For SG2 25mms, I find nothing beats the Chessex 80 figure box. Grey plastic,
two layers of 40 figures worth of space each. Not so hot for 28mm, but great
for true 25mm. I must have five or six of these, and I've got orders out for
another six.
For vehicles in 25mm, I find often times, a cardboard box with foam packing
peanuts (hint: keep a big box at home, dump all smaller loads of foam peanuts
that arrive with things you get shipped into it... it becomes the reservoir)
is the best option. Vehicles can have odd shapes, antenna, etc. so you need a
really configurable cushioning material. Only caveat: Some forms of dullcoat
(Testers? Armoury?) and some forms of paint seem to, if left overnight or for
longer periods in such storage, like to adhere to the foam. Sometimes it
might take an x-acto to get it off and that can take a wee bit of paint
with it. It's either that or something in some of the resins is still
outgassing and making the paint tacky on some of my stuff. <shrug> But if you
just store it like this to transport it for the day, then take it out, you're
good.
For ships:
Eggshell material is the best, and some figure boxes use it. But the absolute
best is mounting the ships right the first time! Dispense with the supplies
plastic bases (aaargh) and go and get some round metal bases (white metal is
ideal). Then drill them with a dremel and install square brass tubing. Someone
here must have some links to some pix of the technique.
Essentially, you get two sets of brass tubing that barely fit within one
another. One smaller, one larger. The square tubing is better because once
mounted on the base, the figure does not spin (which it often will on round
tubing shafts). You
cut about 1 1/4"
length for the shaft from the larger tubing, and mount it into the round white
metal or steel base with some plastic metal or epoxy or the like.
You cut a shorter chunk of the larger tubing (say about 1/4") and that
part is attached to the ship. Now where does the smaller tubing come in? A
short length of it is either attached to the stand by gluing it inside the
larger tubing or doing the same on the ship side. Just be consistent.
You end up with (pardon the ascii art)
================ <---- Ship
|| || <---- larger tubing, secured into ship
| | <---- Smaller tubing, secured either into ship or base
|| ||
| |
| | <--- larger tubing, secured into base
| |
---------- <-- Base
That diagram is a bit exaggerated because when the ship rests fully installed,
the two larger square tubing sit on one another. The smaller tubing acts as
the pin in the middle. By using square tubing, and mounting with a bit of
thought, the ship always stays correctly oriented on the base for 12 o'clock.
(With round tubing, they tend to spin...)
Advantages: 1) Large flat ships like ESU and FSE transport MUUUUCH easier.
2) You don't need as many bases as ships (Just enough for 1-2 fleets!)
3) You can remove bases for transport
4) By using a larger white metal base (they're about 1-1/4 to 1-1/2"
diameter), you get a bit more stability 5) By building some different height
posts, you can get some
tough-to-overlap ships to
overlap, and you have dynamic control of which ship sits at which height.
I've seen other fancy methods involving screw or clasp connectors, but I like
this because it is a simple slide fit. Not much to go wrong. Just cut the
tubing smoothly (I use a dremel and a wee bit of sandpaper afterwards for
burs) so you get cuts at 90 degrees. And be consistent on where you glue the
smaller tubing (into the ship or into the base)
It takes some work, but in the end, the transportability of fleets goes waaaay
up.
_______________________________________________
Gzg-l mailing list
Gzg-l@lists.csua.berkeley.edu
http://lists.csua.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gzg-lI just sent off 50
25-mm soldiers to thialand for painting. I shipped them
off in a Chessex case. However, for use I think I am going to use a Sabol
Desgns Armytransport case. Infantry, 25mm vehicles, rules and dice all in one
case. I may even be able to fit DS stuff in as well.
I use the post method for starships, but I just use smaller tubing on the ship
and larger on the base.
I'm not sure where to buy white metal bases since GeoHex went away.
Roger
> On 9/15/05, Thomas Barclay <kaladorn@magma.ca> wrote:
> foam. Sometimes it
> making the paint
> part is attached to
> I just sent off 50 25-mm soldiers to thialand for painting. I
Well, we do FT003/003A, our new big FT ship base (2" metal hexagon,
nice thick metal post), plus we can supply metal posts to fit in the standard
plastic hex bases.
