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View Full Version : Fun With Magnets, Or, All Your Base Are Belong to Us.



Nightmoss
02-09-2014, 18:05
Using the two SoG pirate ship repaints, two sizes of rare earth magnets, Langton Miniature sculpted bases and the custom Litko bases recently acquired I thought I would try some variations on basing the ships with magnets to hold them in place. I'll let the photos do the talking, but if you have specific questions I'll do my best to answer.

The grip on the SGN bases is OK but I'd like it to be as strong as those that sit on the Langon's. More experimenting to come. Cheers!

The SGN minis on the Langton bases really hold tight, you almost have to pry them off.

Пилот
02-09-2014, 19:39
Oh my god, it's alive!

And pretty, too :happy:

Andy Blozinski
02-09-2014, 22:22
It looked like you weren't making direct contact in the SoG base design, but you were with the old Langton base.

Berthier
02-10-2014, 02:49
Great photos Jim, very neat work with the magnets.

FlyXwire
02-10-2014, 06:58
Excellent idea and execution!

Nightmoss
02-10-2014, 08:43
It looked like you weren't making direct contact in the SoG base design, but you were with the old Langton base.

Exactly so, Andy. I think I'm going to try and drill through the SGN base to see if this improves the grip. I expect it will, and even with the card and clear plastic shield in place the ship should hold tighter. One thing I will also check is to see if the polarity on the bottom side of the base magnet will grip to metal or a flexible magnetic surface? Either way the option to hold the ship on the base plus the base to a flat surface metal/magnetic means that bottom larger magnet can do double duty. Photos later if it works out.

Cpt Kangaroo
02-10-2014, 11:29
This is great Jim. Some tricky drilling though I bet.

Thanks for sharing!

:thumbsup::thanks:

DeRuyter
02-10-2014, 12:49
The Black Pearl looks really good on the Langton base! Awesome job!

Nightmoss
02-10-2014, 14:43
Some final result photos as promised.

Drilling the Langton base was fairly easy as the resin is not too difficult to penetrate. I actually did it by hand using the small drills I have. The SoG base was a bit harder as the plastic is tougher, but again I used the small mini drills to start a pilot hole and then progressively used larger drills up to the final one which was 3/16's (I did use a power drill then to maintain a more uniform hole). Some very slight trimming and the large magnet inserted very snugly. I will most likely use two part epoxy instead of super glue in future, but it's holding very well at the moment. I don't think I'd try the upside down trial that Erin did using his ships :shock:, but I did show that one magnet will hold the modified SoG base quite firmly to the side of a refrigerator (the Langton base has a layer of Litko's magnetized heavy duty sheet on the base bottom). Once I decide on a storage system I may well use Erin's felt method to line a box or case? Cheers!!

Naharaht
02-10-2014, 15:20
Good work!

Volunteer
02-10-2014, 22:43
Jim you have actually made these look good. Something I very much doubted could be done. I am humbled by your skill and innovation.

Nightmoss
02-11-2014, 08:28
Jim you have actually made these look good. Something I very much doubted could be done. I am humbled by your skill and innovation.

Thanks Vol. I think the ships are great for folks who want to explore aspects of the Age of Sail gaming right 'out of the box'. With a little more effort some of these sculpts can go even farther. I've really been enjoying the synthesis process as well as observing how others have been enhancing the game and minis. It's been a lot of fun!

Пилот
02-11-2014, 14:46
Well done!

7eat51
02-11-2014, 14:56
Before seeing the recent threads about magnets, using them were not on my radar. You folks are making me reconsider, especially regarding transportation.

Nightmoss
02-11-2014, 16:34
Before seeing the recent threads about magnets, using them were not on my radar. You folks are making me reconsider, especially regarding transportation.

