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lokirising Lieutenant JG
Joined: 27 Oct 2006 Posts: 52 Location: Oregon
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Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2013 4:36 am Post subject: Metal or Plastic Stands? |
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I prefer metal. They seem to fit tighter on the minis. |
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djdood Commodore
Joined: 01 Feb 2007 Posts: 3413 Location: Seattle, WA
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Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2013 4:45 am Post subject: |
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I hate the plastic stand risers. The peg on them is way too fragile and will shear off if you even breathe hard on the mini.
I ended up paying for bags of the metal-riser stands, to solve that little issue. _________________
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Bolo_MK_XL Captain
Joined: 16 Jan 2007 Posts: 836 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2013 5:07 am Post subject: |
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Once they moved away from the "Notched" ends on the rods, I've pretty much disliked all them. |
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bluebirds38 Lieutenant Commander
Joined: 29 Oct 2009 Posts: 238
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Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 10:33 am Post subject: |
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i myself prefer metal. |
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Mike Fleet Captain
Joined: 07 May 2007 Posts: 1675 Location: South Carolina
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Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 12:55 pm Post subject: |
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I prefer a neat little anti-gravity module I invented. The map is underlaid with a special sheet and each object has a receiver inserted. I will have to admit that the phaser beams in the pic were photoshopped in...
_________________ Mike
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Sandpaper gets the job done, but makes for a lot of friction. |
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bluebirds38 Lieutenant Commander
Joined: 29 Oct 2009 Posts: 238
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Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 8:10 pm Post subject: |
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cool pic, like the space amoeba |
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Mike Fleet Captain
Joined: 07 May 2007 Posts: 1675 Location: South Carolina
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Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2013 3:02 pm Post subject: |
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That space amoeba model was done by Ben Haggard with hot glue and dyes. There was a blurb about how he made it back in CL#36 (p.37). _________________ Mike
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Sandpaper gets the job done, but makes for a lot of friction. |
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ingkent Lieutenant JG
Joined: 17 Aug 2013 Posts: 65 Location: Toronto Canada
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Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 4:11 pm Post subject: |
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Any recommendations for stands that can be used on 2500 series ships for play in both Fed Commander and A Call to Arms? I'm finding the plastic stands don't do so well with the bigger and heavier ships. Thx. |
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djdood Commodore
Joined: 01 Feb 2007 Posts: 3413 Location: Seattle, WA
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Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 8:15 pm Post subject: |
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I haven't reached that point yet, myself.
I'm leaning toward using CorSec Engineering or (hopefully) Ninja Magic adapters, to allow swapping of the bases for the various systems and allow easier casing/storage of the minis.
For SFB/FedCom, I'm leaning towards just doing my own bases, out of metal. Adding fender washers to the plastic bases is a pain and just doesn't look as good. _________________
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ingkent Lieutenant JG
Joined: 17 Aug 2013 Posts: 65 Location: Toronto Canada
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Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 9:11 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks Will. I'll take a look at them. The 2 metal Fed DDs I put together this morning are tipping forward when using the standard 6 sided plastic stands (from the 2400 series). They're the only ones I'm having problems with. Magnet adapters, I'll have to look at those, are there any good ones that can hold a 2500 BB - those have a lot of heft but are surprisingly very clean and required very very little clean-up (at least the one I got from Starfleetgames). |
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Bolo_MK_XL Captain
Joined: 16 Jan 2007 Posts: 836 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 9:49 pm Post subject: |
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Been very happy with the "B-10" Metal Stands, doesn't hurt to put some weight underneath them. They work well for the heavier 2400s (ISC DN, Dom, Condor).
If you want to modify them, a 3/8" bolt goes right though the center hole, short extender (come in several lengths). Use whatever method you want to connect to the mini (personally glued a nut underneath the mini). |
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djdood Commodore
Joined: 01 Feb 2007 Posts: 3413 Location: Seattle, WA
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Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 10:31 pm Post subject: |
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Kent -
CorSec adapters are threaded and screw the mini onto the stand riser, so they're strong as all get out.
Ninja Magic takes a different tact and uses "toothed" adapters that have strong rare earth magnets cast into them. They stay put really well, from what I've seen, with the added benefit that they are "keyed" and the mini is aligned to the base automatically.
Unfortunately, Ninja Magic is on hiatus for a relocation, so their stuff is unavailable right now.
Either of them can more than handle any SFU mini.
Where the thinking really comes in is with the base. To get a solid footing, that will still fit inside the Federation Commander big-hex map spaces, you really can't make them any wider than the existing plastic bases. That only leaves going thicker and/or heavier.
In the past, I've used stacks of fender washers under the plastic stand, packing the stand with metal-impregnated plumber's putty, etc. None of those were ideal. Washers look ugly and stick out around the base, hiding the hex lines (and tend to pop off, unless the base was filled with something). Putty was just too much work to keep looking nice, on a "mass production" basis (pun intended).
For my new batch of work, I'm leaning towards steel for my bases, up to 1/2-inch thick for some of the biggest minis, 1/4 or 1/8-inch thick for the rest.
Bolo -
Agreed. The B-10 metal stand is quite good and I used it for all my biggest/heaviest Starline 2400 minis. However, I've had too much trouble with damage, in-transit, and I'm going to transition to storing my minis with no stands attached. _________________
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Bolo_MK_XL Captain
Joined: 16 Jan 2007 Posts: 836 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 11:53 pm Post subject: |
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djdood,
I placed/glued a nut onto the bottom of the mini's, put a second nut on the threads of the extender. Using two nuts keeps the mini from spinning when moved (on the map). Only takes a couple seconds to remove the mini from the stand. Allowing the mini to be placed in a custom form for transportation / storage.
If I had been more involved lately (playing) would have tried the Ninja or similar tech to have the similar affect, allowing safer transport. |
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