[IGAirborneRanger]

I'm about to start work on my Imperial Navy flyers (3 valkyries, a vulture, and a lightning strike). I want them to be on a transparent base like the one used for the Space Marine Land speeder but bigger and taller. Any suggestions?

 

[CowboyAdam512]

use the BIG transparent base vice the small one:yes:

 

[Xethemez]

Bags of big transparrent bases are available from GW or the online store, however, If you want your flyers to go a bit higher than the table, I once saw something at a convention that might interest you. They used a CD (or something a similar size) as a base, and a radio ariel as the stem, making their helicopters an ajustable height.

I couldn't help but feel proud if my Valkerie was able to fly high above the table, then engage VTOL and come down to drop it's troops off!

 

[Worlds Collide]

I own at least one of each Imperial Flyer and my experience has been that the plastic bases supplied by GW are not structurally sound enough for Forgeworld fliers.

I would find a much sturdier material for the base. I personally used 1/8" thick balsa wood, then I used a band saw to cut into them into circular shapes and, lastly, I attached radio antennae to the bases so that I could adjust the height of each aircraft.

As Xethemez said, this makes it much easier for you and your opponent to keep up with which VTOL craft is hovering, landing or flying.

If you ever dig deep into your wallet and purchase a Super Heavy Flyer, then I would suggest using an even sturdier base such as plywood and a heavy guage car antenna instead of a cheap radio antenna.

Worlds Collide

 

[mikosm]

interesting topic as i have to do the same to my lightnings and valkyries very soon also. I like the idea of the radio arial, but has anyone found that they weaken over time?
Also, whats the best method to attach the ariel to the base itself, especially with regards to the CD base concept.

 

[Xethemez]

Words Collide is right, if you are going to spend the money on the flyer you might as well make yourself a plywood base or something similar.

You can get some pretty strong ariels out there, try at a model aircraft shop and tell them what you are looking for. Even cheap R/C ariels tend to be stronger than radio ariels. You will probibly be able to get a strong ariel with a solid metal base. Then all you have to do is drill a hole the right size in a wooden disk and weigh it down to keep the flyer on the table.

 

[IGAirborneRanger]

Very nice ideas with the ariels, I never would have thought of something like that. All this time I was searching for some modular stand of some sort that I could remove or add parts to make it shorter or longer. I thought I might have to find something obscure at an Ikea furniture store or something lol. Okay, you guys gave me a good suggestion for a stand, but I would really like a transparent base of some sort. A CD is nice, is there any way to make one transparent?

Also, I suppose these ariels are glued to your flyers instead of being 'screwed' on? I just think there might be times when I want to represent the flyer as being completely grounded like when a lightning is just sitting on an airbase.

 

[Xethemez]

Also, I suppose these ariels are glued to your flyers instead of being 'screwed' on? I just think there might be times when I want to represent the flyer as being completely grounded like when a lightning is just sitting on an airbase.

Actualy I havn't tried this yet. IN Flyers are far too expensive for me! Not that I wouldn't love to use them.

It might be possible to make the flyer removable. Certainly I have seen ariels with threads on the base - but I'm not sure about the top end. I think you might just have to drill a tight recess for it. How sturdy is the bottom of the flyer? If it's a single sheet of resin then obviously you will need another solution.

One possibility for the transparrent base would be to have a disc of plexiglass, or other transparrent polymer. You can buy it in sheets quie cheaply.

 

[Harbish]

I'm planning to use magnets to make my Vulture detachable from the flying stand.

 

[Xethemez]

That's not a bad idea, but they would have to be extremley stong magnets to hold it on there. I would rather trust my £65 model to a nice deep recess.

 

[Worlds Collide]

The magnets would have to be exremely large and bulky to support the weight of a Forgeworld flier. Remember that Forgeworld products are constructed of resin, and resin is much heavier than than the polymers that GW uses for their models.

Radio antennae really are an inventive method of supporting a flier and I only wish that I had thought of it first. In the end, however, I'm not adverse to taking someone elses good idea and implementing it myself.

Worlds Collide

 

[Harbish]

The magnets would have to be exremely large and bulky to support the weight of a Forgeworld flier. Remember that Forgeworld products are constructed of resin, and resin is much heavier than than the polymers that GW uses for their models.

