Magnetized Holograms

Back in the old days of Infinity all the Hacker and Engineer models used to come with a sheet of holograms printed on an acetate sheet. These looked simply amazing on a model!Perhaps you still have some of these laying around – CB have discontinued the holos somewhere around the time of the original Human Sphere. But fret not – the sheets are available for download on the Infinity Website in the Archives / Downloads section, and you can print them on an acetate sheet (acetate sheets are those transparent stuff used for overhead projectors. If you don’t have a pack of it at the ready, every photocopy / printer shop should be able to have it printed for you in professional quality and for reasonable price).

Ah. But we meet the problem here, the same that likely made the CB stop providing us with the sheets: how the heck are you going to attach them to a model?

That’s why you rarely see these on the table, I guess.

Gluing these to a model’s hand – you paint it first, or not? What glue to use (and I’ve tried a few – none works really good*)? What about varnishing? And how to keep the holos from breaking off…?

• I’ve tried or seen my buddies using stuff like Superglue (brittle, and causes frosting on the acetate), PVA (loses strength quickly) and Revell Contacta Special (which is a plastic modeller’s glue especially intended to attach clear parts, like aircraft canopies, without frosting them – but in the end,it turned out to be no better than PVA).

That’s why I went around the problem and used magnets. The added benefit being the fact I can add or remove the holos as I see fit, turning the hacker into a basic Rifleman if I need the model as such in another list, and allowing both my opponent and me to instantly point which of the models is the hacker (“the one with holo”).

I can also make a model into a Hacker, if there’s no adequate figure released – simply equip it for a hologram.

Okay, so let’s get to the point: what will be needed for that kind of trick?

• A tailoring pin.
• A file.
• Tweezers.
• A large magnet (not mandatory, but very useful).
• Hobby drill.
• Superglue.
• A model, naturally. Here it is the old sculpt of a Ragik Hacker.

Before we start, let’s examine our model. Most Hacker figures in Infinity tend to have an outstretched hand, which is ideal for our purposes. Lacking that, we could use a comlog bracer, a hand-held piece of equipment, or even something placed on the ground (bah! We could place adequate box there ourselves!).

Here, you have a few models with no “hacker’s hand”, so I had to work around it:

Tomcat Engineer and Wildcat (whom I can use alternatively as Engineer and Hacker) have the pinheads installed into comlog bracers.

Valerya Gromoz got an extra bit on the base.

Al’Hawwa Hacker has his hand-held device made into the Assault Hacking Device.

So, let’s go.

First, take the tailoring pin and file the head flat. The flatter, the better – just make sure the pin has a head made of magnetic material, plastic ones are, obviously, out of the question.
Then, cut the head off the pin, leaving the peg as short as you can. Here the big magnet comes in handy: attaching the pinhead to it before cutting is likely to prevent the little metal part from making a run for it (it is very irritating when you have to look all around for a freshly cut out pinhead!).

Next, take the part you intend to attach the pinhead, and drill a hole to hide the peg into. In my case, I’m attaching it to the Ragik’s outstretched palm – and doing it while the arm is still separate from the model makes it easier.

Glue the pinhead into the hole, and… we’re done. You can then paint it up normally.
I use 3x1mm round rare earths magnets to keep the holos in place. Works just fine.

On an end note – some of you may wonder why come of my magnets are blue, and some aren’t. I’ve initially painted my magnets, but it turned out to be pretty short-lived effort – the paint tended to chip away easily. Perhaps it is a matter of the varnish I used back then.

I guess I’ll have to re-test it.