Other pegs and magnetic attachment

[Gravitypool]

Hi guys. After much roaming the internets i think i'm going to get 1/300 models from raiden minis for my WoW games, but my major concern are the stands and the attachment.

Litko stands seem the way to go,but i'd like something more visual for my altitude games. I also remember having seen a manufacturer that did pegs that rotated in the top allowing to simulate movements.

In raiden's website there's a photo with this kind of pegs. Anyone has any idea of who produces?

http://www.raidenminiatures.co.uk/

[Seiseki]

Just being able to roll the plane sideways or pitch it up and down would be awesome for immersion!

It would also be a better way to keep track of your previous maneuver, except stall maneuvers.

[Zeppelin]

Those look really cool. The pivot sells the deal, alone.

[Oberst Hajj]

Keep one thing in mind guys, the more your fiddle with the plane and stand, the more you are going to move it which can mess up the firing arch or range. Maybe not a big deal, but some thing to keep in mind.

[Gravitypool]

Aerie Games seem to have a set of altitude stands called Airestands

http://www.miniature-airplanes.com/flightstands.php

The problem is that the online store in their website is still in construction, and the prizes are also a much higher than litko's.

[Oberst Hajj]

Here is another stand system I have found, Top Gun Marketing. I have contacted the makers of these about using them with the WoW planes and bases. Here is his response when asked if they sell the stands with out their bases:

We do, and I would be happy to sell you an antenna if you would like to try it out. They are $5.00 each, plus shipping.

However, given other tests I have conducted with smaller 2" and 2.5" hex bases, I don't recommend using them with the Wings of War bases. At low levels, they might work, and permit you to angle your planes a bit, but when extended, the weight of the antenna alone will probably cause it to tip over, if on anything other than a solid tabletop - fabric, or felt covers allow some cushioning, lessening the stability.

The WoW base is just slightly wider than 1.5 inches, so will be even less stable than the hex bases mentioned above, that we have tried that with. If you do decide to test one out anyway, I recommend purchasing the acrylic bases from Litko Aerosystems, since the plastic WoW ones will probably just crack, when you try to drill out the center hole, in order to make it larger. They are made out of styrene plastic, so are fairly brittle. The Litko bases are made out of acrylic, so should be easier to drill.

We sell pin vises, which are hand drills, if you need one. I recommend using one of these, instead of a dremel, or other power tool on small objects like these, unless you have a small vise to hold them in, for safety.

On a more positive note, we have arrow markers and front placement hash-marks that you can glue to our hexes, which will permit alignment with the WoW aircraft maneuver cards. They permit virtually identical card placement with the WoW bases, assuming care is exercised in gluing them in place - we have a paper template to aid with that.

For the front firing arc, you just use the front corners of the hexes, in relation to the centrally mounted antennae, in order to determine the 30 degree firing arc to each side of the nose of the aircraft.

At our local Club, we prefer the 4" bases, for increased stability, especially when using non-WoW planes, since the metal WWI biplane kits can be fairly fragile, and the larger WWII and modern 1/144th and 1/300th scale aircraft weigh more. Our 4" bases provide considerably more residual stability when flying the models at full extension.

I hope that helps.

Please let me know if I can be of further assistance. I will be happy to help you.


Sincerely,

Rob

[Roger Wilco]

What like this?

[Gravitypool]

This ones look good to me. Not as fancy as aerie but they look sturdy and mobile enough.
Who produces?

[rapier1642]

The photos on the raiden page look like Litko stands with a ball bearing glued to the to, and small rare earth magnets attached to the plane.

I definatly like those pet toppers Roger, who makes them?

[kombofink]

I plan on using geomag. My nephew have some of it lying around.
I'll glue a tiny magnet on the plane (1/300) and use a ferrous metal plate on top of some foamy stuff as the base.
Contemplating solutions on tilting plane.

Very informative.. yes?
I'll post pics when done.

[Oberst Hajj]

The photos on the raiden page look like Litko stands with a ball bearing glued to the to, and small rare earth magnets attached to the plane.

I agree.

[Roger Wilco]

I do, they are still experimental so to speak! I can make them in a very bubble filled clear resin which makes them look frosty grey and I can do them in white which can also be coloured and looks better than the clear but I have to get some more resin and that wont be untill later next week. I tried using a resin I have on hand but its shrinkage rate is too erratic and the cups split when you put them together. It takes a while to make a dozen but I will make 6 as the base set number and I can only make three at a time at the moment because thats how many molds I have. Failure rates are a little too high it takes about a day to make about 12, that allows for a couple of miss molds. I have played a fair few games using them now and they are still nice and tight.