Lead Adventure Forum
Other Stuff => Workbench => Topic started by: ColonelMutumbu on August 13, 2019, 03:18:30 AM
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I have been basing my models on flat/thin bases for a while now, because they look much better imo, however, I want to store them using magnets on the bottom of the bases.
Obviously just gluing a normal magnet to the bottom of the base would spoil the point of using flat/thin bases, so the plan is to make the base a material that will stick to magnets and have strips of magnet lining the case.
The ideal way(that I can see) to retain the flat/thiness of the base would be to attach some paper thin metal to the bottom of the bases. Paper thin metal foils DO exist, however I can only find non ferrous metals such as brass, copper and tin that will not stick to magnets.
Has anyone used anything that will fit the bill here? Ideally it should be available in non industrial quantities, I have alot of miniatures but I don't need hundreds of meters worth lol
Thank you in advance for your expertise
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You can get mild steel sheet in very thin stock. I don't really know how gauge numbers work, but I've used 0.2mm sheet to base 6mm stuff in the past, and it's thin enough to cut with scissors. The scissors/shears tend to curl it up, but it's easily flattened again just by squishing it with a pair of pliers.
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What sort of place did you source it? like a hardware store or craft shop? or was it from a metal/steel supplier?
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Steel paper is a thing - I have used it to line the inside of box files, so that figures with magnets on their bases stay in place. It is easy to work with, can be cut with scissors. It’s thin, certainly under 1mm, but thicker than copier paper.
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Some kinds of tin will stick to magnets. Bring a magnet to the hardware store and try it on various pieces.
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I haven't been able to find any steel paper which sounds ideal but the material that is used for magnetic whiteboards is an option that I have been exploring this evening. Its working ok. But is slightly thicker than I would like and take a fair bit of work to get the cardboard backing off. The problem now is magnets that are strong enough to hold metals. The magnet strips from hardware stores seem ok for plastics so far.
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You can get 12”x24” sheets of magnetic paper at Michael’s and other places.
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Amazon do magnetic paper for inkjets - link (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sheets-Magnetic-Photo-Paper-MATT/dp/B017UR0K4G/), as well as plain ones 0.5mm thick - link (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Magnetic-Sheets-0-5mm-Spellbinder-Craft/dp/B0127IZ5D4/)
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Steel paper coupled with sheet magnets. It's how i've done all my figures for 2 decades
widely available - my current supplier https://wargamesbuildings.co.uk/epages/950003459.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/950003459/Categories/Bases__Basing_Material/Magnetic_Basing_Material
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litko has various products that should cover any combo one might choose:
base
xxxx
yyyy
tray
(where x and y are combos of metallic and magnetic sheeting)
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Been using Magnetic Displays for years:
http://www.magneticdisplays.co.uk/steel-paper
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thank you, I have some on the way. These materials are surprisingly hard to find in Australia without knowing the exact names. But thanks to you all I have managed to find a supplier.
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Maybe not workable if you have too many figures based but my solution is to use sheet metal bases and then use magnetic sheets to mount the bases on - or it was my solution until I found that it sometimes lead to popping miniatures from their base due to the magnetic pull.
I now just use one of two options - though converting everything to the sheet metal bases because they are so thin. One is to store bases in 'floss' plastic containers from craft stores, 18 compartments and at least two bases per compartment. With 3 figures per base, that's 54 figures in one box, sometimes more, sometimes less. The other option are some plastic trays with drawers that I put a piece of felt in to keep them sliding around.
The "big trick" is my figures are 15 mm, larger figures present other problems.