We report on the fabrication of out-of-plane microstructures using plastic deformation magnetic assembly (PDMA) and vapour phase HF release process. A 0.5μm thin silicon oxide (SiO 2 ) layer deposited on blank silicon has been implemented as a sacrificial layer. A nickel film, 0.5μm thick, deposited on top of the SiO 2 layer acts as the seed layer for the electrodeposition of a 4μm nickel–iron permalloy film. The surface morphology and chemical composition of the permalloy film has been characterised using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. A dry vapour phase hydrofluoric (HF) acid release step has been employed to etch the sacrificial SiO 2 , producing out-of-plane microstructures with high yield in the absence of a post-release drying step.