Designing an improved base

[fracas]

A 20mm x 20mm slot for either a SO die or a CAP marker at 6 o'clock
With the base being thicker from 430 to 730 o'clock , say the vertical thick enough to write a name

[mangozac]

Hey guys there's some great ideas coming out here, but I can't help but feel some of them are a little too deluxe. Let me elaborate.

It turns out that the flying base is actually 32mm diameter, not 25 like somebody told me. Although this leaves plenty of room for stuff like a dice tray and name plates, I feel like they may leave the base looking too cluttered - especially (as I said before) on things like escorts where I personally don't actually assign names.

I do like the Lex's suggestion of the radial arms, however there would be no way to slip the piece on and off on models that have been glued to the stem. It could be possible to design a radial arm piece that clips onto the stem laterally, however I really don't have time to be putting that much into the design. Perhaps it's something to look at later.

The thing is that each extra part increases the cost of the product considerably. Yes that's right I said product! I've been in discussion with one of my small casting company contacts who are willing to take these on to produce and sell. So we should have a superior product for a similar price as the GW product 

I do like the idea of some kind of name plate that can be bought as a separate item and glued to the bases which require them. We'll see.

Fracas, I assume the 20mmx20mm slot you are referring to is for a battleship sized base? It won't fit on a small base!

[mangozac]

OK based on feedback I've made some more refinements:



Note the added name plate - I think it looks alright actually. I was thinking of adding a border around the name plate, but I think maximum surface area for writing on is more important...

I figure three options for the name plate:
- All bases come with it
- Bases can be bought with or without it
- Bases can only be bought without it and they are an optional add on part at extra expense

What do you think?

[Comrade-K-Rad]

I think that looks rather nice.  I think that if it's possible you should make both and give the choice to get either.

[horizon]

Choice, with or without.

[russ_c]

I have no clue who this "Russ" chump is, but he was probably doing this:

The final Digital Prototype:






The final Master Bases in both sizes:


A finished, but unpainted duplicate of a 32mm Master with my custom made SO Token:






A few footnotes for those lost to the PortMaw thread:

1) Some users said they did not like having painted and/or "obvious" arc marks on their bases, they liked the base black. Raising the heading arrow and arcs off the surface meant it was possible to paint the entire base black, but still see the marks
2) The steam hole excepts GW plastic stems.  Matter of fact they snap in pretty nicely to the point that you don't need to glue them
3) The tray in the back is for custom SO Tokens (as canucks fan remembered).  The SO tokens are quite easy to make: simply glue a 10mm square of chipboard or plasti-card to the bottom of a 12mm square of the same material.  Then glue / paint a graphic of the SO on the top of the 12mm token.  The functional element of the tray is that the edges of the token are raised off the surface of the base so it's easy to grasp and remove without to much hassle as long as the material is of adequate thickness. 
    3a) Another use of the Tray is to make a token that has the Ship ID or Name on it.  I think Canucks suggested that.  Really there are many creative uses once you've made a token that fits into it properly.
    3b) The original inspiration of the tray idea was for the SO dice, but they are to large to fit into the circumference of a small
base so I favored the simple to make, miniature SO tokens.

Also, the thread I had over at PortMaw was extensive...I had many different digital designs that I posted prior to arriving at what I believe was the most elegant solution for the what I wanted to achieve.  I have a lot of pics of the other stuff, but some are silly, others just not practical.

Russ

[fracas]

Russ good to see you

[mangozac]

Well seeing Russ' work again it certainly makes me feel like I'm reinventing the wheel!

I've given it a lot of thought and I feel that the simple base with only bearing marks, plus the optional nameplate will be the way to go.

[horizon]

Heh,

Actually the plastic GW stems fit better in Russ his bases then in the GW bases themselves. LOL

[mangozac]

So I finally got around to machining up the base - I had to first make a new accessory for my lathe to do so! This is made from 4mm thick of laminated styrene discs, turned to the appropriate size, filled with Tamiya putty, sanded and then primed. Next I need to pick up some 2mm diameter brass rod to test out the stem and add the bearing marks. The nameplate will be a separate piece.

[lastspartacus]

Keep up the good work!

[Ruckdog]

Looks neat! The only suggestion i could make would be to incorporate the double threaded set-up Corsec came up with for their Omni-stand:  http://www.corseceng.com/omni-stand/

[mangozac]

Thanks guys.

The omni-stand setup looks cool, but is kind of overkill for what I'm after. There is however no reason why you couldn't drill out the centre of my base and glue in one of the mounts so that the threaded rod can be attached.

[Zelnik]

Keep up the awesome zac... this is something I will certainly invest in!

[mangozac]

And we have progress!

Here we see the three proposed variants: one blank, one with a name plate and the third with a name banner pencilled in. What are your thoughts (particularly about the proposed banner design)?



I've teed up a resin caster friend of mine to produce and sell the bases and if all goes to plan they should be available in around a month or so...