Improving my mini handling - magnets the easy way

So for a long time now I have been hearing the advantages of using magnets to store and hold your minis.

I have a huge mini painting project I am about to start, and decided to give it a try in a way that is just a small step, and I thought I would share.

Rather than going all in and getting magnets embedded in dowel or custom magnetised holders, I am doing the following.

First I have some 12mmx1mm strong magnets. They were about 10c each on eBay.

I paint using disposable shot glasses as my holders, and I really like them, so I wanted to keep that.

Magnets are of course polarised, so I have a single old figure which I have used as a template and then put it on a shot glass and dropped another magnet it. Then I put a second shot glass into the first which means the magnet can't flip, so this is a solid magnetic figure base I can disassemble that cost me about 15c.

Now for putting the magnets on the figures. When I was using putty to attach figures to the shot glasses I would need to use a lot of it, and it wouldn't hold very well. As you can see in the photos below, I am using a very small amount of putty to attach the magnets.

All in all, I am getting enough putty to attach 10-15 magnets from the putty I used to use on a single figure from my last project, because I am reusing the putty.

One this is done, I can just attach or remove the figure from the holder at a whim. I can also attach the figures to a cheap baking tray for transport, out to my airbrush station outside, or remove them for putting into a metal based storage container if I am not going to be getting to them for a while (not pictured as I haven't constructed this yet).

So then we have the picture I opened this with.

Of course at this stage as long as I don't remove the figure I could remove the bottom shot glass as the magnet on the figure is holding the magnet into the single shot glass.

It used to be that all I could have on my table and in my "In Progress" rack was about 20 figures because the size of the shot glasses was the limiting factor. Now I can store the 60 I am working on easily because I am storing them off the bases and only putting them onto the bases when I need to work.

There will be some logistics to sort out such as how I will do my priming and everything, but I think this will be a good step forward.

I do plan on making it more professional, maybe. But I thought I would share this shortcut that allowed me to move towards magnetisation without massive overhead or outlay.

Flash Point: Fire Rescue. Because everyone loves fire-persons.

Flash Point: Fire Rescue is probably my favourite introductory co-op game. It's also the one that I think is the most thematic game because everyone gets what is going on. You can play it with 6 year olds, or 80 year olds. And I have. If there was any game I wanted to give a good treatment to it was this one.

It has taken me over half a year to finish this project, though the last half has only taken me three weeks. It's amazing what you can do when you just sit down and focus. Even painting only 30 minutes every other day, I finished the last seven pretty quickly.

Each of the roles in Flash Point brings their own feel to the board, and I wanted to try to reflect that in their paint jobs. The trick is the figures don't match the art on the cards, not remotely. To the point there was some argument as to what figure represented which card. I have come up with my own colour schemes to try to make it work for me. Some of them are too simple, others too complex. But I think they will look great on the table.

Each figure has a tank colour that tries to represent their basic role. FIghting fire, support, leadership. I changed it a few times in order to stay closer to the art, or for artistic purposes. It's my game, and I can do what I want. None of these figures are going to have to actually meet a uniform code.

So there is my team, ready to face whatever challenge that comes. Ready to rush into the flames and rescue the helpless (and often stupid) Points of Interest that reside in the dangerous situations they find themselves in. All hail the heroes.

One final touch I had to add, though I had a lot of trouble taking a photo of it. For some of the figures where the uniform matched. The artwork for many of them shows them wearing Hi-Vis with reflector strips. So I had to paint them on. It's not really visible under normal light, and I can't imagine ever playing under UV light, but if my heroes ever find themselves in a situation where they need that extra visibility in low light conditions, they are ready.

As always I hope you like the figures.