I think the storage options that Keith is working on, plus what you, Ed and others have come up with is probably more than enough for normal transportation? I think Erin and I wanted to add another level of security for the ships that might not be critical for average use? Besides these magnets really are awesome and fun to experiment with! :wink:

Andy Blozinski
02-11-2014, 20:01
Those bases are wavy on the top. Were they purchased that way, or did you modify them to be wavy?

Nightmoss
02-12-2014, 08:40
Those bases are wavy on the top. Were they purchased that way, or did you modify them to be wavy?

Andy, those resin bases are produced by Rod Langton in the UK. You can purchase from Rob at Waterloo Minis here in the US. Here''s the link: http://waterloominis.com/oscommerce/catalog/index.php?cPath=22_23_56&osCsid=0bn6ls055p4p8cri71bd9spii7

Cmmdre
02-12-2014, 08:49
Andy, those resin bases are produced by Rod Langton in the UK. You can purchase from Rob at Waterloo Minis here in the US. Here''s the link: http://waterloominis.com/oscommerce/catalog/index.php?cPath=22_23_56&osCsid=0bn6ls055p4p8cri71bd9spii7

Thank you for the link Jim. Your work looks brilliant. :envy:

7eat51
02-12-2014, 14:26
I think the storage options that Keith is working on, plus what you, Ed and others have come up with is probably more than enough for normal transportation? I think Erin and I wanted to add another level of security for the ships that might not be critical for average use? Besides these magnets really are awesome and fun to experiment with! :wink:

One nice thing about being more secure is the confidence when others are helping transport your stuff. If someone is kind enough to help, I don't want to drive them nuts with concern over things being carried exactly right. I figure if you have one glued to the ship, one to the base, and one to the carrying case, you would be good to go. This assumes one is not using the types of trays Keith will produce.

On average, what does a package of magnets run?

Nightmoss
02-12-2014, 15:33
One nice thing about being more secure is the confidence when others are helping transport your stuff. If someone is kind enough to help, I don't want to drive them nuts with concern over things being carried exactly right. I figure if you have one glued to the ship, one to the base, and one to the carrying case, you would be good to go. This assumes one is not using the types of trays Keith will produce.

On average, what does a package of magnets run?

Eric, if you don't mind I'll just link from Amazon, which is where I picked up both sets of magnets. I'm sure you can probably get these locally or via another online source?

Large: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FIL1PTG/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Small: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/104800001X/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Volunteer
02-12-2014, 19:52
Thanks Vol. I think the ships are great for folks who want to explore aspects of the Age of Sail gaming right 'out of the box'. With a little more effort some of these sculpts can go even farther. I've really been enjoying the synthesis process as well as observing how others have been enhancing the game and minis. It's been a lot of fun!

Well that is what it's all supposed to be about isn't it?

Andy Blozinski
02-12-2014, 20:35
Andy, those resin bases are produced by Rod Langton in the UK. You can purchase from Rob at Waterloo Minis here in the US. Here''s the link: http://waterloominis.com/oscommerce/catalog/index.php?cPath=22_23_56&osCsid=0bn6ls055p4p8cri71bd9spii7

Thanks for the link. Beatin's for them as a vendor, though. No photos or even a text commentary on what the base dimensions are. I guess I'll have to email them to figure out what they're selling!

7eat51
02-12-2014, 22:07
Eric, if you don't mind I'll just link from Amazon

Thanks, Jim. :hatsoff:

I didn't realize they are so cheap - a no brainer, here.

The Royal Hajj
02-13-2014, 07:43
Thanks for the link. Beatin's for them as a vendor, though. No photos or even a text commentary on what the base dimensions are. I guess I'll have to email them to figure out what they're selling!

Yes, Rob's site leaves a lot to be desired, but he's a good guy and will help you out with whatever you need.

Nightmoss
02-13-2014, 09:00
Thanks for the link. Beatin's for them as a vendor, though. No photos or even a text commentary on what the base dimensions are. I guess I'll have to email them to figure out what they're selling!

If you click on the individual base "add to cart" link I believe you'll get the dimensions listed in the description. Still no photos, though.

