I know that this question has been asked at least once before, but it's a new
year, and there all kinds of new people on the list, so....
How do you base your fighters? Until now, I've been mounting a cardboard
triangle on a GW flight base, and mounting a figher on each corner. It's not
bad, but I want to do better. Does anyone do anything particularly brilliant
that doesn't require an engineering degree?
(Oh, and I found my Sa'Vasku paint scheme; an amalgamation of several of the
suggestions that I recieved. 1: Basecoat black.
2: Paint with Floquil "PRR Dark Green"--a great color, only slightly
removed from pure black. 3: Drybrush with Cartoon Colors "Dark Green 15". 4:
Paint the "lips" and dots along the back with Partha "Mold Green" 5: Paint
interior of the "mouth" with CC "Bright Green 20", and then splotch it with
bright yellow. 6: Paint the tips of the spines with CC "Green 20", and blend
along their length. 7: Spray with a Satin coat. The result evoked a heartfelt
"Yuck" from my fiancee, so I think that it's a success. Thanks, everyone! Now,
can someone explain why the
escort-sized ships don't have mounting holes?)
> At 09:45 PM 3/5/99 -0500, you wrote:
It's
> not bad, but I want to do better. Does anyone do anything particularly
Well, I've been pretty happy with the system I came up with - a
Battletech hex base and some brass rod. I cut the rod into three 1" lengths
and three
1&1/4" lengths and arrange them into arcs on the base. This allows me
to slip a standard Chessex 12mm "cube die" into the back area of the base as a
fighter counter.
Pics are available on StarFighter Command in the Gallery page under the "new
pics" heading:
http://www.sfcmd.com/fullthrust/minis/
> John Crimmins wrote:
It's
> not bad, but I want to do better. Does anyone do anything
> I know that this question has been asked at least once before, but
It's
> not bad, but I want to do better. Does anyone do anything
I take three pieces of copper wire and twist them together. On one end I bend
the wires out into a "Y" shape and glue on to a Nickle (US $0.05) but any
small metal disk should do. I cover that end of the base with putty to make it
smooth. At the other end of the twisted copper wire I bend the wires out into
a "Y" shape and bend the end od the "Y" up. At the ends of the wires I place
one fighter, for a total of 3 fighters on a base.
Tim
G'day John,
> I know that this question has been asked at least once before, but it's
It's
> not bad, but I want to do better. Does anyone do anything particularly
We use two methods (as you may have guessed Derek and I rarely
do anything in the same way - family cohesion is such a grand idea ;) )
Derek gets really fine brass rod (1mm I think) and cuts off 6 short lengths of
it, sticks those perpendicular to a base (he uses balsa hexes, but you
could use round/square etc.) then sticks one fighter to the top of each.
That way they're at different heights etc.
I also use the fine brass rod, but I drill 6 holes into a GW flying base and
its neck and stick the wire into those instead. I bend the rod (if its stuck
into the neck) so the top is pointing up and then stick the fighters on top.
I get fighters at different heights/angles, but all still in a group.
Both methods look pretty good, but they can be a bit fiddly at times.
Hope that gives you some ideas.
Cheers
Beth
> John Crimmins wrote:
> How do you base your fighters? Until now, I've been mounting a
It's
> not bad, but I want to do better. Does anyone do anything
I've made a fighter stand that's similar in concept to your card triangle. It
has a cylindrical cap that slips over the top of a GW base and three arms
coming out from this centre. You then mount a fighter on the end of each arm.
I'm waiting for the mould to come back (any day now, I've been promised for
the last couple of weeks...), once I've cast a few up and mounted some
fighters I'll take some pictures and post them on my website.
guide to basing fighters
get some plasticard from your local shop draw around the base of a hex stand
on the card cut this out and glue to the top of the stand paint black glue 1
fighter to each of the six corners.
this should give you a fairly good base, and leaves a space in the middle to
put a small D6 for keeping track of losses
Mike Jameson
mikefjames@btinternet.com
http://www.btinternet.com/~mikefjames/homepage/Fullthrust.html
> John Crimmins wrote:
It's
> not bad, but I want to do better. Does anyone do anything
It
> has a cylindrical cap that slips over the top of a GW base and three
guide to basing fighters
get some plasticard from your local shop draw around the base of a hex stand
on the card cut this out and glue to the top of the stand paint black glue 1
fighter to each of the six corners.
this should give you a fairly good base, and leaves a space in the middle to
put a small D6 for keeping track of losses
Mike Jameson
mikefjames@btinternet.com
http://www.btinternet.com/~mikefjames/homepage/Fullthrust.html
> John Crimmins wrote:
It's
> not bad, but I want to do better. Does anyone do anything
It
> has a cylindrical cap that slips over the top of a GW base and three
There was talk from GZG about fighter bases being available or at least
evaluated. Something *different* IIRC. Is that still on the to do list?
