Another idea (I think this has been posted before). Make the turret "posts"
and "holes" a standard size. Then package armor chasis and turrets separatly.
With the lack of officail designs, this would allow for maximum customizing of
minatures while retaining some recognition. Ie. you may have packages of the
following (please ignore stupid names): Mongose Chasis (size 1 hover)
Roadrunner Casis (size 1 wheeled) Viper Casis (size 1 tracked) Fang turret
(HEL 1) Sniper turret (MDC 1) Angel turret (RFAC 1) Pitchfork turret (DFFG 1)
This would give 12 vehicle designs. But the size of the vehicle would be
easily identifiable.
> Another idea (I think this has been posted before). Make the turret
> On Mon, 19 May 1997, Ground Zero Games wrote:
> Many of the turrets/hulls on the new DSM range are, in fact,
Those who don't fit... is it anything a pin vice and some glue won't get
around?
I often find myself having to drill up holes for parts supposed to fit
together anyway, so it isn't a big problem...
> On Tue, 20 May 1997, Oerjan Ohlson wrote:
> Those who don't fit... is it anything a pin vice and some glue won't
> together anyway, so it isn't a big problem...
A good knife, epoxy glue and a power drill solve anything. Especially since
the turret essentially sits on top of the hull anyway. I.e. there's no
structural stress.
My "NAC Ark Royal" (from GeoHex) came without the mounting hole for the bridge
module. No prob, I thought, and took my pin vice.
Didn't bite.
Ok, I thought, and took my minidrill.
Didn't bite.
I'm not through with you buster, I thought and took my powerdrill, the one I
usually use to punch holes in concrete walls.
That bit.
The next person who tells me pewter is ideal for hobby miniatures should
prepare to meet his ancestors first...
> On Mon, 19 May 1997, Ground Zero Games wrote:
There is NOTHING that a pin vice & glue won't get around...:)
All the DSM turrets have (approximately) the same size "pins" - small
ones; the only times you'll have trouble is some of the FW hulls that have
HUGE
turret holes - you'll need to stuff the hole with milliput.
> On Tue, 20 May 1997, Ground Zero Games wrote:
Black & Decker is your friend...
I have a $20 cordless drill with some 1/16" bits, and I've been able to
drill & pin just about everything with it.
Always remember, though: don't drink and drill!
[SNIP!!]
> The next person who tells me pewter is ideal for hobby miniatures
Pewter ISN'T ideal; it is hard, unpliable, prone to pitting when casting and
EXPENSIVE!!!!
We (at GZG) use a mix called CT1/C90, which (while still high-tin) has a
bit of lead which improves things a bit. GeoHex can't do this, because the
good ol' US of A has decided they don't like anything with lead in it, except
bullets of course...;)
> --
> On May 20, 22:02, Ground Zero Games wrote:
In large quantities, it is more expensive, and it is always unpliable. But
when
doing spin-casting with some friends of some of our own sculptures (usu.
15mm), we had little problem with pitting, and got greater detail than we
usually did with lead. And in our quantities, it was cheaper!
> good ol' US of A has decided they don't like anything with lead in it,
Too true....
> good ol' US of A has decided they don't like anything with lead in
I'm glad I live in the land down under where the Government doesn't give a
rat's bum about the health and safety of the masses.
Mmmmmmm......Lead.
> There is NOTHING that a pin vice & glue won't get around... :)
Let me restate my reasoning. I don't glue on turrets. I would like to create a
battle group to meet the needs of the pick up game or scenario.
If the scenario calls for 4 groups of light GEV's with DFFC's to go up against
1 group of heavy wheeled AFC's with MDC's, I don't want to say "OK everyone,
these GEV with the missile turrets acutally have HEL's". I
would love to have 5 size GEV's, 5 turrets with light HEL's, 5 turrets with
MDC's, 5 turrets with RFAC's, etc. and choose which vehicles to make. But to
do this, all turrets and bodies would have to have the same
size pin and hole. It may be easier to sell a modular system to retailers as
well. I just
went to my local hobby store and saw several of same Future Wars (FW) body
with different turrets. It seems that it would be easier to sell packs of
parts. I know that if I was a retailer, I would not want to stock 5 sets of
the same tanks with different bodies. I would always pick the combination that
did not sell. Plus I would always be assured of selling at least 2 packs of
mini's for this line (one body, one turret). GZG could also market a
"recognition guide" giving stats for the different bodies matched with the
different turrets.
<This post sounds a lot more angry than I actually am. Please disregard the
tone of this letter, but not the ideas it contains>
> good ol' US of A has decided they don't like anything with lead in it,
I assume they worked out that if you are going shoot someone it doesn't really
matter that ingesting lead is bad for your long term health.
> good ol' US of A has decided they don't like anything with lead in
Off topic area below....
Semi-Topical bit to follow....
HEY! I didn't decide anything of the sort. It seems that it was the hue
and cry of the _potential_ of itty bitty chilluns eating gobs of those
fancy lead bits (to my knowledge no one has EVER been harmed or killed by lead
poisoning from collectible minis) that moved Our Stalwart Legislators to
propose a bill in NY state (the bill was later defeated) to ban lead
miniatures, amongst other vile products with lead in 'em.
