Galaxy Class with saucer seperation

[Paragon]

Well I'm still not sure. You have to understand that when completed, bot the saucer and engineering section are quite heavy, and the connection points for each section are at the extreme ends of those parts. If, for example, you did use magnets and held it by the secondary hull, most of the weight in the saucer could cause it to fall off nose-first. The engineering section might to the same thing but in reverse.

On the other hand, by simply increasing the lip around the docking alcove, and around the back of the neck, so that the paper would help hold it in.....using that combined with magnets might be strong enough. Perhaps adding some weight to the back of the saucer could help as well.

So, exactly how expensive are these rare earth magnets?

[sgoti]

Not quite sure if these are rare earth or not, but I've been playing around with these buggers (of course, I bought from brick-and-mortar, not online):

Hobby Lobby Magnets

Powerful enough to flip one another through 3/8 to 5/8 inch thick wood. Also excellent at finding studs in the walls.

Should also add that they also have larger sizes.

Thought I might use these in a model railroad "anti-gravity" load, but haven't had the time yet...

Glenn

[Sidewinder81777]

the kind im talking about are about the size of a watch battery and might be strong enough to destroy the model when you are trying to undock the sections if it isnt reinforced enough, they are plenty strong enough to keep it from falling apart james

[sgoti]

Originally Posted by Sidewinder81777

the kind im talking about are about the size of a watch battery and might be strong enough to destroy the model when you are trying to undock the sections if it isnt reinforced enough, they are plenty strong enough to keep it from falling apart james

Sounds like these are close, if not spot on, then.

Slide apart, yes (with effort). Pull straight apart... Not so easy.

And 1/4 inch is just about the size of a watch battery (ok, a wee bit bigger).

Glenn

[cMags]

I think the magnets will work quite well for saucer separation. Here's an example James to show you how strong these things really are. I have here a pair of tweezers with one 1/4" round 1/16" thick rare earth (neodymium) magnets. With two magnets stacked on top, these will hold my Ninjatoes Enterprise D (approx 1:2000 scale) out straight from the tail end and this is with an 1/8" thick hull between the magnets.




Convinced? I am. :p

[Millenniumfalsehood]

Neodymium magnets may be *too* strong, actually. I'd go with those heavier ferrite magnets they use in speakers instead, because they'd be strong enough to retain the saucer without needing to rebuild it if you wanted to perform a saucer sep.

James, you need to get a couple of those magnets and see just how strong they are. The Enterprise-D's saucer or engineering hull would have to be insanely big before either would be too heavy for *those* magnets to hold.

Just to give you an idea, here's the *largest* model I've ever assembled (both in plastic or paper), and certainly the heaviest paper model I've got, Thunderchild's "Big Bertha" Gunstar, being held to my ceiling with the smallest Neodymium magnet I could find in my collection:





As I type this, it's *still* stuck to the ceiling. Those magnets are certainly strong enough to hold together your Galaxy class, if it's as big as the Ninjatoes version, but the parts would have to be *heavily* reinforced to prevent the magnets from tearing apart the saucer and neck.

[legion]

What about those magnets used in LEGO models? Or you could even use the LEGO Technic pins and holes!

[Millenniumfalsehood]

LEGO's magnets may work, but you'd be paying extra for the name and the little plastic holder they come in. Better to simply buy a package of magnets and use them.

[thokamous]

wow thats a tiny magnet

[ennder]

Hartville Tool is running a special on the Rare Earth magnets. 100 pc. for $15.98 +shipping

There address is hartvilletool com