Coincidentally, Rod Langton doesn't have photos either (at least not that I saw)? Look under "1:1200 Misc" http://www.rodlangton.com/napoleonic/frame.htm

Berthier
02-24-2014, 03:54
Been thinking about the basing of the ships and magnets. What about placing a 2mm diameter magnet into the base by slightly enlarging the exisiting mounting hole, then removing the plug from the base of the ship and gluing a magnet on the bottom in the same position(either recessed or straight on the bottom). This way the cards can still be changed, the ship should "stick" quite firmly and it may be possbile if the magnet is long enough to use it to adhere to a metal base mounted case.

Recessing a magnet into the ship is technically more difficult but would also allow the ship to sail on a mat without a base, thus allowing it to be used with other game systems as well.

Comments or pitfalls?

Diamondback
02-24-2014, 04:56
Daniel, good idea, but may not work so well on tiny single-deckers like the Swans, also may have pivot problems. Really, the ideal here would be two points of attachment for better stability.

Berthier
02-24-2014, 05:11
Good point about the smaller ships, I haven't compared the magnet size to the ship beam on those and the new sloops will be even smaller. Still 1mm magnet diameters are available but may not have enough holding power. This might need some testing. I've been fiddling with my double main masted French 74 so hadnt extrapolated ideas to the smaller ships and I'm reluctant to mangle a perfectly good model :shock:

Diamondback
02-24-2014, 05:20
We're not just looking at horizontal but vertical too... good luck shaving a neodymium magnet down with anything short of a laser cutter.

The Royal Hajj
02-24-2014, 06:47
good luck shaving a neodymium magnet down with anything short of a laser cutter.

Good luck even with a laser cutter! lol

Nightmoss
02-24-2014, 08:33
Been thinking about the basing of the ships and magnets. What about placing a 2mm diameter magnet into the base by slightly enlarging the exisiting mounting hole, then removing the plug from the base of the ship and gluing a magnet on the bottom in the same position(either recessed or straight on the bottom). This way the cards can still be changed, the ship should "stick" quite firmly and it may be possbile if the magnet is long enough to use it to adhere to a metal base mounted case.

Recessing a magnet into the ship is technically more difficult but would also allow the ship to sail on a mat without a base, thus allowing it to be used with other game systems as well.

Comments or pitfalls?

I'm probably going to stick with this system as it eliminates the swiveling issues. It will be interesting to see how this will work (if it does) with the smaller ships? There are smaller magnets available so perhaps it wont be too much of an issue. I don't foresee ever using the SoG ships in any other system that doesn't make use of bases, but I can see where the plug is a problem if that's your ultimate intention. Cheers!

The Royal Hajj
02-24-2014, 09:25
Been thinking about the basing of the ships and magnets. What about placing a 2mm diameter magnet into the base by slightly enlarging the exisiting mounting hole, then removing the plug from the base of the ship and gluing a magnet on the bottom in the same position(either recessed or straight on the bottom). This way the cards can still be changed, the ship should "stick" quite firmly and it may be possbile if the magnet is long enough to use it to adhere to a metal base mounted case.

Recessing a magnet into the ship is technically more difficult but would also allow the ship to sail on a mat without a base, thus allowing it to be used with other game systems as well.

Comments or pitfalls?

Cover a metal sheet with some wave printed fabric and you could have a cool little diorama of the ships sitting directly on the sea surface.

JonathanE
02-24-2014, 14:32
I've been following this discussion for a while now and would like to suggest 2 other solutions I've not seen mentioned yet.

First is a non-permanent method that uses something called Blu-Tack. This is a putty or plasticine type product that does not harden and can be re-used. Take a small amount and affix it to the bottom of a ship (fore & aft if desired) and gently press down on the plastic plate. The ship can be pulled off gently, the material removed and reused. Can be found in art supply stores.