_______________________________________________
Gzg-l mailing list
Gzg-l@lists.csua.berkeley.edu
http://lists.csua.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gzg-lNow I know. :)
Roger
> On 9/15/05, Ground Zero Games <jon@gzg.com> wrote:
_______________________________________________
Gzg-l mailing list
Gzg-l@lists.csua.berkeley.edu
http://lists.csua.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gzg-lOn 9/15/05, Roger
> Books <roger.books@gmail.com> wrote:
For the most part I transport my figs in the large handgun cases. Yes, I know
that means they are more prone to theft, so I don't take them
everywhere - just where I know I'll be playing relatively immediately
(like....GZG ECCs! ;-) ). As of late I've become a convert to the Army
Transport cases for my 15mm stuff. The platoon cases can hold QUITE a large
15mm force! :-)
Mk
_______________________________________________
Gzg-l mailing list
Gzg-l@lists.csua.berkeley.edu
http://lists.csua.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gzg-l
For ships:
Eggshell material is the best, and some figure boxes use it. But the absolute
best is mounting the ships right the first time! Dispense with the supplies
plastic bases (aaargh) and go and get some round metal bases (white metal is
ideal). Then drill them with a dremel and install square brass tubing. Someone
here must have some links to some pix of the technique.
Essentially, you get two sets of brass tubing that barely fit within one
another. One smaller, one larger. The square tubing is better because once
mounted on the base, the figure does not spin (which it often will on round
tubing shafts). You
cut about 1 1/4"
length for the shaft from the larger tubing, and mount it into the round white
metal or steel base with some plastic metal or epoxy or the like.
You cut a shorter chunk of the larger tubing (say about 1/4") and that
part is attached to the ship. Now where does the smaller tubing come in? A
short length of it is either attached to the stand by gluing it inside the
larger tubing or doing the same on the ship side. Just be consistent.
I tried your system about 4 years ago (the round brass tubes) for my
1/300 scale aircraft
and I rejected it due to too many problems.
-The brass tube is not that easy to cut. I used a special brass tube
cutter which
worked like a pipe cutter but still the tube would get slightly deformed. You
have
to ream out the larger brass tube and clean (dremel tool sander) the end of
the
smaller tube to get a proper fit.
- The brass tube is difficult to attach to the ship. You have to drill
out a space
that's bigger then the brass tube or drill into the model and anchor a wire in
the
model and into the brass tube. The tubes are not that small, the smaller tubes
are about half the size of of a GZG fighter.
-When finished you now have a model with a brass tube sticking out of
it's
bottom which will be difficult to store when not in it's stand.
I did about a dozen aircraft and stands when I rejected the system. I now use
plastic stand and plastic/metal rods and mount the stands on massonite
bases.
It's simpiler and much easier to mount and very easy to repair ships (the
ocasional
drop off of the table is to be accepted). On larger ships I use multiple
stands and
larger massonite bases.
_______________________________________________
Gzg-l mailing list
Gzg-l@lists.csua.berkeley.edu
http://lists.csua.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gzg-lUse square not
round. It keeps it from spinning.
Don't use a tubing cutter, use your dremel with a cutting disk. If you make a
trivial jig you can whip through them very quickly.
I agree with point 3.
As for storage it is much easier to store ships without large bases. I just
cut a hole in the foam I store the minis in. NB, I have only done this with
FSE, UNSC, and Star Trek. UNSC is a bear to pack no matter what basing you
use.
When I started this I was riding a motorcycle full time. The minis had to take
up as little room as possible and be extremely well padded.
Roger
> On 9/16/05, Scott Siebold <gamers@ameritech.net> wrote:
and I rejected it due to too many problems.
> -The brass tube is not that easy to cut. I used a special brass tube
> wire in the
> bases.
_______________________________________________
Gzg-l mailing list
Gzg-l@lists.csua.berkeley.edu
http://lists.csua.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gzg-l
> I agree with point 3.
> As for storage it is much easier to store ships without large bases. I
Actually my UNSC fleet is about the same as all of my other fleets
with permenently mounted stands. As of now my UNSC fleet has
finished 76 of 160 ship stands and 30 of 72 fighter stands. The
secret is that when transporting a fleet I put the ships for a game
in a seperate plastic container and put bubble wrap on top.
The Massonite base forms a stable stand and the bubble wrap
stops ships from shifting and bouncing. Each of my fleets is
stored at home in a seperate rolling set of shelves (try
business supply stores) that are easy to store.
I have no comment about motorcycle transport other then to
suggest that you ship UPS (or equivilent) near to where you
will game and instruct to pickup at shipping dock. Did this for
a three week vacation and didn't have to lug around suitcases
full of clean (or dirty) cloths on the airplane.