the fact that each arm has it's own specific wiring you can use with it. So therefore I will be gluing the legs,  torsos and arms together and only Magnetizing the weapon mounts themselves. After everything is assembled this will still give me all the options for arming my Centurions. It still comes out to 4 different weapons choices for each one. 12 combinations if I can properly do the secondary weapons.
   The magnets sizes I have chosen to use for this project are 1/8x1/32 and 1/8x1/16. The taller piece is going to be used in the arm itself for a deeper, stronger bond with the thinner magnet attached to the weapon itself. When working with magnets,  the more you can use,  the stronger the bond will be. I would like to be able to use the larger size in both the arm and the weapon,  but there isn't as much thickness to work with on the weapon itself. I would hate to drill through and damage all the detail.
   At the time of posting this, I have only just started and have one arm complete. After some cutting and filing on the inside of the weapon, I was able to satisfactorily get a magnet inset and keep the weapon mostly flush when attached. The bond is strong and the weapon doesn't move around too freely and stays on when handled. The next arm I do, I am going to try something a little different to how the magnets will attach. Rather than drilling into the weapon and placing the magnet,  I'm going to drill deeper into the arm so both magnets sit flush into the arm itself when the weapon is attached. If this works, it will limit the admit of trimming I will have to do to attach the magnet to the weapon and hopefully cutting down on my work time. I'm thinking it will give me a little added stability to the join by creating a plug type attachment. The arms seem thick enough to handle a hole slightly deeper than 3/32 to accommodate this.
   In the next few days,  I will edit this post with pictures and details showing how it all is working out.

Horus Heresy book 2: Massacre is inbound!

 Just got my confirmation email that my next order from Forge World with book two has been sent! Really excited for this because it has Salamanders!
Now,  I just have to wait another week before it gets here!

Finally, a room to work in!

First off,  I'm writing this from my phone,  so I will apologize for any major errors now.

Well,  my first big project is finally complete. Well,  at least to a point where I can work without being claustrophobic from all the clutter! I finally managed to get my hobby room cleaned again and can start, or I should say, finish some projects I have before I jump into the thunderhawk.

We saw what the room looked like before:

It may not have looked too bad,  but trust me,  it was.
But that's Ok. Because now,  it's clean and I can work on my hobby without any problems!

I changed some pictures on the walls.  Took down my Warmachine pictures in favor of the really awesome Badab war posts I've been sitting on for awhile.
Added a couple others I've accumulated.

Moved my display cases.

And cleaned the desk!

Now that that's done,  I'll stop talking about boring crap, like cleaning my room. Really,  I'm how old and had to clean my room? Well,  can't be too old, I still have a lot of fun pushing little toy soldiers around a table!

Now,  on to projects and goals.
After having been in the hobby for so long,  and having a bad case of the magpie syndrome (oooh, shiny! Let's start something new! ) I do have a lot of projects started,  and very few finished. Let alone painting.  That in itself is a whole other obstacle I will be overcoming.

My list of projects to finish before I can work on my Thunderhawk;

1. Finish assembling and  magnetizing my centurions. They may not be the greatest looking models,  but I like them. I have six and need to get another three. 

2. Finish cleaning and assembling my Eldar army. I have always wanted Eldar, and with the new book and models, I thought why not! Thirty guardians,  ten Dire Avengers and a few miscellaneous models to fill out points. 

3. Repair all damaged models already assembled. The pile just always seems to grow.  The 

more you play,  the more they tend to break...... When you are a clutz.

4. Reorganize and inventory my overabundance of unassembled models. Because I'm more of an accumulator than a player or painter.

My goal for these for items is to have them done,  with a little discipline, by the end of the month. I've got some vacation time coming up and I shouldn't have any excuses not to get it done.

In closing,  thank you for reading. I'm still trying to find myself in regards to how I want to go with this blog. Right now,  my intention is to post pictures and thoughts of my projects as I work on them (hopefully without boring you too much, ) and any problems and solutions I come across. I won't be posting any gaming articles for awhile as I see this more of a motivator to get modeling and painting. For now. 

Welcome to Nocturne Forgeworks!

Why start a blog?
Hell, why not. Everyone and their dog apparently is doing one, so why not me?

For those of you who don't know me, and I hope that eventually there will be a lot, My name is Brandon Wright. I have been an avid collector, reader, and player of most of the Games Workshop games. Most specifically, Warhammer 40,000. Not to say that I don't, or haven't played other games, but 40K is my favorite.

I can still remember a friend of mine telling me all about the superhuman, genetically altered space marines while we were running in middle school gym class. Especially about critically wounded marines be spinal tapped into walking sarcophagi called dreadnaughts! I had to check these guys out!

Now, that was waaaaay back at the end of the 80's! And I've been hooked ever since! In case you couldn't tell, I am a Salamanders chapter/legion fan. Ever since I first laid eyes on them back in White Dwarf 123. Maybe it was the black skin making them look not quite human, or more than likely, it was the flames catching the attention of a young pyromaniac! Whatever it was, I've been a strong fan and supporter of the 18th legion.

My first picture of the Salamanders!

This blog is, hopefully, going to help keep me motivated to paint and keep up with the hobby aspect of my 40K addiction. I will be posting up what I am painting and what army lists I am using. I am one of those that has many things I would like to do, yet very few that I actually do. Least of which is the main inspiring reason for this blog:

Amongst other things.... I BOUGHT A THUNDERHAWK!!!!

But before I can build and paint it, I have to get this cleaned so I can have somewhere I can work on it and not have it spread all over anywhere else in the house:

Every time I get it cleaned, it just seems to end up worse!

But, before I can even get the Thunderhawk started, I have another project I need to finish first. i started working on some of the new Centurions and ran out of magnets to get them finished. I will need to get these built before I can let myself start on the big project. So, hopefully, by mid November I will be able to dedicate myself to getting the behemoth started!

May this blog help me stay focused, vent my little rages in building such a mammoth model and inspire me to keep up on the hobby aspect of the game! Trust me, the acquiring part of the hobby is well under control....er, out of control?