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Miniatures Adventure => The Second World War => Topic started by: agoodall on May 22, 2018, 02:34:04 PM

Title: Marking 1/285 tank turret direction
Post by: agoodall on May 22, 2018, 02:34:04 PM
Hi, folks. Long time lurker/first time poster.

I live in a small house, so space is at a premium. Without having to rearrange the living room (and make it hard to maneuver), I am limited to a 4' x 4' table. For WWII gaming I primarily use 1/285 scale figures.

In order to preserve the barrels on my tanks (I have a number of CinC vehicles with very thin barrels), I glued the turrets onto the hull of the tanks. This works for the most part, but it's less than ideal when playing a game where you need to mark the direction the turret is pointing.

I have some plastic pointy stir sticks that I can use as arrows, but I'd really like to use something that looked better on the table.

Has anyone else run into this issue? How do you indicate the direction the turret is pointing in a way that is usable in a game while not sticking out like an obvious "gamey" marker?
Title: Re: Marking 1/285 tank turret direction
Post by: Fitz on May 23, 2018, 09:59:13 AM
I've used matchsticks painted to match the general table colour. They don't stand out too much to a casual glance, but they're obvious enough if you're looking for them.

I guess, if you wanted to get really into it, they could be disguised as scenic litter. As long as they let you know which way the gun is pointing, they could be pretty much anything — oil drums? A pile of sandbags?
Title: Re: Marking 1/285 tank turret direction
Post by: Cherno on May 23, 2018, 10:16:56 AM
Seeing as you already glued the turrets in place my suggestion is kinda mood, but how about using neodynium magnets? They are strong enough that the turrets won't wobble around but can still be rotated.
Title: Re: Marking 1/285 tank turret direction
Post by: Ballardian on May 23, 2018, 10:34:57 AM

 Do you base your tanks? If you do then you could use two thin plasticard discs, connected either by a peg/pin or thin magnet (such as those used for connecting FOW tank turrets) one of which would have  a small protrusion to represent the direction of fire which can be swiveled to the appropriate direction.
(If the tank is glued to the upper disc It'd be the lower one that would have the indicator.)
Title: Re: Marking 1/285 tank turret direction
Post by: RichBliss on May 23, 2018, 02:20:53 PM
Fragile barrels are the primary reason I stopped doing microarmor. Another option is to pick a set of rule that doesn’t require keeping track of tactical nitty gritty like torrent direction, buttoning-up, etc, 
Title: Re: Marking 1/285 tank turret direction
Post by: agoodall on May 23, 2018, 03:23:40 PM
I do have the tanks mounted on a base, so it would be possible to put something on the bases.

I don't know why I didn't think of painting something like matchsticks to match the terrain. That would work, I think.

Thanks, folks, this is the kind of inspiration I needed.
Title: Re: Marking 1/285 tank turret direction
Post by: Volleyfire! on May 23, 2018, 09:32:38 PM
What about, if there is room, a clear perspex disc with a small dot or arrow on it pointing in the direction the turret wants to face? Pin the disc to the base or place it on the back of the tank perhaps?
Title: Re: Marking 1/285 tank turret direction
Post by: carlos marighela on May 23, 2018, 09:51:13 PM
Barrels on micro armour actually tend to survive better if you don’t glue the turrets down. The turret itself is light enough that any drop causes,at worst, a mild bend. The added weight of the hull usually guarantees it.

The rules I used when I played micro armour didn’t require barrel direction but I’d agree that something discreet like an appropriately coloured matchstick or length of pipecleaner is probably the cheapest and most convenient way to go.
Title: Re: Marking 1/285 tank turret direction
Post by: julesav on May 27, 2018, 10:19:58 AM
Somewhere on the 'intermaweb' I saw a chap using short lengths of white pipe-cleaners dyed a dirty smoky grey with a yellow muzzle flash at one end. I thought it was a cool idea and I wish I could give the chap due credit!
Title: Re: Marking 1/285 tank turret direction
Post by: Arrigo on May 27, 2018, 12:50:09 PM
Somewhere on the 'intermaweb' I saw a chap using short lengths of white pipe-cleaners dyed a dirty smoky grey with a yellow muzzle flash at one end. I thought it was a cool idea and I wish I could give the chap due credit!

this begs a question... what the intermaweb is?  lol
Title: Re: Marking 1/285 tank turret direction
Post by: sespe on June 03, 2018, 07:14:00 AM
I don't know what "scale" Memoir 44 tanks are, but I modified some of them.  I cut the turrets off with a modelling saw and melted a pin into them.  Drilled a hole in the body and now the rotate nicely.  It did make some of the Sherman turrets look too small, but it works.

Here's What A Tanker on a 2' x 2' desert board.
 (https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jiSEeEKsJWg/WxOUdz5qMdI/AAAAAAAABzw/Wk_B7t8iUhwVRMC3GL19i0qWMpDhQ24RgCLcBGAs/s1600/20180602_150316.jpg)

(https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dc3dyyz68lI/WxOUd6SLU6I/AAAAAAAABzs/9qk0Q9g2n40_L_rAac2mzbzaHlQ-323jQCLcBGAs/s1600/20180602_150304.jpg)
Title: Re: Marking 1/285 tank turret direction
Post by: MartinR on June 03, 2018, 08:44:38 AM
The pipe cleaner thing sounds a great idea. Another alternative would be little cotton wool balls you can get from Hobby craft, I have several different colours and they are useful for marking all kinds of things.

As an aside 4x4 is about as big as I ever get for a table these days, and you do some pretty big actions on it. I do Command Decision level games using my 15mm stuff on a 4x4, next one planned is the entire 1st Para Brigade vs 16th SS and KG von Allworden at Arnhem. The area around Wolfheze and Western Oosterbeek fits nicely onto a 4x4 at 1" to 50m.
Title: Re: Marking 1/285 tank turret direction
Post by: coopman827 on June 18, 2018, 11:17:57 PM
I would find a rules set where turret direction doesn't matter.