Second is using magnets, but with a very thin (35 gauge) metal strip attached to the bottom of the ship. Could attach using 2 sided tape or Elmer's Glue. Attach the magnet to the bottom of the base as above. This should provide a bit of attraction to keep the ship on the base but not require drilling of holes. The metal could be cut to the shape of the ship base if desired. I did pick up some magnets and a thin (.008" tin plated sheet metal) to test but have not gotten around to it yet. Sheet metal from a hobby store, magnets from the art supply store.

Had intended to test both methods before posting, but thought I'd throw them out there for now. :fixit:

Nightmoss
02-24-2014, 14:55
I've been following this discussion for a while now and would like to suggest 2 other solutions I've not seen mentioned yet.

First is a non-permanent method that uses something called Blu-Tack. This is a putty or plasticine type product that does not harden and can be re-used. Take a small amount and affix it to the bottom of a ship (fore & aft if desired) and gently press down on the plastic plate. The ship can be pulled off gently, the material removed and reused. Can be found in art supply stores.

Second is using magnets, but with a very thin (35 gauge) metal strip attached to the bottom of the ship. Could attach using 2 sided tape or Elmer's Glue. Attach the magnet to the bottom of the base as above. This should provide a bit of attraction to keep the ship on the base but not require drilling of holes. The metal could be cut to the shape of the ship base if desired. I did pick up some magnets and a thin (.008" tin plated sheet metal) to test but have not gotten around to it yet. Sheet metal from a hobby store, magnets from the art supply store.

Had intended to test both methods before posting, but thought I'd throw them out there for now. :fixit:

Jon, thanks for the suggestions.

Keith, and others have used something similar to Blu-Tack, and it appears this works very well. Even a think application of basic white glue to the plug works if you let it dry sufficiently, and it can be peeled off if you have any issues.

I like the idea of thin metal strips on the ship bottom, so do post your photos. As some of the Wave 2 ships are going to be much smaller this might be the way to go, avoiding drilling in the ships at all?

Berthier
02-25-2014, 02:32
We're not just looking at horizontal but vertical too... good luck shaving a neodymium magnet down with anything short of a laser cutter.

No would never try to change the shape of the magnet, just order a different size as they are fairly cheap from China on ebay.

BRIAN DUNBAR
02-28-2014, 22:38
Jim

That is exactly what I did with mine. I don't have to worry about bases falling off when the kids pick them up by the masts.

Nightmoss
03-01-2014, 10:07
Jim

That is exactly what I did with mine. I don't have to worry about bases falling off when the kids pick them up by the masts.

They do hold pretty well. I've now started on other bases, but goofed up one of the ship magnets (I need to remember to check polarity before I glue the magnets in place). :shock:

Naharaht
03-04-2014, 00:03
I was in a hobby shop yesterday and they had some magnetic strip, which was sticky on one side (like selotape). That may be useful.

Nightmoss
03-04-2014, 09:07
I was in a hobby shop yesterday and they had some magnetic strip, which was sticky on one side (like selotape). That may be useful.

Do you recall how thick the tape was? I've seen similar items at the local craft store, but it's far too thick to work.

JonathanE
03-04-2014, 09:59
There are thick versions, and I recently (yesterday) saw a number of thin magnetic sheets of various sizes (8.5" x11" Dow to 2"x3"). After dithering I decided on a set that can be attached to business cards, should be cutable with scissors. Hope to get some time soon to test if this material will work (or the thin metal I got earlier) through the base.

Thickness is just under 1 mm (6 sheets with removable tape backing are about 5mm).

Beowulf03809
03-04-2014, 10:19
We use the little magnets a lot in Flames of War to hold turrets on the tanks. You can still pivot the turret to point ( WYSIWYG fire arcs ) and it can be easily lifted off to either play with a different turret / gun or for transport. The little magnets are strong enough to hold if the model is picked up, moved around, tipped over, etc. I haven't tried a shake test but it is sturdy enough for walking around and driving without any coming off. Polarity is important but easy to manage. When I did my Shermans up, I did one first as the baseline and then made sure ALL my magnet polarities were based off of that. I didn't want to risk trying to swap turrets to get the right mix for a game only to see half of them jumping off constantly. For the question on still getting a pivot with a single magnet, I honestly wouldn't worry about that if you're using rare-earth magnets. They hold WELL. You can intentionally turn them with various degrees of effort but just moving the base around the board under normal conditions is most likely not going to see you ship pivot at all.

