[GZG] Carrying around figures

["Thomas Barclay" <kaladorn@xxxxxxxx>]

For SG2 25mms, I find nothing beats the Chessex 80 figure box. Grey plastic, two layers of
40 figures worth of space each. Not so hot for 28mm, but great for true 25mm. I must have
five or six of these, and I've got orders out for another six. 

For vehicles in 25mm, I find often times, a cardboard box with foam packing peanuts (hint:
keep a big box at home, dump all smaller loads of foam peanuts that arrive with things you
get shipped into it... it becomes the reservoir) is the best option. Vehicles can have odd
shapes, antenna, etc. so you need a really configurable cushioning material. Only caveat:
Some forms of dullcoat (Testers? Armoury?) and some forms of paint seem to, if left
overnight or for longer periods in such storage, like to adhere to the foam. Sometimes it
might take an x-acto to get it off and that can take a wee bit of paint with it. It's
either that or something in some of the resins is still outgassing and making the paint
tacky on some of my stuff. <shrug> But if you just store it like this to transport it for
the day, then take it out, you're good. 

For ships: 

Eggshell material is the best, and some figure boxes use it. But the absolute best is
mounting the ships right the first time! Dispense with the supplies plastic bases (aaargh)
and go and get some round metal bases (white metal is ideal). Then drill them with a
dremel and install square brass tubing. Someone here must have some links to some pix of
the technique. 

Essentially, you get two sets of brass tubing that barely fit within one another. One
smaller, one larger. The square tubing is better because once mounted on the base, the
figure does not spin (which it often will on round tubing shafts). You cut about 1 1/4"
length for the shaft from the larger tubing, and mount it into the round white metal or
steel base with some plastic metal or epoxy or the like. 

You cut a shorter chunk of the larger tubing (say about 1/4") and that part is attached to
the ship. Now where does the smaller tubing come in? A short length of it is either
attached to the stand by gluing it inside the larger tubing or doing the same on the ship
side. Just be consistent. 

You end up with (pardon the ascii art)

================   <---- Ship
  || ||            <---- larger tubing, secured into ship
   | |            <---- Smaller tubing, secured either into ship or base
  || ||
  |   |
  |   |            <--- larger tubing, secured into base
  |   |
----------         <-- Base


That diagram is a bit exaggerated because when the ship rests fully installed, the two
larger square tubing sit on one another. The smaller tubing acts as the pin in the middle. 
By using square tubing, and mounting with a bit of thought, the ship always stays
correctly oriented on the base for 12 o'clock. (With round tubing, they tend to spin...)

Advantages:
1) Large flat ships like ESU and FSE transport MUUUUCH easier. 
2) You don't need as many bases as ships (Just enough for 1-2 fleets!)
3) You can remove bases for transport
4) By using a larger white metal base (they're about 1-1/4 to 1-1/2" diameter), you get a
bit more stability
5) By building some different height posts, you can get some tough-to-overlap ships to
overlap, and you have dynamic control of which ship sits at which height.

I've seen other fancy methods involving screw or clasp connectors, but I like this because
it is a simple slide fit. Not much to go wrong. Just cut the tubing smoothly (I use a
dremel and a wee bit of sandpaper afterwards for burs) so you get cuts at 90 degrees. And
be consistent on where you glue the smaller tubing (into the ship or into the base)

It takes some work, but in the end, the transportability of fleets goes waaaay up. 


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