I have never based vehicles for my 28mm forces (such as they are). However, as I keep leaning towards more detailed "kits" for these vehicles they are inherently more fragile. Even some of the resin vehicles are a bit fragile depending on the type of resin used. There is also the issue of transport. A base would allow for a combination of magnets and sheet metal which at least help keep breakage down to a minimum.
The other issue I have is all the space that a base takes up and those bare patches in the corners that need just a little extra detail to make look nice. Not a good situation for those of us that love to add those little details. While I was contemplating this the other night I thought that maybe curving the corners would be a good solution and of course that lead to why bother with just the corners maybe a pill shape would be a better option by reducing the amount of space in front of and behind the AFV.
Another issue is that straight fall of edge between the top of the base and the tabletop. For this I'm going to file down the edges to get a smoother transition. The concern here would be having a fragile edge but I think by using foamed PVC for the base will take care of that. We shall see!
I'm going to do a little experimenting at this point using some resin vehicles from Mad Bob Miniatures since those are currently being worked on.
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| I had one last sheet of 3mm foamed PVC sheeting so I cut it up to match the three Mad Bob Vehicles that I have; the Pak 40 auf S307(f), the 39H(f) Geschutzwagen (the howitzer variant) and the 15cm sFH Lorraine Schleppers |
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| Used a compass to draw half circles on either end, just have to figure out how best to cut these out now. |
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| And a quick check with one of the three S307(f)s. Concept looks good to my eyes at this point. |
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| There is more space than you think on the base when you look at it from the side. The fighting compartment hangs over quite a bit. While I am concerned with how people handle the vehicles, I seem to suffer more damage to vehicles being transported than during game play. |
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| The next step will to be to cut out the shapes and file down the edges to, I hope, about a 30 degree slope. |
A couple of practical points that you might already have considered:
ReplyDelete* Beveling the edge of the base makes it much more difficult to pick the model up by the base. You might consider not beveling all the way to the table. But I'd definitely make sure I was happy with the feeling before committing to beveling all the bases.
* For transport, I've been very happy to use magnets in (or previously magnetic rubber sheeting under) my bases. I then transport the models (figures or vehicles) on ferromagnetic sheets. I've used steel boxes and steel cookie sheets at various times. The best thing about this for me is that the models don't bang against anything and don't rub against foam either.
Hope to see you on one of the painting hangouts; we've been running them every Saturday.
Excellent point on the beveling. I hadn't thought that all the way through yet. I did discover that the scroll saw still works though, just need some blades for it.
DeleteBanging together during transport is definitely where most of the damage is likely to take place. So magnets it is!