clear acrylic bases and magnets

[The Bibliophile]

Has anybody had any success or seen somebody use clear acrylic bases for their miniatures somehow combined with magnets? I love the acrylic bases, and I love the idea of being able to store my minis upright in a tray using magnets.

Any tutorials or advice on achieving the best of both worlds?

--Joe

[Major_Gilbear]

I suppose you could use rod magnets? They would sit flush with the bottom of the bases, and positioned carefully, could stand proud of the base tops and be used as pins to secure the miniature to the base.

So for example, if you're using 1.5mm thick bases, you could use some 2 x 8mm magnets, which would leave you 6.5mm to "pin" the model's feet onto the base top.

This would also have the advantage that as well as a strong bond between the model and the base, the model itself "hides" the magnets from view. For an average 25mm human model, a 130g pull on each foot should be enough to keep them securely magnetised to your transport tray of choice.

The biggest downsides I see are: figures with small feet (you may need to glue these on as normal, and then drill a shallow magnet into the base underneath - some grey paint in the hole first, and it should be discreet if still a little visible), and big figures that may need bigger rods in order to get enough "pull" to secure them. Also, models which are fairly unbalanced and are offset on the base will have the magnets positioned rather eccentrically on the base, which may cause movement during transport. If you use smaller models, or stick to lighter plastic/resin figures, these things are much less of an issue (even though they still require some consideration as I've explained).

Anyway, that's just an idea I came up a good while back when I considered using magnets for the same basing style. Hope it helps you!

[The Bibliophile]

Thanks, Major, for the good ideas. Did you end up trying out the clear base/magnets combination or something else?

--Joe

[Bone]

My 5 cent:
I'm a big fan of magnetizing my miniatures bases. All my Saga warbands are magnetized with neodymium magnets in the base (2mmx1mm N52 for plastic miniatures).

For my sci fi miniatures I use clear acrylic bases - I don't like the look of  magnets/drilling holes in the clear bases.
My solution for this are storage trays  with glued on/screwed on T profiles (made of 2 stripes of wood) . No magnets necessary.


storage tray  _T____T_____T_____T_____T_    Bases slide into the slots.

Storage trays fit/slide in my transport/storage boxes like the boards of a bookshelf.

For gluing the miniatures on the acrilic bases, I use an uv light curing adhesive like:
http://gizmodo.com/super-glues-got-nothing-on-this-liquid-plastic-you-hard-1666641845

[The Bibliophile]

Bone: That's an ingenious solution I had not thought of, and sounds simpler than trying to install magnets in all of my clear bases. Thanks!

[Major_Gilbear]

@ The Bibliophile:

In the end, I decided that I liked the more traditional bases for everything except boardgames more. Also, as I couldn't get the custom-shaped acrylic bases I needed for the boardgames, I gave up altogether on them. 


@ Bone:

For clear acrylic bases, which aren't painted, that's a great idea! The only suggestion I could make for a possible improvement is to line the base of the trays with some self-adhesive velour so that the clear bases don't get scratches from being slid in and out from them. It would also provide a slightly more snug and cushioned fit to further prevent models moving in transit.