"Rare earth magnets for wargaming (1/600th aircraft)" Topic

I bought some tiny rare earth magnets to fix 1/600th aircraft onto flight stands and for storage.

link

Completely by accident I found that they can be used to make planes "fly" at jaunty angles. You can make a plane dive, fly to the side, etc. by putting the magnet on at an angle. Just put a blob of araldite on the underside of the aircraft. When it is dry fix your magnet to the blob at an angle.

Neil
reinforcementsbypost.com (painting service)
games2trains.com (auction site)

Try using a steel bearing as the top of a peg, you can have all sorts of fun banking/pitching them during a game! The only problem is if the plane is heavier than the magnet is strong, because then it'll slip all over the place (especially if the magnet is off the c.o.g.). Works great for small planes though, like I-16s, Bf-109s and Spits. Not so good for anything larger, like B-17s, B-52s, F-4s, or Mig-25s…

Here's a thread on this very topic. Unfortunately the pics have been pulled, but there's some good "how-to" near the bottom.

TMP link

Nice idea to use ball bearings. I will have to see if I can get some from ebay.

Doesn't work for me, since sadly, the aircraft are made of non-ferrous metals. ;-)