"Personal Force Shields...how to represent them?" Topic

Ive a couple of figures which are positioned to carry personal force shields. They are basically the fire teams moving hardcover and lead the other troops in the team.

Question is how best to represent them? I could create a putty shield, however it doesn't have the clear look Id prefer, alternatively I could just stick on a clear plastic to the shape I want?

suggestions?

ta

Keith
AA

I've seen this issue addressed with either separate, free-standing, plexiglass "shields", and/or those held by the characters.

You can get Litko, and/or others to make them for you out of clear, or colored material.

Personally, I like the see-through, colored ones, since they add a bit more interest to the overall effect.

Plinko chips?
Heat shaped clear plastic sheet?
Transparency film?

Maybe with a little lightning painted on

Remember "shrinky-dinks? You draw figures color them in on special clear plastic sheets, put them in the microwave or the toaster oven for a few seconds and they shrivel up and become very thick. My son made armies out of these sheets that were shrunk and made thick, he traced figures out of catalogs.

So get some shrink paper, cut it so so that it can be shaped around the figure and it hold it in place with a piece of wire over the figure put the figure in the microwave for a couple of seconds and the shrinky dink paper will shrink down to cover the figure in a clear plastic force field. Heat enough to shrink the paper, but not melt figure.

link

Cut small shapes from blister packs… alternatively, you could take the ultimate option:

link

Just pop the dome over the top of the mini when needed.

If you want them in bulk Litco is the way, if you only need a few, get a plastic mountain dew bottle, slice out the shape you want.

It will be thin and that bright green.

You could use a clear bottle and a tinting paint, Taymia makes some, in red, yellow, blue and green.

With all of these if you use a blunt rod heated, should be able to show impacts before painting.

Foe a twist there is also very thin copper She sheet that would work.

I am sure they must make a very thin colored plastic sheet, but all the ones I have worked with are too thick.

Please post your results.

I was thinking of doing it with clear acetate sheets of different colors… cut down and rolled into a tube and placed over/around the figure. Assuming I could easily glue an overlap of acetate… which I've yet to attempt.

Some of the demo vids for GRUNTZ show GZG spider tanks with nice little acrylic sheild markers.

Also if you want small ones the bases I use are Bingo chips to cover numbers, you can get many colors and some have a metal ring inside. The ones I have are about 14-16 mm across.

Drop be a pm with mail addy, I can send you some I have thousands.

Would also add a heavy backpack to them to show the extra bulk of the generator.

Keith,

How about including with the figures a clear oval stencil punchout using this item or similar?

auction

auction

Dan

Good call Dan

Ill check for a uk one

Hmm I could laser cut a green fluorescent base. Might be entertaining.

Better yet, how about a green fluorescent half-tube with an arc that would allow it to be glued on US penny base near the edge? Make it about 20-22mm tall and you'd have a ready-made force field suitable for most man-sized 15mm scale figs.

Well, is the shield intended to be only for the front or is it all-encompassing?

Dan

the bubbles out of the quarter machines at the fod store…

Our Garn miniatures have portable force field generators and when customers ask how that should be represented I usually recommend the Litko force field markers. I just wish they were a little smaller.

Oooooh those are nifty!

Yeah, a bit big for 15mm infantry, but still pretty cool.

I'll wipe some up in green. I have some blue as well but just scraps. I need to restock. Mine will probably be shield shaped instead of round. Flat bottom with round top. I also have some orange laying about.

darthfozzywig, wait til you see the new 15mm Garn! These power fields are appropriate.

I'll wipe some up in green. I have some blue as well but just scraps. I need to restock. Mine will probably be shield shaped instead of round. Flat bottom with round top. I also have some orange laying about.

If you do make them ill probably buy some from you depending on the final shape and they must have the hex pattern inscribed on them.

I'll wipe some up in green. I have some blue as well but just scraps. I need to restock. Mine will probably be shield shaped instead of round. Flat bottom with round top. I also have some orange laying about.

If you do make them ill probably buy some from you depending on their final shape and have the hex pattern inscribed on them.

Toy vending machine capsules are cheap and plentiful, and you can put them on or take them off depending on if the shield is active.

link

I could do a hex pattern but I was going to research a bit and try to find something cooler.

So first try out the gate. It's a little big. It's about 3mm too tall because I didn't account for the base height in the design. The width is a bit much as well. Probably decrease that by 2-3mm as well. Let me know what you all think.

Almost big enough for 28mm. About waste height on those.

I love that! How about a piece in each side that attaches to give it a 3 st
Sided Look and some stability. I would also love to see a hexagon design too.

Javelin98,

What do you think? Does this mean that the clear portion is 1" tall, or does it all measure 1" when both sides are put together?

auction

auction

Dan

I actually like the vending machine capsules idea i have seen it used before, if only they could be produced in a clear colored plastic with the hex pattern engraved on them. Now that would look so cool…

A little loop of printed paper or acetate always did well for my shielded vehicles. Anything inside the loop is shielded, anything outside is not. Draw an "energy" design on it in colored marker. Cheap as cheap gets.

Maybe I'll draw something up, now that it's on my mind. If I do, I'll put it somewhere accessible.

--M

Ive a couple of figures which are positioned to carry personal force shields. They are basically the fire teams moving hardcover and lead the other troops in the team.

First of all, congratulation to ArmiesArmy for thinking out of the box! (While the box = 20th century standard of riflemen, NCO, SAW, bazooka, sniper, seldom GL) We were waiting for such figures for ages!
We have asked for such figures, but noone reacted.
TMP link

I agree with Lfseeney, that they need backpack generator.

Personally I would put in their hand forcefield projector in the form of staff, handed in the middle (generating forcefield from two projectors on the end of staff, kinda magnetic dipole).

Once more, thank You for expanding You range. I hope other manufacturers follow You.

Thanks all for the great ideas, plenty to think on.

Ill put some pics up tomorrow of the rear. They each have a backpack already :)

My current plan for representing shielded figures is a token of the appropriate color under the base of the figure. The token goes away when the shield is down…

I wish I could say, Dan, but I haven't ordered any myself! I did write this up in a suggestion in the Iron Cow supplement I wrote circa 2010 to address energy shields for 6mm sci-fi armor, but I never got around to actually buying some of the capsules to try it out. D'oh!

Hm…. For force fields there have been many great suggestions already.

But it has occurred to me that if these had a sort of SF-ish ballistic shield as well (perhaps it houses the force field generator?) then these would make good Cerberus forces for 15mm mass effect.

Rtjebadia

The idea was based around a single shield as opposed to a full force field. Each fire team has a shield bearer who leads the squad. Two bearers can combine to create a larger shield surface and lead a squad.

Keith

As promised

Here is a shot of the backpack

cheers

Keith