I own 1500 points of Elysian Guardsmen, I'm fairly confident I know their weight now :ninja:

I'm gonna use several large Rare Earth Magnets, they're much stronger than normal magnets.

*Waits patiently by the front door for the morning post*

 

[Worlds Collide]

Good luck.

I would hate to have magnets when someone with a large posterior bumps your gaming table while strolling by and your aircraft comes right off the magnet, crashes into your opponents models (breaking some) and snapping a wing off of your own flyer in the process.

There aren't any $150.00+ products in my house that I would suspend in the air from a magnet; even a rare earth magnet.

Worlds Collide

 

[mikosm]

With regards to the magnets i think its a great idea and may look into doing the same myself. Of course the magnets would need to be extremely powerful but for those pesimistic towards this i would suggest you take a look at this site : http://www.powermagnetstore.com/

I ordered some magnets from here previously for a completely different purpose and was simply blown away by the sheer strength of these things. For instance, i took three magnets, lined them up with a 15cm gap between each, I then nudged the outer magnets sligtly and you could flip the center one onto its side etc from a distance of around 15cm. Get your finger stuck between two and you will know about it!
The problem with these are that they should not be placed around people with pacemakers, or creditcards etc etc.... I brought them into my house and it stopped my wireless internet functioning when they were a meter away from my computer!

 

[Xethemez]

The thing is, I just don't see the point of buying huge natural earth magnets that can disable wireless networks from a metre away and pick up the keyes of everybody in the club when a simple recessed hole would do the job many times better.

Sometimes the most obvious solution is the best.

 

[Harbish]

The thing is, I just don't see the point of buying huge natural earth magnets that can disable wireless networks from a metre away and pick up the keyes of everybody in the club when a simple recessed hole would do the job many times better.

Sometimes the most obvious solution is the best.

Uh huh, but then again, I did this to a guardsman:

So magnets are kinda a themed part of my army.

I'm going to be using magnets to attatch the wing-mounted weapons pods too.

Sometimes it's not about doing the simplest thing, but the task that's the most fun.

 

[Harbish]

Good luck.

I would hate to have magnets when someone with a large posterior bumps your gaming table while strolling by and your aircraft comes right off the magnet, crashes into your opponents models (breaking some) and snapping a wing off of your own flyer in the process.

There aren't any $150.00+ products in my house that I would suspend in the air from a magnet; even a rare earth magnet.

Worlds Collide

Well, I'm still trying to work out a method to get true electro-magnetic suspension, but the system would need to be so powerful that it would definitely attract metallic substances from a considerable distance... and I have iron slugs in the base of each of my guardsmen, heh.

But yeah, I'm confident it can be done.

 

[IGAirborneRanger]

Well wether you're going to use magnets or the aerial idea I'd like to see pictures of these projects. I don't think the topic of navy flyer bases has been covered enough.

 

[Von_Smallhousen]

I used a removable metal rod which i got from a hardware store to hold my Valkerie up, but also to balance (although not intentionally, but it worked well) i've modelled three of my guardsmen descending from the Valkerie (which is supposed to be hovering) by absailing down "rope" which i built from thin copper rods, with smaller filament elements from the wires you use to hold picture frames up on. Two of the rods actually touch the base, and i've pinned them in, and they act as stabalising elements along with the central rod.

In conjunction with the filaments around the rods and some decent painting work, it actually looks really nice.

 

[IGAirborneRanger]

I used a removable metal rod which i got from a hardware store to hold my Valkerie up, but also to balance (although not intentionally, but it worked well) i've modelled three of my guardsmen descending from the Valkerie (which is supposed to be hovering) by absailing down "rope" which i built from thin copper rods, with smaller filament elements from the wires you use to hold picture frames up on. Two of the rods actually touch the base, and i've pinned them in, and they act as stabalising elements along with the central rod.

In conjunction with the filaments around the rods and some decent painting work, it actually looks really nice.

Wow, you gotta post a pic of this dude! It would be a crime not to, it sounds really awesome especially with those guardsmen rappalling down from ropes I actually was thinking of doing something like this myself.