"The Great UK Flight Stand Shortage" Topic

At the moment, in the UK, there is an actual shortage of plastic flight stands – specifically, the priorly-ubiquitous long-existing hex-base acrylic flight stands (either in black of transparent), which usually are in the 10-20p range.

(I.e. these, as taken from an image from an old ebay listing, apparently:)

I've been talking with Jon Tuffley at Ground Zero Games (as those of you familar with the Aotrs Shipyards might imagine, I get through A LOT of flight stands, and I usually get 'em from him[1]) and apparently, the majority, if not the entirity, of the UK companies ultimately gets those flight stands from one supplier, who appears to be have been some issues for some months now.

A lot of other flight stands on the market are significiantly more expensive and/or larger. 3D printing is also not a good replacement – one of the very first things I looked at when I started 3D printing was that and the cost was nowhere near sensible commerically, and home 3D printing is not ideal (especially for heavier metal models).

So, I thought it might be worth starting a thread on it (cross-posting across to period I figured were relevant), to discuss it, see if there are any sources overseas and/or to discuss a suitable (low-cost!) alternative.

I figure there probably must have been availability Stateside at some point, since – though it has been many years – I recall that both the Silent Death and Noble Armada models came with them, but whether that is true or not I don't know. (It's surprisingly hard to google for them.)

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[1]As both a starship freak and a CAD designer whose models are specifically designed to accomodate these flight stands – which have been readily available since I started gaming (hell, GW used to produce them before they moved on to their current ones) – this is something of a personal, as well as collective, concern!

Huh, I have quite a few of those (both black and transparent varieties, dozens to low hundreds from memory). I don't use them myself, but if you're right then it might be worth my while to eBay them?

I still have several hundred in stock

Mike

Brigade Models lists flight stands, though I don\t know what their in stock status is as I have more than enough of them.

I make my own using a nail with a magnet on a mdf base and a nail head in the model.

Oddly enough, someone over on Brad Torgersens FASA Trek STSTCS forum was asking about these very style stands.

As well as seeing that em4Miniatures have them on their store, (but not in stock), and that ADB have them also in the US…

EDIT: ADB has the slotta base variant, not what was shown in the original OPs picture

…I found these both Brigade Models and this link here in the UK…

elementgames.co.uk/wargames-and-miniatures/bases-for-miniatures/flying-bases-for-miniatures/flying-bases

…if that's of any use to the OP?

I get mine from Litko, 1.5 inch hexagonal flat base that allows dice to sit right on top.

(1) Silent Death is excuse the pun, very much alive, (2) a flight stand is supplied with every mini you order, (3) your flight stand supplier is our flight stand supplier, and (4) for now we're in decent shape on this front.

Hopefully the mould issue will be resolved in a timely manner.

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.mx

P.S. I personally have several hundred extras I can dip into, so if any of youse mugs have an upcoming event, and you need flight stands, you can ping me. It'll cost you the postage, and it's first come, first served while supplies last, but at least you'll have some flight stands for you upcoming convention game extravaganza… 😎

Just in case anyone missed the point, Black Hat is in the UK, and I've found the company a joy to work with.

Mind, as I'm in the US, most of my Black Hat have come through Scale Creep, but have filled some 'holes' directly.

Doug

I hate those flight stands.

Too fragile, and too flexible even at the best of times.

Really puts me off collecting space ships.

Never noticed 'flexible'; rigid and brittle, would be more my view.

Otherwise, no argument, especially, in my experience, with cyano-.

However, I like to have some around for quick-and-dirty stands for scratchbuilt plastic.

Doug

Too fragile, and too flexible even at the best of times.

I don't know about flexible, but I learned early on to just pop off that peg on top, and drill the miniature to accommodate the main shaft. I'd be doing it eventually, anyway, because they always broke off.

That, and rattling around in the pack with the miniature almost always badly scuffed up the clear flight stands. I usually threw mine away, and bought them in their own packs.

@ Black Hat

Good to know!

@BlackWidowPilot

So it IS more of a global shortage! Ooer…!

@The Beast Rampant

Yes, this is exacly what I do. (I actually design all the Shipyards models with a 3.4mm hole to accomodate the man shaft. The fit at that is good enough you can usually just pop the model on and off the stand if you like.)

A 3.2mm drill bit (or whatever that is in imperial!) is the perfect size for more regular cast/plastic (et al) models (like GZG's starships, of which I have literal hundreds!)(For GW stands (of which I have a small supply left, sparingly used), 3mm is enough and the plastic is a bit better, but the days when they were a sensibly priced option are long-gone!) For smaller vessels where you can't drill, I still cut the peg off usually, and just rely on a solid blob of Loctite gel to hold it in place.

I always spray/paint mine black, personally, I find clear flight stands tend to show up more because they catch the light, rather than be invisible.

(Fun fact: The Germans discovered that in WW1 when they had the brilliant idea of trying to mak an invisible plane by making it out transparent material. It… REALLY did not work…!)