I use SFB fighter counters (strangely I have lots of different ones) on a
little tray made from clear acetate, with an edge glued on to snugly hold the
counters. Just take the counters away when the fighters get atomised. I also
use SFB drone counters for SLM's and Missiles.
> >John Crimmins wrote:
It's
> >> not bad, but I want to do better. Does anyone do anything
Those who were at the con saw my solution: glue 6 earring posts to either a
GeoHex fighter stand (with the pegs removed) or a washer of the same size.
Glue an earring back to the bottom of each fighter. This allows you to
position the fighters at different heights and, more importantly,
remove fighters from the stand when they've been destroyed - no extra
die needed.
On my 'to do' list is to try and make fighter stands with fighters attached,
but on small columns, and try black 'caps' to slip on top of the columns as
each fighter dies. The plan is to make my own fighters, put
them on counter/bases, then mold the lot out of resin.
Don't run molding myself, but I've a friend with a bit of experience.
With everything but the fighters and a center measuring point painted black,
the caps should just make the fighters disappear.
I'll let you know how they come out, IF this falls
through the cracks in my wall of procrastination. ;->=
The_Beast, who just bought a friend's large and PAINTED
NSL fleet, and wonders if he'll EVER get his NAC ships, or Texacoan fleet,
going...
I always like the GDW idea of putting black-painted ping-pong balls on
stands for use as unidentified "bogies" Does anyone out there use these for FT
etc.
I have a slightly different means of basing my fighters. It'll take a little
describing, but I really like the way it turns out. First, the
basics... I base 'em two-to-a-base using old Battletech hex bases (of
which I had a surprising number left after I stopped playing that one years
ago. They're about 1" across and have a raised edge. I fill the "valley" in
the middle with milliput, kneadatite, or some other epoxy putty (I used
plumbers epoxy for mine IIRC) so that the putty is level with the raised edges
of the hex. When the putty is mostly dry (i.e. pretty stiff) I cut out a
square with one side being a metal hex side, about the size of one of the dice
I use to mark the squadron's strength.
Pardon the clumsy ascii art, but this might help:
______
/ \
/ . \ <---- Base
/ . \ <---- Holes drilled for piano wire
\ +----+ /
\ | | / <------ Square cut out for die
\|____|/
Then I let the base dry totally. It often helps to sand the base once the
putty's dry to get a nice smooth finish. Then drill a couple of holes into the
putty, insert some stiffened piano wire and mount two fighters on the wire.
Voila. You can cut the piano wire to any length (I use some variety to make it
interesting) and you can use colored dice
to mark different types of squadrons (or squadrons from different carriers). I
use different colored dice for each carrier and put little
dots on the back edge of the base to mark the squadron number. So Red-1
(Red die with one dot) may be a strike fighter, while Red-2 may be a
recon squadrons from the same carrier...
Once you get going with it, they fly out and you can get 6 squadrons per
pack o' fighters. I don't, however, know if Ral Partha still makes those hex
bases as I haven't bought any in many years. But they used to sell them in
packs of 6.
Hope somone found that useful. I do have a.jpg of one of the fighter squadrons
if anyone is interested. Contact me off list.
Vale,
> On Tue, 9 Mar 1999 devans@uneb.edu wrote:
> On my 'to do' list is to try and make fighter stands
Well, having a bit of experience in the moldmaking & casting department
myself, I can see a ouple of major stumbling blocks to this idea:
1) Unless the columns are fairly thick, resin won't stand up to the handling a
fighter group gets during a game - the 'columns' will snap off
(guaranteed). Resin is *brittle*. 2) There is no way of making a gravity drop
mold that is simple enough for the
home caster that will result in a one piece fighter+stand - there are
far too many undercuts and uncastable areas involved. The only way of
constructing such a mold is to make a 4-part "core" mold, and 4-part
molds are best left to the pros.
