RE: Bases

For the really expensive version, you can buy bar stock in various
metals - steel, stainless steel and brass, with a hexagonal cross
section.  A 2" diameter brass rod, approximately 12" long is $80.00.  By
sawing into 1/2" thick plates, you get bases that weigh about 4-5 ounces
each. You can then drill a hole in the center and weld or braze a steel
or brass rod as the post. 

I have seen them used for 1/300th pewter aircraft on 30" long antennae
and they will right themselves until almost 45 degrees from vertical.  I
would assume that they would be able to hold heavier masses upright at
heights of 4-6".

--Binhan

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-gzg-l@lists.CSUA.Berkeley.EDU
[mailto:owner-gzg-l@lists.CSUA.Berkeley.EDU]On Behalf Of Dean Gundberg
Sent: Monday, April 18, 2005 2:22 PM
To: gzg-l@csua.berkeley.edu
Subject: RE: Bases

> The hex base is the standard black plastic base (which I use now only
> for fighters) and the Evil Empires round clear base. My collection of
> ships started with a large number of Silent Death miniatures and I
found
> that some of those miniatures fell on a regular basis if the table
> happened to get bumped. Putting the same miniatures on the clear
plastic
> round base eliminated the problem for me. Which is the basis for my
> preference of round bases if Jon is going to start production.

Jim,
Ever tried adding weight to the bottom cavity of the black hex bases? 
Well
you probably did since the Red Shirts sold pewter base weights that fit
right into that cavity.  I just use a couple 7/8" fender washers.  The
lower
center of gravity helps but then I only use this type of base on
crusiers or
smaller.

> I have superdread's from the Galactic Knights line that I have yet to
> base just due to the fact that I don't have bases that I believe is up
> to the job for those monsters. Though for those miniatures it is as
much
> about the post thickness as the base diameter. I mounted one on the
old
> Evil Empires Gothic bases from the early 90's, more of a square base
> with the corners cut short with a 1/4" post. The shape of the base is
> not the best for use in FT though. To be honest I'd really like to see
> three different diameter bases  1 1/4" (old Geo-Hex metal base), 1
3/4"
> (not presently available) and 2 3/8" (Evil Empires large base).

I use the old Gex-Hex metal bases for all my minis BC and larger.  I
also
add a 1 1/4" fender washer on the bottom to lower the CG even more.  For
the
largest minis, I add an even larger fender washer (maybe 1 3/4")to the
bottom for stability and more weight at the bottom.  This way I get the
clockface and a larger base with almost no extra effort.  I haven't
based
any of my SGDs yet so I can't say if that large washer is big enough but
I
can always pick up a larger fenderwasher at the hardware store (is that
'ironmonger' in UK English?) if needed.  For a stronger post, I go with
brass tubing for anything that size.

Dean Gundberg

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