In response, and maybe to avoid future problems, manufacturers began
using house blends of various antimony/zinc and tin compounds, which
reportedly (Ral Partha sez, at least) cost up to 3x the price of yummy lead.
But there is no legal ban, go figure. So I sez gimme lead figs,
please. They just taste better anyway. Kieran from Geo-Hex may have some
insights from the manufacturing end that I don't know about, only being
in the fringy retail-kibitzing-game design end of things.... But that's
the way I understands it.
I just ordered a bunch of stuff from John McEwan, from his new Days of Empire
line, and I'm waiting patiently for its arrival.... The
'landships' on his site at: http://www.halcyon.com/shamrock/doe made me
think, hows about a series of larger vehicle chassis as well, with multiple
turrets, not so much a'la Ogre, but maybe more like HellTank...... Maybe my
blood sugar is low again...
Gene
> On Tue, 20 May 1997, Ground Zero Games wrote:
> We (at GZG) use a mix called CT1/C90, which (while still high-tin) has
Yeah, it's better. But good old tin/lead 40/60 (or was it 60/40?)
is still considerably more workable. I find I have to use my minidrill for
removing the mold lines from your minis when I usually get by with just my
scalpel.
But the small fiddly bits, antennas, weapon barrels etc. *are* more durable.
So I guess it has its advantages.
> GeoHex can't do this, because the
Talk about overrated hysteria... It's not even a law.
Hmmm... isn't CinC American? How come they still do lead? Or do they have
separate castings for export?
As for not glueing the turrets... I can see why one'd want to do that, but I
know I'd just end up losing turrets, knocking them off during play etc. So I'd
just buy enough parts for full combinations.
All my minis don't fit on my table at the same time anyway.
> From: "George,Eugene M" <Eugene.M.George@kp.ORG>
> >
Right now its the "perception" that lead figures are harmful that makes us
(manufacturers) leery of putting lead figures on the market. That and the fact
that we don't have to put a warning label on the products as companies in the
UK do now. I know that this is a tempest in a tea kettle, but the hobby is too
small to stand up to legislative scrutiny and review. Defending ourselves
against the
state of NY and congress cost a bundle - how much will it cost the
next time around? Anyway, this is off topic - I'll be glad to review
this by direct email if anyone wants to pursue this further.
KR
> From: "George,Eugene M" <Eugene.M.George@kp.ORG>
I think we should lobby for pewter bullets here in the US. I for one don't
want to get poisioned by those lead bullets. Perhaps we should sue the bullet
companies for making lead bullets that poison people. Of course, their
argument would be, "They shouldn't have gotten shot by them." But of
course...that is another thread.
> There is NOTHING that a pin vice & glue won't get around... :)
I
> would love to have 5 size GEV's, 5 turrets with light HEL's, 5 turrets
With the DSM stuff, this won't be a problem - though the turrets for
some of the MICVs etc. are quite small (OK, very small) and may get fiddly of
left loose - but the pins are a fairly tight fit in the holes. The
variation in the FW range is something we've "inherited" from CMD when we
bought the range, and our re-vamp of it (for the UK) this summer is
partly
aimed at cutting some of the multiple redundancy (ie: over-used
mix'n'match bits) out of the range.
> good ol' US of A has decided they don't like anything with lead in
Yes - though if you think about it, if you swallow a G*m*s W*rksh*p
figure you'll die from all the chaos spiky bits (tm) ripping your throat to
shreds long before the lead gets you......;)
> Mikko wrote:
[snip]
> GeoHex can't do this, because the
A number of US companies, I think, DO offer choice of lead or lead-free,
with most of the lead castings probably going for export; for example, Ral
Partha stuff sold in the UK by Minifigs are still lead, even the ones that are
cast in the US and shipped over, like the boxed sets.
I didn't say lead was banned - it is just that all the panic and
misinformation about it caused several of the larger manufacturers (including
the one that casts for GeoHex) to get scared enough to switch to
lead-free metals, whether it be pewter, Ralidium TM (hey - great idea -
invent our own name for it and make the price hike even BIGGER...) or
whatever.
BTW, if any manufacturers try and say they had to change all their moulds to
cope with pewter (I think at least one said this at the time, as another
excuse for price hiking), this is b*llsh*t - the same moulds work fine
with
almost any low-melt alloy (in our experience, at least).
> Yes - though if you think about it, if you swallow a G*m*s W*rksh*p
I would like to buy a vowel.
That
Chuk Guy
PS. I hear alot about missiles moving and trying to dodge them. I got the
basic game a couple of weeks ago and is says nothing about missiles
moving.(are these the same as the expendable ordinance thingys?). Are they
different? If so where are the rules for the new stuff?
> Yes - though if you think about it, if you swallow a G*m*s W*rksh*p
Certainly, sir; one "A" in size 12 coming up. Would you like that in
Helvetica...?
> That
Missiles are one of the optional additional weapons covered in the MORE THRUST
supplement book.