A lot of people have been talking and asking about magnetizing their Kingdom Death: Monster survivors. There’s a ton of possible gear combinations, and it’s really fun to have models that accurately represent their characters. I was assembling my own models and decided to create a very basic tutorial that should be useful for anyone who is new to miniatures. Before I started drilling, I assembled the torso, waist/leg sections, and the arm. Wait for the glue to completely cure before drilling; you don’t want to get superglue on your drill bits (or accidentally pull your models apart).

I use this simple hand drill and am very happy with it. You can get your magnets from many different sources. I’m a fan of K&J Magnetics and have used them to magnetize a wide range of models. The magnets I’m using for the models in this tutorial are 1/16″ x 1/32″ disc magnets. When testing them I found them to be a little on the weak side the arms once the weapons are attached, so I used two magnets in each hole and was more satisfied with the strength. I’d actually recommend using 1/16″ x 1/16″ discs in the future, although the shallower magnets are perfect for smaller bits like heads.

The first step to do is drill pilot holes using a 1/32″ drill bit. I drill pilot holes because it’s easier to correct a mistake if the drill bit moves a little bit.

Next switch to the 1/16″ drill bit and make the holes wide enough for the magnets.

Dab a very small amount of superglue on the magnet and push it into the hole so that it is flush with the surface. I use plastic tweezers for this.

Repeat for the other joints. Always double check that your joint’s polarity is the same as all the other models that you are magnetizing, otherwise you’ll have some pieces that are not interchangeable. One way of doing this is to place the new magnet on an already magnetized model that it should join with (if you’re magnetizing a waist, make sure it lines up with a torso). Use a marker to put a dot on the exposed surface. Make sure the dot is hidden when you glue the new magnet, and the polarity will match up with your existing pieces. If you use this method, make sure that the glue on the already magnetized piece has set, or you could pull the glued magnet out of its socket.

At this point we can assemble the waist and torsos of our survivors.

Shoulder and neck joints are a little more delicate, but the process is the same. It’s easier to drill the holes on these before you glue on the hands and weapons – those bits are a bit finicky and if you’re not careful you can damage them. Once you choose how you want the shoulder to be positioned, pick a point on the ball of the shoulder where the magnets will line up with the ones in the torso. I usually stick a few magnets on an already magnetized torso to help choose the center of where to drill the hole. Carefully shave off a little of the ball joint so that you have a flat surface, and make a tiny divot with an xacto knife where you want to drill.

Like the other pieces, carefully drill a pilot hole, widen it, and glue in your magnets.

Assemble the rest of the arm, and it goes together nicely with the survivor.

If you’re careful as you go through the different kits, the vast majority of the bits should be interchangeable. I’m not going to be magnetizing the wrists. Those joints are extremely delicate and narrower than the 1/16″ diameter magnets. There are magnets out there that are small enough, but it seems like a lot of work for a very small gain. There are also issue with smaller magnets not being strong enough – I don’t want my swords and spears to droop or spin every time I move a model.