One warning though...some of these rare-earth magnets are pretty strong compared to plastic. If you put them on your ships you really should try to only detach by holding the ship's hull and the base. If you hold the base down and try lifting the ship by its mast you may very well snap the plastic.

The reason I haven't really considered magnets on my ships is because I often find a few times per game where I want to take the ship off but leave the base in place for measurement or movement questions. This is very easy to do with the pin/hole style but I'd get a lot more base movement if there were RE magnets involved. I do like the idea of something to prevent the pivot on the base still. I use blue-tack and yellow-tack in some of my other wargames where troop units are on bases and are removed as you take casualties. And in those cases too it works very well for transportation. I have not had any issues with permanent residue or such. And just a little bit can do the job of securing without making it hard to detach from the base when you mean to.

BTW, the pics show some great work on your part setting this up. I can't wait to see what you come up with for the smaller ships.
:rum:

Nightmoss
03-04-2014, 11:27
There are thick versions, and I recently (yesterday) saw a number of thin magnetic sheets of various sizes (8.5" x11" Dow to 2"x3"). After dithering I decided on a set that can be attached to business cards, should be cutable with scissors. Hope to get some time soon to test if this material will work (or the thin metal I got earlier) through the base.

Thickness is just under 1 mm (6 sheets with removable tape backing are about 5mm).

Thanks Jon for the quick reply. 1 mm might still be too thick for the scale, but I'll be interested to see how you test this out.


We use the little magnets a lot in Flames of War to hold turrets on the tanks. You can still pivot the turret to point ( WYSIWYG fire arcs ) and it can be easily lifted off to either play with a different turret / gun or for transport. The little magnets are strong enough to hold if the model is picked up, moved around, tipped over, etc. I haven't tried a shake test but it is sturdy enough for walking around and driving without any coming off. Polarity is important but easy to manage. When I did my Shermans up, I did one first as the baseline and then made sure ALL my magnet polarities were based off of that. I didn't want to risk trying to swap turrets to get the right mix for a game only to see half of them jumping off constantly. For the question on still getting a pivot with a single magnet, I honestly wouldn't worry about that if you're using rare-earth magnets. They hold WELL. You can intentionally turn them with various degrees of effort but just moving the base around the board under normal conditions is most likely not going to see you ship pivot at all.

One warning though...some of these rare-earth magnets are pretty strong compared to plastic. If you put them on your ships you really should try to only detach by holding the ship's hull and the base. If you hold the base down and try lifting the ship by its mast you may very well snap the plastic.

The reason I haven't really considered magnets on my ships is because I often find a few times per game where I want to take the ship off but leave the base in place for measurement or movement questions. This is very easy to do with the pin/hole style but I'd get a lot more base movement if there were RE magnets involved. I do like the idea of something to prevent the pivot on the base still. I use blue-tack and yellow-tack in some of my other wargames where troop units are on bases and are removed as you take casualties. And in those cases too it works very well for transportation. I have not had any issues with permanent residue or such. And just a little bit can do the job of securing without making it hard to detach from the base when you mean to.

BTW, the pics show some great work on your part setting this up. I can't wait to see what you come up with for the smaller ships.
:rum:

Relying on the plug and magnet seems to work well so far. And I do use your method for removing ships from the bases; hold the hull and pivot the ship away from the magnet. Then lift the ship up and away. I expect the smaller ships in Wave 2 are going to be a challenge, but Jon's idea of using metal strips and magnetic sheets cut to size might work for these?

