"basing for 1/2400 or so ships" Topic

I have given it thought previously, and along with buying a nice pair of mats from Corsec Engineering, I wanted clear plastic bases to put the ships upon. This way my ships are always matching whatever mat they are upon, mine or anyone else's! Here's a pic of what they look like:
link

I really like the ODGW bases, and I'm doing a sort of "premium" project for my WWI capital ship fleets. However, for my WWII fleets I've not only a lot more ships, but they are at a "next tier down" in overall looks, so I'm less concerned.

More importantly, I am liking having bases that are easy to handle, and spare players the need for putting their big fat fingers all over my work!

Anyone know of some clear plastic material that is about 2-3mm thick, easy to cut, and – IDEALLY – comes in long strips about 1" wide? I'm thinking of some sort of building material, perhaps.

If not, i was thinking I could just make the end of the base longer, and have players maneuver the ship by putting their fat finger on the extended part behind the stern, then just rotating it around. For that, I could use any clear plastic, and I got some thin vinyl for photos / art frames. It cuts very easily and costs nearly nothing. I can just paint little white wakes on it with hobby paint or correction fluid even.

QC

I use glass. I bought it on Ebay along with a glass-cutter. It's easier than it sounds and works a treat for my Langton models.

I dunno, Unlucky – it sounds sort of scary! Isn't clear plastic easier than that, even if it is thick? What about the edges – aren't they sharp? After having filed down do dullness lots of pointy piano wire pikes and spears, I'm more attuned to safety issues.

Do you have a page where you've blogged this?

Thanks!

I bought my clear bases on Litko Aero. You can pick custom sizes.

Lowes sells various sizes and thicknesses of acrylic in their window department. They can also do some custom cuts if you want it in strips.

Textured acrylic shower material.

You can get it cut to size, so in 1" strips, 36" or so in length, if you have a plastics store nearby.

I use TAP Plastics in the USA.

I then use a mitre-saw box to cut in length, and round off the edges with a file and sandpaper.

Works well, and looks a lot like a rolling ocean.

There are various textures with more or less waviness.

Mako – sweet idea!

I'm looking at this site:
link

Did you use the "protect-a-glaze" or the "Textured Lucerne FFV"? Both look promising, if different.

Only problem is they are West Coast – I need something East Coast, preferably Philadelphia.

I'm not 100% sure, but the "protect-a-glaze", and/or Innsbruck look best to me.

Both, and/or all will work, depending upon what final finish you want, and what scale your minis are.

There are a few other ones too, that I'm not seeing listed, e.g. one that is quite smooth, with very thin/small swirling to it, best for relatively calm water, and/or smaller scale minis.

The other one, that I think I used, doesn't seem to be listed either. It has larger "swells", and/or random humps in it, which are deeper, and much more widely spaced than the patterns shown in the images.

It is used for old bathtub and shower doors, and has a more rippled effect.

I'm sure if you do a bit of searching in Philly, you'll have a local plastics store there, or in NY, that can provide what you need.

They may even provide free samples, like TAP does, from their scrap bins. Probably best to see the stuff in person, but it you can't do that, ask them to send you some small squares, suitably labeled, for you to review.

All are sold in 4' x 8' sheets, and they charge by the square foot, and for each cut, but one or two long cuts, in the width desired shouldn't cost too much, even if you have to get them to do that, and ship it to you, since it's pretty thin, and lightweight.

Various thicknesses are offered, but I suggest 1/8" is good for most applications.

Some sheets will come as thin as 1/16", but I'm not sure if they sell the patterned ones that thin.

On all, one side is textured, and the other is smooth.

I painted mine blue on the smooth side, and left the rough side up, so with the acrylic shine still showing, it makes it look wet.

Others paint theirs, so it's up to you.

With the shower-door pattern I mentioned above, you can even paint white on the top high points, to represent whitecaps on the sea.

Fairly thin plastic. Score it with a hobby knife and break it off. I haven't had any problems yet.

I'm with TGerritsen on this one. Litko Aero is great. Let Litko and it's laser cutters do the work for you. Great company.

@Make – will a standard craft saw/knife be enough to cut the plastic in the mitre box?

Thanks for all the info, my naval projects have long stalled because I get hung up on basing.

Sorry that should be "MakO"! Stupid autocorrect…

I've based my GHQ 1/2400 ships on a piece of plastic card onto which I glued crumpled up grease-proof or baking paper. This created a nice textured look that could be painted and highlighted. I also added a bit of artec or rough plaster to give a bit of texture for the wake and the bow wave.

Captain, the images didn't make it thru, at least not for me. Sounds interesting….

seem to have trouble getting the images to show – any advice? The images are just on my laptop in a folder.

I think you have to have the photos online in order to show them. I have a free photobucket account and load all the photos I show on this website there and then put the URL here. this website follows the URL and pulls down the picture.

Instructions on posting photos are at the Check the FAQ link (which appears at the bottom of every message board page of TMP, including this one).

There are lots of ways to do it, but it all boils down to posting your photos on some photo-sharing service and then embedding the link(s) in your TMP post. TMP has no capacity for posting images.

- Ix