> With everything but the fighters and a center measuring
You might take a look on how I've been basing my fighter groups - the
folks I've shown them to in person have all given me "oohs & ahhs" over them.
:)
Here's a pic that hows how they look.
http://www.sfcmd.com/fullthrust/minis/K'rathri%20Fleet%2001.jpg
Here's how I make them:
Materials: Battletech hex base
1&1/4" flat fender washer
length of 3/64" brass rod
Tools:
#56 drill bit + pin vise (or Dremel :)
flat needle file diagonal cutting pliers (flush cut preferred)
ruler
superglue
flat black primer (spray) flat black primer (brush)
spray figure primer (black/gray/white - whatever you prefer)
spray sealer (gloss/flat - whatever you prefer)
Steps:
1) Cut brass rod into 6 lengths - three at 1" and three at 1&1/4".
2) File both ends of each rod segment flat with needle file. 3) Clean flash
from battletech base. 4) Measure the center points of each of the sides of the
hex base along the inner "lip". 5) Draw lines from center points on opposite
sides of the base through the center of the base. (Basically, you've drawn
lines from side to side instead of from corner to corner.)
6) On 5 of the lines, mark a spot on the line 1/8" in from the edge of
the inner lip of the base. Drill holes at the spots marked. 7) The front of
the base is middle hole of the arc formed by the 5 holes just drilled. Measure
from the center (marked by the lines) towards the front
by 1/16" and mark a spot. Drill your sixth hole.
8) Glue the base onto the washer. The corners of the base will overhang the
washer by a little, so file off the corners so they are flush with the washer.
9) Prime the base flat black. Clean the paint back out of the mounting holes
with your drill bit. 10) Glue your fighters onto the ends of the brass rods.
Prime them (I use gray), making sure that the opposite ends of the rods are
kept free of paint. 11) Paint your fighters. 12) Paint the rods the fighters
are attached to flat black, leaving the last
1/8" unpainted.
13) Glue the three 1" high fighters to the front three holes of the base.
14) Glue the three 1&1/4" high fighters to the back-sides and center
holes of the base. 15) Touch up the bottom of the rods with flat black.
16) Seal the completed stand with your favorite matt/gloss coat.
It writes more complicated than it really is.:)
> There was talk from GZG about fighter bases being available
We showed a prototype round at several UK shows late last year, and response
was good, so they're now available. An approx. 1" metal cast hexagon, with a
depression at the back to hold a die, and six tiny holes
ready to take thin wire (we've done them about 1-1.5" high for the
display ones) on top of which you stick your fighters. Looks good with 3 or 6
fighters (3 for bigger ones like the GF range, up to 6 for the smaller FT
ones). UK price 75p each, you supply your own chosen type of wire.
The "plastic or card hex on top of a flying stand" method is the one we
advocated in FT/MT, and still looks good.
> I always like the GDW idea of putting black-painted ping-pong balls on
We suggested (and illustrated) this idea in FT (and yes, freely admit that
-MWS-:
***
1) Unless the columns are fairly thick, resin won't stand up to the handling a
fighter group gets during a game - the 'columns' will snap off
(guaranteed). Resin is *brittle*
***
Understood. My intention was columns thick enough that they'd be as large as
the fighters. Painted black, I was hopeing they'd just visually fade, as long
as the fighters were bright enough. Also, big enough to counter the undercut
problem you mentioned. Er, I hope.
***
You might take a look on how I've been basing my fighter groups - the
folks I've shown them to in person have all given me "oohs & ahhs" over them.
:)
Here's a pic that hows how they look.
***
Oh, I'm oo'ing and ahh'ing, all right. Still, I have been wondering how the
K'rathri feel about serving in modified 'flying ghettos'... ;->=
The_Beast
> On Tue, 9 Mar 1999 devans@uneb.edu wrote:
[snip]
> Understood. My intention was columns thick enough that they'd be as
I just can't see being very successul in making a one-piece fighter
stand without using some *very* fancy molding techniques, and for the home
caster it's more trouble than it's worth. You'd be better off casting
individual
fighters+post as a one piece, but even then you're looking at a 3-piece
mold *per fighter*.
