A 10 man band of Ngoni. Figures by Copplestone and a pleasure to paint. I have 30 more Ngoni and am considering basing them in 3s or 5s i.e. on larger bases. Mainly because I find that moving these figures singly based can be a pain on the tabletop plus there is always the occassional nimrod who will try to lift them up by the shield or the spear. Any thoughts in that regard?
What are the figures based on, coins? metal washers? I might have an idea if there is ferrous metal involved.
The picture above is a magnetic vehicle sign. If you can get your hands on a scrap of that material you would discover several things:
- The side meant for the graphics is smooth and slick and it will slide easily on most table tops.
- The magnetic side that is against the vehicle is dark brown-ish and very paintable.
- The material cuts easily with scissors.
- It is only about 1mm thick; maybe 1.5mm at most.
- The material is bendy and flexible.
If those figures were on ferrous metal bases, if you could find a scrap of that material, if you painted the magnet side to blend with either the table top or the scatter on the figure's bases...
You would have an almost invisible, flexible movement tray, that would allow irregular formations, that would drape over hills and contours, that would allow figures to be added or detached as required, that would hold figures standing upright even if they were on a sloped area.
Are those bases steel washers by any chance?