New Bases

I was never really happy with the bases that came with the game. So, like the ship mats....I went and created my own.

These are pics where I'm experimenting with changing the fire arcs for the guns. I have the same bases with the standard arcs and dots as well - this just happened to the be the one on the workbench at the moment! I've also removed a lot of the ship info (never used it as it's on the ship mat, and generally too far away to be read easily), along with tightening up the wind lines so they aren't as distracting to the eye. I wanted the bases to have the info I needed to play the game, yet also be muted enough not to overpower the model or be the main focus point on the board.

I'm also thinning the bases down a lot. I never liked the look of the big thick bases, they made the models feel more like toys, less like gaming pieces. So I've chopped them in half, and trimmed the pegs to fit the new bases. Here's some snapshots of a trial base (note - the wind lines are for a British 74, the model is a Hebe class frigate I was trimming down, and the ship name is an Amazon class ship....so it's a bit of a conglomeration of things but it serves the purposes for illustration.

There is a Dropbox link below the image if you want to be able to zoom in for a bigger/more detail shot of the bases.


Attachment 31706

https://www.dropbox.com/s/99zldntdbm...Bases.jpg?dl=0

NICE! They do look much better than the Ares ones... you could probably make a few bucks with those on Shapeways. (As long as the ship can still be both firmly attached and easily removed, *I'd* be interested... though I've been toying with chopping the Ares pins, drilling a hole to mount a small nut in the lower hull and screwing it on.)

What are your new bases made from, please, Ryan?

The inserts or the blue plastic frames?

The inserts I made in Photoshop, the blue frame pieces are just the standard blue bases that come with the ships run through my bandsaw to take most of the underneath plastic lip off. I then use a file to file down what's left of the lip. Then I run it over some 400 grit sandpaper to smooth them down a bit more, finally I use an esthetician's buffing pad that they use on fingernails to give it a final buffing to get it really smooth. That's it, it's really just some sweat equity to get it done.

I think that once again you have improved on the original Ryan.
The sea looks superb and matches my mat very well, and removing the unwanted bumf from the card is a major improvement.
As for the rest, I am toying with gluing on my ships anyway as I have both sides of the card with all my ships except the latest release already duplicated.
The only drawback I can see is that with my being partially sighted I need the wind lines and firing arcs to be clearly defined but otherwise great.
Any chance of putting one of your card masters in the Files so we can doctor our own to requirements on Photoshop.
Also which Font did you use as that is also a hit with me?
Rob.

Rob -

The font I use for the name is Carolingia, the text below the name is Copperplate.

Here's a copy of an early version that I updated for you - has the normal size wind lines, along with the standard firing arcs. Pretty much everything is editable to your liking if you have Photoshop. I'll have to clean them up a bit, organize layers into folders and such to make them more user friendly for others - but in a nutshell, yes, I could post them if other people would enjoy using them in their own games.

How would this version work for you (note, saw some layer alignment issue - upper left red/white dot, lower green arc is not aligned correctly fixed both on my master file).

Note - this may have been pre-wind line modification on the aft orange arc - the aft orange wind guide may be too small in this version, I'd have to check it out to make sure. But again, all things could be modified by you, but I'd want to get it right before posting things publicly in the event someone wanted to use them and wasn't aware of the error.....

Attachment 31736

I just noticed some other minor tweaks from my current working version and this old version...back to make some updates to the standard wind line master as we'll now call it!

Also note - these images always show up much brighter than they are in Photoshop or when printed (see my mat thread for good example). So while they may look bright on here, they are really much more muted when I print them on my laser, and even in Photoshop. Probably the conversion to jpeg format for posting is doing this I'm guessing.

That is fine by me Ryan.
They will look really good when printed off on matte photo paper.
Thanks.
Rob.

OK, let me work to get a good master .psd file together. I'll condense layers that don't need to be messed with to save on file size. I'd be very curious to see how they would print on matte photo paper actually. I use a color laser for everything I do, but have been considering getting a "high mid-range" inkjet that is capable of doing photos and just as important full bleed printing.

OK, I worked up a good master file and posted it to the file section. Looks like it may have to be approved or something as I don't see it showing up yet.

Once the back end process is complete, it should be downloadable by you. I tried to clean it up by putting stuff in different folders. Pretty much everything is editable, so you can take or leave anything you'd like!

Ryan.

I should be able to approve files, but unlike Wings where it is flagged up, and I can attend to it, here for some reason I do not have that facility. I will have to contact Keith again.
Rob.

Were you ever able to approve the files? I didn't see anything in the file section.....

I have asked both Eric and Keith about allowing me to moderate the files, but thus far have had no reply.
Rob.

Any update on te files are they available as yet?

Yes Chris.
The files are accessible to me as of last week.
Rob.

Attachment 34644Attachment 34642Attachment 34643

I liked what Ryan had done with his bases, and decided to try it myself. I found that, instead of using a band saw to make the initial cut, it was easy, and just a few minutes work, to sand the bases down. I started with 60 grit. When I had about 1mm to go, I switched to 80 grit. I finished with 180 grit.

I have glued my minis to the Plexiglas, so it was just a question of gently pressing the mini on the newly modified base while sanding it back and forth on the 180 grit to bring the ship's pin down to a height that works with the thinner bases. I did this to eliminate the risk of scratching the glass if I were to cut the pin.

I did the pin sanding with the card removed from the base. That way the card adds its thickness when it is put back in.

Those ships certainly sit very well Dobbs.
I might have even considered doing it myself, but with over a hundred bases...........:hmmm:
Rob.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bligh

Those ships certainly sit very well Dobbs.
I might have even considered doing it myself, but with over a hundred bases...........:hmmm:
Rob.

---

With around forty bases myself, I am doing a few at a time. I had extras left from scrapped ships, so I started by doing two, so I could play duels, but didn't want to commit myself until I got player feedback about how the thinner bases interacted with big fingers. That has been mostly positive. I now have six and am going for twelve. If it looks like I can get enough players to get more than that many ships on the table, I won't hesitate to make more.

I store my ships in their boxes, so the one tweak is that I had to make a thin foam insert to go under the new thinner base to keep it from being sloppy in the box. I just use some 1/8" craft foam from Walmart, shaped to the size of the original base and cut with scissors.

Good idea Dobbs.
I also have a couple of spare bases. I might just try them out with the ships I'm doing for the Chilean war of independence.
Rob.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bligh

Good idea Dobbs.
I also have a couple of spare bases. I might just try them out with the ships I'm doing for the Chilean war of independence.
Rob.

---

Ah, yes... about those Chilean corvettes... I haven't made any progress in that direction yet.

No worries Dobbs.
I have plenty of other ships to bring up to fighting standard in the meantime.
Rob.