You could cast just the base - with posts molded in - using a three
piece core mold. That's not unreasonable for the home caster, and it lets you
make a
fairly simple 2-piece mold for casting your fighter groups. Personally,
I'd stick to pewter casting, as using resin for items this small is normally
an
exercise in frustration. A complete home casting rig for low-temp
pewter will
only set you back about $100 US, and low-temp metal is available in
small lots for the home caster and reasonable prices.
> ***
Hehehe - they're used to it. Remeber how easily a Dralthi "popped" in
WC1/2/3?
> Ground Zero Games wrote:
> At 08:56 PM 3/9/99 -0500, you wrote:
Heh, the first time we played FT the golf tee's were the ships. Whole tee's
for the capitols, tee's less the flared section were cruisers, and the
pointy end plus about 1/2 of shaft were escorts. All based on GW flight
stands. A fun game, and the tee's made great ships, the lack of detail gave a
sense of massiveness, and they were cheap!
I just saw this idea somewhere - can't remember where but I don't think
it was on the list. I tried it myself and like it. Use the traditional 1"
diameter washer as a guide to cutting a circle out of cork sheet ( I bought
mine, pretty cheap, as gasket material at the hardware store). Glue the cork
circle to the washer, stick six pins in the cork and spray the whole thing
black. Glue one fighter to the top of each pin, then remove pins as fighters
die and replace the pins to play again. Jed Docherty
Hello everyone: It seems to me that all this fuse about basing fighters is a
lot more complicated that you need to make it. I do the following to make
fighter bases.
1) Get some oak facing (1 inch by 3/8 inch by what ever length)
2) Go to drill press and put appropriate drill bit for your dice size in and
then drill a bunch of holes halfway throught the facing. Seperate them by
enough material to cut with a band saw. 3) Go to band saw and cut them into
individual pieces. 4) Go back to drill and put drill bit that is sized to the
proper diameter for the metal part (I use small nails) [make the hole slightly
smaller in diamter than the nail] Drill a hole in one corner of each
individual piece. 4) Get nail and tap into hole 5) Take all the stands and
place on old board (or painting smock) and then paint with whatever color you
like. 6) Let dry 7) Peal off paint on very top of nail (maybe some on the head
sides also) 8) Glue the fighter to nail head. DONE.
I don't know where these are available; but you can get pizzas here in Canada
with little plastic things in the middle to keep the slices separated.
Order lots of pizza (the best part (8-) ), and invert the plastic
things. Glue a washer on the bottom to prevent it from being too top heavy,
paint black, and glue the fighters on the three posts.
After rereading the above paragraph, either people will know what I'm talking
about, or they'll think I'm nuts. (8-)
J.
Jerry:
***
I don't know where these are available; but you can get pizzas here in Canada
with little plastic things in the middle to keep the slices separated.
Order lots of pizza (the best part (8-) ), and invert the plastic
things. Glue a washer on the bottom to prevent it from being too top heavy,
paint black, and glue the fighters on the three posts.
***
Actually, these keep the box from crushing the pizza, but that's my normal
quibbling. Some just have three legs that bend inward and meet at the center,
some with a disk from which the legs rise. Plenty available amongst your
barbaric neighbors to the south. ;->=
My only problem with these is that they are the soft plastic that can be hard
to get paint to hold.
I always dreamed about making these into MM-sized Chig fighters...
***
After rereading the above paragraph, either people will know what I'm talking
about, or they'll think I'm nuts. (8-)
J.
***
Actually, we can do both. No offense... ;->=
The_Beast
We get them from some pizza places here in OZ as well. I'm going to get
some to mount my Micromachine X-Wings & Y wings, as they're the right
separation.
'Neath Southern Skies
http://users.mcmedia.com.au/~denian/
*****
Cmdr Robertson - GCV Southern Skies
Fleet Admiral Doyle - NKV Vesuvius (La Fayette invasion force)
Gunslinger, Emperor & all-around demigod.
[quoted original message omitted]
> I don't know where these are available; but you can get pizzas here in
That's okay, Jerry, we thought you were nuts anyway.
On a more relevant point, I'd expect those things to be polyethylene, which is
difficult to paint. I have managed it with a couple of coats of primer, then
paint, then lacquer.