Naharaht
03-04-2014, 14:53
I think that the tape was about 1mm thick.

Sun of York
03-17-2014, 19:16
Hi, my Game of Sails of Glory arrived Friday. I've had one practice run and hoping to have my first one on one game today. I was pleasantly surprised with the miniatures, but find the bases too thick and dominant for my tastes. I was thinking of depegging the ship models and then adding either a magnet (would mean carving out a slot for it - less than 2mm square) or attaching magnetic sheet (like I do with my other miniatures for transport). Then I would need to make a metal plate to go under the card to act as the new base.

I tried using the plastic base from the Wings of War planes, but it is a tad too small. The effect wasn't too bad so another thought has been to leave peg and just have a thick clear plastic base. Unfortunately the clear plastic top isn't thick enough, although there might be some more options there if I give it some thought (maybe using a washer to hold the magnetic base of the ship?).

I would love to be able to remove the masts to show damage etc. Has anyone tried to do that?

Berthier
03-18-2014, 04:13
Hi Mark, masts are not removable. In the processing of drilling the ship's hull to fit magnets the structure of the masts is visible. They appear to have a larger plastic base that sits beneath the deck. It's pretty solid plastic these models are surprisingly robust internally. You would have to cut the mast at the deck level but then you would not be able to reinsert them unless you drilled the mast hole out and extended the now truncated mast. Alternatively you could try and access them through the bottom of the hull but good luck doing that without wrecking them.

Sun of York
03-18-2014, 06:07
Thanks. I think masts will be staying put.

having played three games today I am also less concerned about the size of the base. It shows up more in photos than it does in aesthetics of play and is more of a help in moving the models around.

DeRuyter
03-18-2014, 06:46
Thanks. I think masts will be staying put.

having played three games today I am also less concerned about the size of the base. It shows up more in photos than it does in aesthetics of play and is more of a help in moving the models around.

This is exactly what I have found. I like to have some thickness to my miniature bases for ease of movement and players can pick them up by the bases, which will be helpful if you end up rigging them.

7eat51
03-18-2014, 11:47
This is exactly what I have found. I like to have some thickness to my miniature bases for ease of movement and players can pick them up by the bases, which will be helpful if you end up rigging them.

Agreed.

The photos can be a bit deceiving. As someone said before, the real test is at arm's length. I find most things look better on the table.

Part of me wishes the WoG bases were a bit thicker, or have a slightly different shape along the sides. I like the ease of moving the SoG ships much better than the WoG planes.

7eat51
03-18-2014, 11:48
Mark (Sun of York), stop by the Welcome Aboard forum and introduce yourself. Folks will be glad to meet you. You posting here might get buried.

Sun of York
05-20-2014, 18:26
Further to my posts about basing and reading what people have done, I took the plunge and based one of my ships using magnets. The results can be seen here in my blog post: http://onesidedminiaturewargamingdiscourse.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/sails-of-glory-magnetic-isles.html

I better also go and introduce myself.

7eat51
05-20-2014, 19:25
The results can be seen here in my blog post

Nice work.

How did you like the solo rules?

The picture on the puzzle was rather interesting.

Sun of York
05-20-2014, 22:10
Thanks.

The solo rules really didn't get exercised, much to my embarrassment and lousy seamanship.

I'd just finished the jigsaw and thought I would use it as a backdrop. So often my photos have such clutter in the background it takes a bit of effort to frame the photo or to remove after the event.

DeRuyter
05-21-2014, 08:37
Further to my posts about basing and reading what people have done, I took the plunge and based one of my ships using magnets. The results can be seen here in my blog post: http://onesidedminiaturewargamingdiscourse.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/sails-of-glory-magnetic-isles.html

I better also go and introduce myself.

Very nice solution Mark! Looks like you used one magnet. Do you find that the ships tend to turn on that magnet or do they remain fairly straight on the base?

Пилот
05-21-2014, 16:50
Mark, very good idea!

