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Post by Dominic on Sept 20, 2010 9:35:26 GMT -9
I've been struggeling with the idea of flying creatures for a while now. I know that it's not that hard, but I've been wondering how hard it would be to create something versatile from paper. Here's my first test-build (versions 0.01a and b respectively). It's fairly stable, and I'm planning on doing a large and maybe a huge version, and maybe do a few variations in textures (for practice). The right design might allow for transparent support, but I yet have to test that one. The idea is to have them in 1, 2 and 3 inch high, although I don't know yet whether a 3-inch piece would actually be necessary. They stack, did I mention that? Most medium miniatures fit underneath it, but obviously there are problems, with square bases for one thing, and with large creatures for another. Suggestions, ideas and comments are always welcome! Oh, and don't ask about the name .
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Post by onemonkeybeau on Sept 20, 2010 9:45:43 GMT -9
I wonder how they'd build/look with a sheet of transparency?
onemonkeybeau
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Post by mruseless on Sept 21, 2010 3:15:04 GMT -9
Would transparency be strong enough? That stuff is pretty filmsy...er, flimsy ;D
Perhaps you could use transparency, but glue a small gauge wire in the inside corner of each leg?
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Post by Dominic on Sept 21, 2010 3:32:04 GMT -9
Perhaps you could use transparency, but glue a small gauge wire in the inside corner of each leg? I havn't tried it yet, but I think gluing in wire would make it too tricky to "mass" produce. Besides, the legs are triangles, not open folds, so I guess transparency would be stable enough - at least for paper and plastic, I don't have any metal minis. I'm also wondering whether the base would work in transparency. Right now I'm thinking about sticking with paper there. Oh, and I think I forgot to mention that in the right design, the legs do not have to be glued to the base, i.e. they might make for a modular design (pick the legs you need and assemble on the fly). I need to put them to the test though to see whether they survive extended wear that way.
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Post by mruseless on Sept 21, 2010 7:29:32 GMT -9
Ah, I see. At first glance I didn't notice that the legs were triangles.
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Post by afet on Sept 21, 2010 10:40:06 GMT -9
Interesting designs, Satrek. I'd love to get a pdf of this and try it out, once you settle on the design. We've setting flying creatures on top of the clear, hard plastic containers in which they sell polyhedrals. It works quite well.
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Post by sammo on Sept 21, 2010 10:47:08 GMT -9
I think you are on the right track as far as a printable version goes. I don't know if you could get away from the four legs without sacrificing stability, especially in card stock. I might suggest trying to make an x shaped pillar with a platform on top. It would preclude putting a mini directly under the stand but you could crowd as many as four under it in the recesses. something like this, but with a base to keep it from twisting As a side note, I realize they aren't as economical as a printable flight stand, but litko makes an awesome flight stand that fits a small d6 in the base as an altitude counter. It'll set you back a few bucks but I have some and they work awesome. They've replaced my collection of clear dice boxes for flying minis. see it here www.litkoaero.com/page/LAI/PROD/AFS/AFS014-5
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Post by afet on Sept 21, 2010 15:23:09 GMT -9
Neat stuff. From now on, I'm going to put a large d6 under the clear dice container.
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Post by cowboyleland on Sept 21, 2010 18:51:32 GMT -9
I've often wanted a way to represent altitude for various games. Putting each model in a clear plastic box and stacking clear plastic boxes could work. Aircraft and creatures could fly under each other that way. You'd just need a way to make the stacks stable.
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Post by Dominic on Sept 21, 2010 22:21:36 GMT -9
afet: looks like you're in luck then, we got our dice in paper bags... Boxes like that would be great, except that they won't fit over larger miniatures... But then again, I still need to test whether a floater for large and even huge is doable... The thing is, I want a system that allows for one miniature "floating" above another, that's why I chose foud legs instead of a central support. The engineer inside me also thinks that the legs make it more stable when stacked. I'll try to post a pdf-version of the current design later. Oh, and the d6 as an altimeter is a great idea... Hm...
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Post by onemonkeybeau on Sept 22, 2010 6:02:02 GMT -9
Yes, the D6 altimeter is a SWEET idea!
I like this discussion a lot and am looking forward to what we come up with!
onemonkeybeau
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Post by Dominic on Sept 22, 2010 9:41:10 GMT -9
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Post by kiladecus on Nov 8, 2010 3:38:26 GMT -9
Here is my idea (some elements I stole from other gamers)... But simply take a clear plastic cup and glue a magnet on the bottom. Glue a paperclip to the inside of your model while building it (or put it on the outside, and diguise it with a hatch or something). Simply pop the unit on the cup (read as "Flight Base") and if you want to have it "land" remove it from the cup... Storage is easy, too, because the cups stack nicely. Here is one I have done. You can do these in various sizes... The good thing about these is they don't block line of sight!
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Post by Dominic on Nov 8, 2010 3:55:03 GMT -9
I've seen the pic (I think), and it looks great for the ship. If only we could get out Star Wars campaign off the ground (pun intended) I'd use that method for ships myself.
But I think (and hope) that what I'm working on has a few advantages, being stackability to various levels (as in increasing height, which I don't see with cups) and usability for minis even in tighter spaces than a cup could handle.
I'm still working on this one, but right now I'm using another project to practice the software involved.
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Post by kiladecus on Nov 8, 2010 4:06:37 GMT -9
Maybe I missed something... If you are doing this for 1" (25mm) bases, then you are right! That IS the best option. The smallest cup I cound that works is my Hummingbird... Let me see if I can find the picture of it... It is PERFECT for a 1 1/2" hex (since I use the HeroScape terrain), it works GREAT! www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=168259&l=92206a76fd&id=100001331075572Just a thought!
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Post by Dominic on Nov 8, 2010 5:55:57 GMT -9
Hm... Thanks for the pointers, no point in doing something that's just as good as something that's already avaliable. I'll look into it once I've freed up some time. I need to do some more testbuilds and maybe get my group to test the system a bit more.
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