Has anyone considered or actually used metal washers attached to the underside of the miniature base for weight ?
If so, what did you use as your glue and what size washers did you use?
Washers under the ship base
I've heard of a couple people who want to put weights under to stabilize the bases. I haven't yet though. I find that having a felt or vinyl mat tends to mitigate the drifting of the stands. Also, using only one peg instead of two can lower the center of gravity and make the units more stable.
I just walked into the hardware shop with a base and asked them for a washer that fitter in the recess.
All mine have washers on, it makes a big difference to the stability. They are held in place with silicone sealant - once dry this provides an excellent grip.
The large ship bases have four washers, 1 per corner.
A bit fiddly to put together but well worth the effort.
Agreed - having the washers isn't a magic cure-all, but they do help. They are particularly useful when placing movement templates, I think.
I have washers for all my bases, and it makes a noticeable difference. Go to Home Depot and get 1/2" Zinc washers. You won't regret it.
I have washers for all my bases, and it makes a noticeable difference. Go to Home Depot and get 1/2" Zinc washers. You won't regret it.
I attached 1/2" zinc washers to my bases as well. The extra weight really helps. I also sprayed one side if them with a flexible rubber coating (like you might see in those commercials to fix leaks). It makes the washer a little more tacky to touch. Keeps them from sliding around.
Yup - Crown Bolt/Rustoleum 1/2″ Galvanised Flat Washers, cheaper at Home Depot than Lowes, and cheaper still by the 50 count box — $14. I used my all-purpose Zap-A-Gap.
http://goblinhall.com/2013/06/09/base-improvements-big-small/
I have felt and seen Deltmi use his washer based ships and I must say the models feel downright solid with them. Kinda like a mid class mercedes.
Make sure you use super glue or another strong adhesive. CaliAlpha's washers kept falling out of the bases during game play cause he didn't use strong enough glue.
I bought some zinc-plated fender washers and glued them to the bases. I just used regular Elmer's glue because it was all I had, and surprisingly it works just fine.
Then I cut out little velvet circles the same size as the washers and glued those onto the underside of the washers. My play mat is also velvet, and the velvet-velvet interface combined with the extra weight from the washers gives the ships a very high coefficient of friction.
Doing this today since it's my day off. Can't wait to have my bases NOT slide around when a slight breeze rubs up against them.
Well I used Loctite Silicone Sealant on Zinc Washers, which you are apparently not supposed to do? It's drying right now, let's hope this doesn't ruin all of my bases.
I got Zinc washers as well and used white silicone sealant to glue. Tried one seems to be working well so I did the others... left them at my work place to dry, we'll see tomorrow if it's looks good.
Another idea I had was to get some magnets to glue to the base and use a very thin metal plate under my gaming mat. The only thing I was afraid of is the bases pushing each other because of the magnets.....
Then I thought getting some of these magnetic sheet and attached these to my gaming mat. This way the zinc rings would "attached" the base to the mat but it would still be easy to move the ships.
Edited by FencerI got Zinc washers as well and used white silicone sealant to glue. Tried one seems to be working well so I did the others... left them at my work place to dry, we'll see tomorrow if it's looks good.
Another idea I had was to get some magnets to glue to the base and use a very thin metal plate under my gaming mat. The only thing I was afraid of is the bases pushing each other because of the magnets.....
Then I thought getting some of these magnetic sheet and attached these to my gaming mat. This way the zinc rings would "attached" the base to the mat but it would still be easy to move the ships.
How well does it work with the magnetic sheet and the zinc washers? I was thinking of doing something like that, but I wasn't sure how well it would work.
I play Star Fleet Battles quite a bit and I used magnets for the bases of my SFB miniatures with sheet metal under the map. It worked great to keep the minis in place. It also made storage very easy since I could just set them in some cheap metal cookie tin-type boxes I picked up at Hobby Lobby. The magnets held them in place quite well with no packing material. I could even use the inside of the lid for small items like drones and fighters.
I have already put the zinc washers in my X-Wing bases with black silicon, but a magnetic sheet under the map might not be a bad idea...
thinking out of the box, do they make the black magnetic sheets in 3'x3', why not use that as a gaming mat? seems like it would take paint, and would roll up well? could be the best of both worlds.... I am always looking for mat alternatives, particularly something that's cheap and doesn't slide around on the table. I still dont see how the cloth mats work with out bunching up when you try to move your ships, or the vinyl ones not sliding around on a table, but i have never used those types yet so i don't know...
http://www.lyt.com/servlet/the-file/carsignxlmagnet.html/Page one could also print a star field on this one..
Edited by SwedgeYou can buy magnetic paint primer in spray cans and brush on formats. That might be a good option to magnetize your matts
I haven't tried to use magnetic sheet under the mat yet but I'll give it a shot.
Here is an other combination which might work well:
metal plate added to the table, under a mat
very small earth magnets to keep stuff in place
I haven't tried it yet.... but I am ordering the magnets...
thinking out of the box, do they make the black magnetic sheets in 3'x3', why not use that as a gaming mat? seems like it would take paint, and would roll up well? could be the best of both worlds.... I am always looking for mat alternatives, particularly something that's cheap and doesn't slide around on the table. I still dont see how the cloth mats work with out bunching up when you try to move your ships, or the vinyl ones not sliding around on a table, but i have never used those types yet so i don't know...
http://www.lyt.com/servlet/the-file/carsignxlmagnet.html/Page one could also print a star field on this one..
I haven't tried to use magnetic sheet under the mat yet but I'll give it a shot.
Here is an other combination which might work well:
metal plate added to the table, under a mat
very small earth magnets to keep stuff in place
I haven't tried it yet.... but I am ordering the magnets...
thinking out of the box, do they make the black magnetic sheets in 3'x3', why not use that as a gaming mat? seems like it would take paint, and would roll up well? could be the best of both worlds.... I am always looking for mat alternatives, particularly something that's cheap and doesn't slide around on the table. I still dont see how the cloth mats work with out bunching up when you try to move your ships, or the vinyl ones not sliding around on a table, but i have never used those types yet so i don't know...
just think of the possibilities if the magnetic mats were strong enough to stick your ships even if the mat was on a wall..lol or ceiling.. of course then you would have to glue your bases to the ships, or have some way to screw the pegs in...
You'd have to magnetize all your tokens too. Might be a bit too much trouble, unless you're REALLY short on space at home.