Flat Folding Units

[nikloveland]

So I seem to be running out of space that I can allocate to my paper craft hobby. oldschooldm has done some very cool things for fold flat terrain but most of my modeling is creating rank-and-file units for tabletop miniatures games. I thought I would try to create a system for flat folding regiments. I did a few prototypes (earliest versions starting on the left) and got to something I think works ok (far right):




The basic idea is to glue a small tab to the bottom of a standard mini so that it can be threaded all the way though a basic box and glued to the bottom. Since the sides of the box are not permanently glued the box can fold flat and the minis will follow the same direction. It does take a bit of patience to thread the minis through but it's easy to burnish since the whole thing folds flat. I also add a piece of magnetic strip to cover the entire bottom for weight and to add rigidness.

Multiple stands can be put together to make the larger units. If you have suggestions, I'd like to hear about it.

PDF File (7MB)

[tonsha]

Love it!

[yifferman]

Very good

[nikloveland]

Thank you. I’ve made a couple of units with this flat folding basing style and I have learned a few things. First, when gluing the hing tab to the figure, make sure it’s below the figure’s elements that are cut wider than the tab (such as feet or capes). Some figure’s black tabs go above the feet and if the hing tab is glued to the top edge of the figure’s tab it’s harder to open the box. Also, edge the hing tabs before cutting them apart. I was able to thread and glue a row of five figures at a time. It took some time to get the paper minis to wiggle though the box but the outline on the bottom of the box made it easy to place them all at the right depth.


Now I do lose the ability to have individual figures but I gain other benefits: The figure art is flat to the base, the figures alternate within the rows for depth, the stands are easy to place out, but most of all I’m amazed at how well it conserves space. The last photo shows the same number of models folded flat vs traditionally based models on movement trays. I could probably fit x4 the number that are in that container (25-30 stands of minis). I think it will become my standard for basing in all my Kings of War units. I may even go back and convert a few from the old basing.

[johnpuh]

OMG! I had a similar idea.

I built mine out of poster board. Laser cut and engraved the poster and wood. The wooden frame holds the paper and helps to force the folding action. The mountain folds on the parts that squeeze the mini are taped with packing tape to make the surface smooth so the figures slide easier. Used creative commons photos from Pexels for the floor texture. Laminated those pages so they can be drawn on with dry or wet erase markers.










Next goal is to build some slide in 3d pop up terrain. My end game is a pop-up encounter that has multiple levels.