"Clear Plastic Food Picks, Coffee Stirs: For Flight Bases?" Topic

A) If you have flying creatures, humans on jet packs, drones, small planes, etc….

These 3.5 – 4" long, clear, hard plastic triangular rods come 100 to a set and sell for as little as $6 USD, with free shipping, depending on the seller:

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Has anyone ever used them to add as a flight rod to a metal washer base?

B) They apparently come in various other colors, perhaps useful for depicting laser beams or other things?

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Thoughts?

Dan

Same idea but I use nails as the rod. I get tired of plastic flight stands rod breaking. My home builders are tough and can take the gamer abuse.

Hmmm, I like the clear/white one.

Perfect for searchlight beams in 1/600th scale, I suspect.

Thanks for sharing.

Then again, perhaps not, since I guess they aren't round, like I thought they were, originally.

I use something similar as vector markers to show the movement direction of ships in space games. I don't know if they would be strong enough to mount a mini on top of though.

Too much trouble for me. If you don't want to pay Litko prices, you can go to TAP Plastics and buy acrylic rods in 6' lengths and cut your own.

I use 3mm rods for my 1/600 air. It costs $8.50 USD for 60 feet of 3mm rods. (10-QTY, 1/8" x 6' @ $8.50 USD). You can get different widths or colors, depending on your needs.
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(I don't work for TAP)

Same idea but I use nails as the rod.

I know a lot of folk that swear by 'em, but I can't get the image of caltrop through the hand out of my head. I'll admit to the OCD tendencies on occasion…

I was just playing around with some cocktail forks from a dollar store to make some tiny aeronefs, and ended up using some scrap for base and stand.

Of course, the whole thing is light enough to go flying in a good breeze. ;->=

The upright was part of the handle that curved a bit. I cut out the flat from the center, leaving the ribbed edge. I thought it a fetching s-curved post.

If it were work/trouble, I wouldn't do it.

Doug

As with a lot of things I happen to see in the course of a day, when I saw a picture of those picks, the first thing that came to mind was how many ways could it be used in wargaming.

I just hope the sticks end up useful to someone in some other way then, if not as flight rods.

Dan
TMP link

Marvellous tip ! Unfortunately both links (Amazon.com) told me they do NOT ship to The Netherlands. The same message from various other companies after Googlesearch. One or two Chinese firms tell me they do not ship under 10.000 sticks which is a bit much, even for a megalomanic fanatic like me ;-)). Anyone who can suggest a solution ? Thanks !

I've never seen them before, but have you had a look in wedding goods or party supply stores? Do you have same there?

The thing to keep in mind is, sure, it's a strange place, but you're both looking for a specific goal, but also keep eyes open.

Wedding shops are a good place to look for fluted pillars to hack up for old ruins, for instance.

Doug

Porthos,

How about sellers from the UK?

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Dan

Dan, not only am I flabbergasted but also back from ebay.co.uk from where I have ordered four packs (100 sticks). Thank you !!! Now I can savely order my Japanese 1:600 airplanes to Honolulu ;-)))

Porthos,

Please take and share some photos of how you put it together, and your comments on how practical (or not) was the idea!

Regards,

Dan

You can actually buy them? All of mine came from martini glasses. I haven't put any to use yet. I think I can use them as some sort of structure on a grav AFV, probably a gun barrel.

For heavier items, maybe these thicker acrylic swizzle sticks could be an option?

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Or maybe these 9-inch acrylic straws?

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Dan

Interesting; if you cut them beside the flair, that part acts a bit as a base itself. Might glue more solidly.

Doug