Re: [OT] Ships & Spheres...or 3D representation

>A bit of discussion going on here on how to represent 3d.  There have
some
>suggestions of placing ships inside plastic spheres, like those found
at craft
>stores.  I'd just like to add that our group has done this in the past,
namely
>for WWI air combat.  I just thought I'd share a few thoughts.	While
this
>first
>seems to be an attractive solution it does present a number of
problems.
>
>- The spheres themselves are fairly large (though you can buy them in
various
>sizes) makes close positioning difficult.
>- The need for elevation in 3d requires poles to mount the models to,
we
>used a
>ring to support the sphere on the pole, which seemed to be easily
knocked over
>and a bit clumsy.
>- The spheres while being clear do reflect light, at times obscuring
the
>model,
>if only slightly.
>- The whole pole / sphere thing looks a bit silly when you set a bunch
(six or
>more) of em out on the table.
>
>It is an interesting concept, though I've never had much success trying
to
>model
>it.  What I think might work, or what I'm thinking of trying next.
>- Mount a small brass tube on the underside of the model,
unobtrusively.
>A rod
>then slots to the tube and mounts on the elevation pole.
>- There ought to be two fulcrum points.  One left to right, handled by
the
>tube
>mount.  Another up and down, provided by the rod to elevation pole.
>- I imagine the elevation pole ought to be say no more than 12" to
increase
>stability and reduce the impact a model might take when knocked over.
>
>Has anyone else had other successes or failures in this area?

This was tried many years ago by a club over here, who actually
published
it as an article in Practical Wargamer magazine; they used two plastic
hemispheres cut from the bases of large plastic Coke bottles, but this
was
because they couldn't get the neat plastic globes that you can now buy
in
craft shops! The game was a 3D Star Trek one, using a mix of FASA, SFB
and
Zocchi ships in the spheres, and IIRC they didn't worry about moving the
models in the Z-axis - the whole point was to represent the different
ORIENTATIONS of the ships in 3D, which is what makes space combat
unique,
so they mounted each sphere in a shallow "cup" so that you could rotate
the
ball (and hence the ship) to any angle or orientation you liked. Each
sphere had various axes marked on it with fine lining tape. Seemed to
work
well, at least according to the article.....

Jon (GZG)