Sun of York
05-22-2014, 06:51
Thanks.

The magnet is very strong and there is no movement at all (unlike with the peg which used to let my ship, eh, float about). Normally I would have gone with magnetic paper on the base of the ship model as I have done with my figures (for transport and using movement trays). It would have been easier than digging out the hole in the Sails of Glory model's bottom, but I don't think it would have been as strong, particularly when used with the data card in between. The magnets came from some bases I recycled after I rebased the commercially painted and based figures. I think they would be the rare earth magnets referred to by someone earlier in relation to FoW armour.

Nightmoss
06-06-2014, 11:48
There was some debate on whether we'd be able to 'magnetize' the small sloop ships from Wave 2. It turns out you can, and depending on future release we still might be able to go smaller? Just some quick shots (no light box) of the USS Thorn/Atalanta. Cheers!

10095100961009710098

Ken H
06-07-2014, 20:05
So I just magnetized my entire fleet. I used the same 1/8" diameter x 1/16" thick magnets listed earlier in this thread.

First step was to use a 1/8" drill to enlarge the hole in the clear base piece and the blue base exactly in the location of the current holes.

Step two was to saw off the ship mounting post flush.

Step three was to glue the magnets to the base (glue from below through the hole) and flush to the bottom of the ship.

This arrangement allows the ships to be turned on their bases so they fit the storage case I got at Jo Anne's Fabrics better. 1011310114101151011610117

Nightmoss
06-07-2014, 21:09
Super! Those magnets really hold great for their size. Now you don't have to worry about the ships coming off the base or shifting while playing. :thumbsup:

7eat51
06-07-2014, 21:33
As I prepare to cart my collection off to Origins, this idea of utilizing magnets is growing on me. As I set up a game today, I noticed a few things regarding storage and retrieval that I think the magnets would solve. Too late for this trip, but when we return, this will definitely be something I try.

Ducky
06-08-2014, 01:49
I really like Jim's idea of adding the magnet and still keep the peg underneath the ship;
This will hold the ship on its base while playing and transporting, and the peg keeps the ship straight on its base.

The good thing on Ken's idea is that the pivoting is allowed on the base which solves some issues with the bowsprit while the ships are in storage.

My thougts:

My guts tells to go with Jim's idea using the same storage box as Ken uses.
But my addition would be to add a magnet (like the ones used in closets) to the bottom of the storage box so the ships will be magnetised to the bottom in transport. This way the little box for each ship can be big enough to have room for the bowsprit, but due to the magnet is doesn't shove around in the box during transport...

Ken H
06-08-2014, 05:20
If you are going to fit therm in the case I showed they MUST pivot. Even the first rates fit.

With just a center magnet I do not find them spinning willy nilly. They hold their orientation fine. Using just the center also ensures you drill in the right spots and you do not drill the hull.

7eat51
06-19-2014, 12:02
We'll start attaching magnets next week. We wished we had attached them before Origins. They will help in taking out the ships from, and putting back the ships into, the storage/travel container we're using, in keeping them secure while transporting, and in making them easier to use during gameplay. Throughout last week, we kept mentioning our need for magnets. Kind of like the SNL skit, "I could've used a little more magnets."


http://youtu.be/JVni1v0Ee1s

Nightmoss
06-19-2014, 12:09
We'll start attaching magnets next week. We wished we had attached them before Origins. They will help in taking out the ships from, and putting back the ships into, the storage/travel container we're using, in keeping them secure while transporting, and in making them easier to use during gameplay. Throughout last week, we kept mentioning our need for magnets. Kind of like the SNL skit, "I could've used a little more magnets."



Hilarious!

ArkansasChuck
03-06-2018, 06:23
Jim,

I’m sorry to bump an old thread but I did want to ask. Did you just use a drill on these photos you posted to make the magnet holes? I was worried about drilling such a big hole in the model, so I thought I would inquire.
36002
Thank you!!

-Chuck