RE: (GZG) Figure base

Semi-advertising - 

A local manufacturer now makes sheet metal discs as small as 1/2".  Kind
of pricey at $6.00 for 50 discs, but they are about 1/3 the height of
similar sized washers (20 gauge?), and have no hole.  They don't add a
lot of weight to the base though. He has a variety of sizes available,
with hexagons in the works.  Please contact me off-list if you are
interested in his information.

--Binhan

> -----Original Message-----
> From: agoodall@att.net [mailto:agoodall@att.net]
> Sent: Monday, March 15, 2004 2:58 PM
> To: gzg-l@csua.berkeley.edu
> Subject: Re: (GZG) Figure base
> 
> 
> Robin wrote:
> 
> > I have just placed my order for some GZG 15mm SG figures.  
> I would like some
> > advice on the best basing method -	I was thinking along 
> the lines of a
> > washer or coin (uk sterling please).  Has anyone a good 
> standard to follow
> > for 15mm?
> 
> I have some original NAC and ESU 15mm figures, and some new 
> Phalon 15mm figures. I also have WW2 15mm figures and a lot 
> of old Traveller 15mm figures. 
> 
> I mounted the WW2 figures, which are by Essex, I believe, on 
> small washers. The washers are pretty tiny at 1/2 an inch 
> across. I'll have to measure them. I did this, as opposed to 
> pennies, so that they would stick to magnets. One thing I 
> found was that the bases are so small and sheet magnets are 
> sufficiently weak, that the figures don't stick very well. 
> I'm not sure it's worth going with the washers for this reason alone.
> 
> The Phalon 15mm figures already come on bases, and these 
> bases are exactly the same size as the washers I used on the 
> WW2 figures. This means that there's no reason to go with 
> 1/2" washers, as it adds extra height to the figure without 
> doing much for its stability (the bases already make them 
> reasonably stable).
> 
> So, I could mount them on larger bases. That's what I did 
> with the Traveller figures. I am hesitant to do that because 
> the larger bases mean that the figures are pushed further 
> apart. One advantage of 15mm figures is that with 1/2" bases 
> you can use metric measurements if pressed for space and 
> still have things work out, more or less, the same as if you 
> used inch measurements and 25mm figures.
> 
> I plan not to mount the Phalons on any bases, just using what 
> they came with, unless they seem to be inordinately top heavy.
> 
> I wouldn't go much bigger than 3/4" for a base width in 15mm. 
> One of the advantages of 15mm figures, even if using 1" 
> measurement as per the SG2 rulebook, is that you can clump 
> figures closer together. If you go beyond 3/4", you start to 
> have the figures spread out as much as with 25mm figures. In 
> that case, you might as well use 25mm figures as they are 
> easier to see.
> 
> Let me sum up: you want a base between 1/2" and 3/4" in 
> width; the figures won't fit on a base smaller than that, and 
> you lose the advantage of 15mm figures with bases larger than 
> that. You want to mount them on washers if you are concerned 
> about keeping them on a surface with magnets, but be aware 
> that you need a powerful magnet for it to work well. Other 
> than that, use whatever small piece of British currency might 
> fit the bill, if indeed the figures need a base at all.
> 
> Let us know how you do. I'd like to put this up on my web 
> site at some point.
> 
> --
> Allan Goodall 	     agoodall@att.net
> http://www.hyperbear.com   agoodall@hyperbear.com
>