It took ages, but my Predator is finally finished! I decided to make its weapons magnetized - after all, you never know whether the Annihilator pattern won't be worth it when the next Codex gets released. Anyways, let's see the dakkapred first!
I tried to make the vehicle more detailed and more weathered than my Rhino. More bright colors are used (mainly for targeters), and I've done some weathering around the exhaust pipes - nothing more than a simple drybrush, but it feels good.
A side view on the Destructor pattern, showing the weathering and a heavy bolter. I use a 1:1 mix of Tin Bitz and Chaos Black for the black metal on weapons.
I've already tested the Destructor in a small battle and I have to admit it is a beast (at least when it comes to putting down Orks). Yet, somehow, I like the design of Annihilator more, and I guess it can be seen on the model. A sniper tank with four lascannons (ok, three and a half, technically) just deserves respect; I wish this setup would be more worth it in-game. As a side note, I'm glad I got all the insignia right this time (gotta love that Insignium Astartes).
Finally, the controversial Maverick (or "autolas") pattern. Somehow this pattern actually feels the most basic for me, since it was the only one featured in Final Liberation, the game that got me into this hobby.
Anyways, let's take a short look on the magnetizing!
The turret wasn't really hard to magnetize. What you need are 3mm wide, 1mm high neodymium magnets; they fit the holes almost perfectly. I also advise glueing a small piece of plastic on the turrets lower side, so that the weapon holds firmly and doesn't fall down (which is always a risk with small magnets). If you look carefully, you can see on the picture that I used just a small piece of sprue there, and it works great.
The sponsons are harder to magnetize right. I decided to go the easy way and replace the whole weapon support with a line of magnets - it works pretty good and is not really noticable on the model. Just be *very* careful to glue everything right and even, so you don't end up with the weapons leaning in sloppy angles. Drilling a correct size hole into the weapons themselves is annoying as well; perhaps a bit of green stuff might help there (didn't try though).
So here's the model with all its parts separated. The army building possibilities are great with magnetized models, but to be honest, if you are a perfectionist, go with the normal, un-magnetized look. If you are more into gaming, though, magnetizing will allow you to try a lot of options without proxying or buying multiple models and the Predator is a good model to get a grip on it, since you need magnets of only one size. Be sure to get a good bunch of them, thought - the turret part requires at least 6, and the sponsons require anywhere from 4 to 12, depending on the way you deal with it.
Anyways, I hope you like the vehicle! See you soon.
