"Gluing Turrets?" Topic

Mostly I game 28mm, but I have some modern 6mm that I was going to use for a Taiwan near future scenario. For larger scales, I keep the turrets unglued so that people can turn them in games, but for 6mm I find that the turrets are too easy to lose. Do you glue your 6mm turrets? Or is that some kind of sacrosanct rule that I would be breaking?

At the end of the day, it's up to me- I get that- I just wonder what other 6mm players do with their tanks?

I game in 10mm and I use tiny magnets on my turrets.

I suppose you could experiment with very small magnets.

I glue my 6mm turrets.

Glue them.

Glue them. I don't play rules in that size that require tracking turret armor that precisely.

Glue them so you won't loose them!

Jim

I play games where you need to point your gun at a target if you expect to hit it. I put some sticky wax under the turret. It sticks very well and is easy to turn.

Wolfhag

At that size, glue.

I don't glue in 20mm and above. That said, I don't ever recall repositioning any turrets during any games.

Some people like to pop the turrets off to indicate casualties.

I use wax from a (new) toilet bowl wax ring. A small bit on the turret pin will keep it in place and allow it to move regardless of manufacturer. I've tried magnets and this is just a lot easier and cheaper. No need to drill or glue.

If the pin under the turret is long enough, use a craft knife to cut an "x" on the pin mushrooming the end and holding it on.

Certainly not.

If you're a true war gamer you would have enough of each tank to glue a tank turret at no more than 5 degree intervals. Then substitute as necessary…kids today!

I used to Drill, Pin and Base… 1/285… 'could work nicely'… SO small and 'fiddly'…reason why I have pretty much abandoned 6mm for 1/200 or 10mm. (No… NOT the same!).
Skytrex 1/200… mainly with special order turrets from Butlers Printed models are 'bigger' microtanks. Need 'work'…. ongoing project… but I 'likes' them!
10mm or 1/144 are 'smaller' 15mm. Takara prepaints… ready for table, mostly… fron ebay. Pendraken Metals are fine with work.. but new Victrix plastics are Excellent.
Both are easier to 'work' than 1/285 / 6mm for an Old guy.

Paul has the correct answer for this issue.

Just by more tanks an follow his advise.

I have done 6mm and my rules do require turning turrets and it was a problem. I now do 1/144 scale and many of my vehicles now have locking turrets that only come out at one angular position. the ideas here look good in general. I used to use Blue Tack on my 1/144, better than nothing but by no means perfect.

I glue my 6mm turrets. Loose in larger scales. I don't generally play at levels where turret facing matters anyway.

I'm using Battlefront WWII for 6mm so the actual direction the turret is facing is unimportant. I say glue them.

I magnetize 6mm turrets where they are a separate piece.

I game almost exclusively at 6mm scale. I play rules that use a 1-to-1 unit scale for the vehicles, so one tank model on the table represents 1 tank. The games are generally multi-company to battalion per-side in size, with each player pushing a company with some attachments (usually about 20 – 25 pieces).

The rulesets I have used in all battles for the last 10 – 15 years, Mein Panzer or Jagdpanzer, do not require turret facings on the models. So I could glue them down.

While I don't need to have the turrets free-turning to play, I prefer the aesthetics of turrets being able to face various directions. But I don't like to lose turrets. I also don't like to spend a lot of time on installing mechanisms to hold the turrets on armies as large as mine (multiple thousands of units at this point). So what to do?

I have settled on gluing the turrets only on very small vehicles. Armored cars and some light tanks will get their turrets glued down. I think my US Stuart tanks (a company each of M3A1s and M5 / M5A1s) are the largest tanks in my collection to have their turrets glued down. All the rest do not.

I understand and appreciate the elegance of magnetizing the turrets. But it isn't for me. I have also seen folks who drill through and install round pin-heads into the stems of turrets to hold them on to the hulls. Again, not for me.

I do take some measures, though, to "incline" the turrets to stay around on the hulls. If there is a through-hole in the hull, I will often apply a drop of white glue from the bottom to the turret stem. I will then rotate the turret back and forth a few times over the next 10 minutes or so, to ensure that a tight bond does not form. This forms a thickened end on the turret stem, which helps it stay in place. It is not a guaranteed fixing of the turret, but it helps. If there is no through-hold in the hull I will often use a spot of poster tack or even sticky glue to mount the turret, so that it will behave as if it is glued down until I want it to face another direction, at which point I can remove it and place it in the new facing (actually trying to rotate it, when it is held by tacky mounting material, is not good for the gun barrel).

Using these techniques I don't get a perfect solution, but I get a workable compromise. At least for my purposes.

-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)

None of the rules that I use require the turrets to face a particular direction so I have glued them on. In particular things like machine guns and other small items. If I was using rules that require the turrets to be faced I would probably consider the wax ring method.

Simples a small piece of blue tack !!!!!! and you can still move
turrets.

I think Striker's wax solution is an excellent one.

Taking a trip down memory lane, I recall very much appreciating the huge circular turret bases employed by CinC in their tank models.

B

Yes, wax solution is the best, even on 6mm models, except for the very small ones. Easy to pop off and put back on again.

Gluing turrets down- Heresy I say, burn them at the stake!!!!

Wolfhag

Not sure whether the Toilet Waxed Ring is available in UK? Did look in a couple of large DIY Outlets but could not see on racks. Maybe a specialist plumbing supplier? But UK might have different regs.
Not that bothered… as I said, above… drilling and pinning 1/285s… plus basing was a pain that wore out re-interest before I really got started again. Could do it 5-6+ years ago, but eyes / fingers, not what they were.

Incidentally… 'Drilling' was with a 'pin vice' and very fine, snappable bit… not a power tool… for any contemplating! lol. It could work… but then the now based tank's turret and pin 'could' separate…

I glue them. Bought a job lot of Russian stuff off EBay; the seller was a "loose turrets" guy. Took weeks to sort the correct turrets for each tank!

Glue them. That's what I dud with my 6mm stuff. I now game with 20mm or 1/72 models. In this scale most turrets are capable of rotating, but we never bother. My rules of choice don't require it so it's a pointless exercise. It also involves more greasy fingers touching the nicely painted kit, so stop it, now!

Aah! Yes. But… if a 'TANK' model can't rotate turret… it's an SPG!
Just a 'way of thought'.
I 'WANT' them to rotate… just a PITA to do! lol!

I've always allowed for rotating turrets in "6mm" (1/300 and 1/285), since the 1970s, as it looks better in games. Also, when a tank is knocked out, I displace the turret slightly, and sometimes put a wisp of black cotton ball smoke under it to hide the gap. Finally, my "6mm" storage procedures require that the turrets be rotated to a certain position in the storage container to minimize chances of gun barrels bending.

MH