These bases break too easily..

[kaltorak18]

I tried to put my Al Malik fleet on bases yesterday and was met with about 3 broken stands. When putting the ball that's attached to the spindle into the mount on the ship it doesn't go on straight all the time. So, in trying to just adjust the level of the ship on the ball the spindle snaps. I'm beginning to think I should get a piece of metal to attach to the base and ball. Also, why do we have lots of spindles, but only enough balls, mounts, and bases? Was the fragility of these spindles known?

 

[MongooseMatt]

No, the extra spindle is there to give you a choice of height of the model.

I have to say, I have never seen what you are describing here...

 

[AdrianH]

In my experience, the ball is very tight in the socket. A little careful filing or sanding will cure that. If you file or sand too much, the ball becomes too loose and the model may tilt over when you don't want it to, but then my experience is with the older, larger B5 models. The NA models. being smaller, will be less prone to such unwanted tilting.

If the ball is too tight when you first put it into the socket, you can poke it out carefully with a pin through an open side in the socket.

All this should, of course, be done before the socket is glued to the model! In that case, the worst case scenario is that the ball and socket are ruined, and you can buy additional stands for £2.50 for a pack of 5 or 6.

 

[Rick]

I have to agree with AdrianH on this - generally, the ball has a mould line around it that needs a bit of careful filing before it'll fit into the socket easily - not enough and it'll be too stiff and possibly break the spindle, too much and the model will flop over faster than a drunk centauri Generally, if I feel a bit too much resistance when I put the ball into the socket, I'll push it back out with a cocktail stick or a pin and file it a little more.

 

[kaltorak18]

Yeah, I did file the mold line down, but it still left the ball too tight in the socket. I guess I just need to file more, I was expecting the plastic to be sized correctly :/ I'm still considering metal posts though. If the model falls over at any point I could see the neck of those spindles snapping. They're extremely easy to break for me. I feel like a Fraggle in Doozer town.

 

[Da Boss]

I use this for preference

they are by no means perfect but they are good.

http://www.ninjamagic.com/cgi-bin/gt/tpl.h,content=19&

 

[kaltorak18]

Those are awesome, Da Boss. Thank you for posting that! I think I'll go with those for the rest of my fleets. They're a touch more expensive, but I like how sturdy they look.

 

[Da Boss]

they are not infaliable - the magnetic rods can break but even if they do they are much much easy to fix as you just glue it back.

 

[starbreaker]

Why don't you just leave the cutesy little ball-and-socket toppers off and mount the fig right one the flight post? Much less prone to breakage, and if you want it really durable, replace the post with a nail or length of thick wire.

I've never seen why you'd want to be able to reposition the mini anyway - these aren't toys, they're gaming pieces, and there's no game mechanic that cares about the angle of incline your ship is flying at. Poseable is for action figs, I like my minis to stay put.

Incidentally, if anyone wants my ball-and-socket assemblies, you're welcome to them for postage costs - but I do live on the western side of the Pond. I'm sure not using them.

 

[Banichi]

Why don't you just leave the cutesy little ball-and-socket toppers off and mount the fig right one the flight post?.

Fully agree.

All my B5 ACTA ships are mounted directly on the post. And while it dos make them a bit more bulky for transporting, I've yet to have a ship snap off its stand.

 

[starbreaker]

Why don't you just leave the cutesy little ball-and-socket toppers off and mount the fig right one the flight post?.

Fully agree.

All my B5 ACTA ships are mounted directly on the post. And while it dos make them a bit more bulky for transporting, I've yet to have a ship snap off its stand.

A transport-and-storage-friendly alternative is to use barrel clasps, per the how-to page here:

http://www.star-ranger.com/BasingMinis.htm

I find it a little too labor intensive for my tastes, but it certainly works.

 

[kaltorak18]

A transport-and-storage-friendly alternative is to use barrel clasps, per the how-to page here:

http://www.star-ranger.com/BasingMinis.htm

I find it a little too labor intensive for my tastes, but it certainly works.

Thank you for posting this, starbreaker. I went ahead and tried this with the second fleet I painted and based and it is a much better feeling knowing they're not going anywhere and it won't be breaking on me. It was a bit labor intensive, but totally worth it IMO.

So, thanks again! I highly recommend this method. You loose the poseable ball, but you gain strength and non-wobbliness. The only changes I needed to do were to trade out the bottom base completely and go with some washers with a smaller hole. I painted the washers black and called it a day.

 

[starbreaker]

Dean at Starship Combat News knows his stuff, all right. Never had a bad tip from him.