Re: FT Question

At 05:59 PM 2/9/02 -0500, you wrote:
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Warren Shultzaberger" <carol.warren@prodigy.net>
> > >
> > > How are the "beads" used in making Spaceship miniatures for FT?
> > >
> > > <grin>
>
>Wander thru a craft store while thinking "I want to build a
>spaceship..."	What you end up with may be wire, matte board, metal
>mesh, beads, whatever.  Glue, wire, drill&pin, etc, these into
>whatever configurations you come up with.  Spraypa^h^h^hundercoat,
>paint, add more stuff, etc, until it looks right.

Or until it looks wrong... very wrong.	And you realize you have made
the 
most ugly, horrible pile of crud imaginable.  Then happily take it to
the 
next Con, and sell it.	Someone, somewhere, will think it's wonderful
and 
perfect for thier fleet.

I'm not kidding.

Well, ok, I am some.  But I really wouldn't be surprised if I painted a 
piece of dried buffalo chip and someone buying it.

Easiest way is to use them as spherical "nodules" or some such for a 
ship.  I've used some as "canisters" and cargo pods.  Even used a few as

crew pods and such.

Someone here in Atlanta put a bead on a stand and called it an escape 
pod.  They'd drop a few in where ever they lost a ship.  Rather amusing 
time was had shooting them.  Funniest was watching the Ruskies miss
them!

If you ever make it to Mardi Gras, they throw the things at you for 
free.  All sizes and shapes.  I've even seen several the size of golf 
balls.	I had flashes of imagination (insanity?) of using them for
spaces 
stations.

Other notable cheap things you can pick up from a craft store for FT
use...
Styrofoam balls: paint black, mount on stands, make decent sensor blips,

and can be easily shaped and added to for genera-stations
"doll house stuff" can often times be mod'ed into stuff...  Saw a doll 
house antique bubble gum dispeser (the ones with the glass sphere at
top, 
long, usually red, metal pole to a round base),
Jewelry supplies:  The screw-on necklace fastenings can be placed on
stands 
and bottoms of ships to allow quick attach/detach for big models that
might 
not fit into cases well or snap off when in storage.
Miniture cases:  Can be made from styrofoam slabs, decorate-yourself
boxes, 
etc.
Model kits:  There's an endless supply of scratch built "wings n things"

that can be found in plastic models.  Battle ship turrets make nifty gun

add-ons, where as aircraft carrier fighters have graced my fighter
counters.
Clay, putty, and ceramics can be useful in several ways...  People build

Fighter stands out of them...  (small base of clay with a pole at one
end 
and a molded die cradle at the other.  Attache fighter model to pole,
keep 
fighter die counter in cradle...)

etc... etc... etc...

Use your imagination.

Word of warning...  If you ever start looking around and notice how 
everything could be used to scratch build your next fleet, it's time to 
take a bit of time off...  I wandered into a car parts store, saw a
spark 
plug, and immediately thought, ooo, what an interesting space station
that 
would be...  Complete forgot to get the part I needed too.