Hi Leon
We have been discussing this at the club and bases for vehicles would look much better if they were clear acrylic so you could see the terrain colour through them. It looks a bit naff to have a vehicles based on grgass/mud driving through a town. but an acrylic one would be fine.
I like to base them to keep peoples fingers off the Models
Can your laser cutter cut acrylic bases?
Orcs
Quote from: Just a few Orcs on 29 January 2015, 07:34:27 AM
Can your laser cutter cut acrylic bases?
It can indeed, although the acrylic is pricier than MDF so they'd be around 3x more expensive. Let me know if it would be of interest and we'll have a look at getting some acrylic in and doing some test runs.
Yes I am seriously interested , might also need to see how easy it would be to stick them to the acrylic without making the rest of the base cloudy
What thickness would the material be?
What you need is model glue for cars and stuff (they tend to be non-foggy for use on windows and such)
for example:
http://www.benl.ebay.be/itm/ZAP-POLY-ZAP-GLUE-DRIES-CLEAR-14-1g-LEXAN-ACRYLIC-HOBBY-AUTOMOTIVE-CRAFT-PT-22-/150891991367?pt=AU_Toys_Hobbies_Model_Kits&hash=item2321dd1147
What would also work is craft glue for beads and gems, they are supposed to dry clear too, but i don't know if it's strong enough to take metal models :-\
http://www.benl.ebay.be/itm/Gem-Tac-Glue-Pickup-Pencil-500-Rhinestone-Flat-Back-Acrylic-Crystals-3mm-4mm-/151209499257?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item2334c9da79
Another thing that might work would be nail glue (the one for putting fake nails on) but i wouldn't trust that as that's brittle.
Why not matt varnish the models, if handling them is the only problem, and forget about bases?
Quote from: Hertsblue on 30 January 2015, 11:09:53 AM
Why not matt varnish the models, if handling them is the only problem, and forget about bases?
I like the idea of unbased vehicles - which is what I do on larger scales.
The base serves to keep them apart in the boxes I store them in, and as I do mainly early war a lot of the vehicles are a little small to handle without a base
Quote from: Just a few Orcs on 30 January 2015, 07:21:48 AM
What thickness would the material be?
It'd be 2mm, same as the current MDF ones. We can get thinner acrylic, but the price almost doubles as you come down to 1mm thick.
Sounds odd - thinner costs more ?
IanS
Quote from: ianrs54 on 30 January 2015, 04:14:58 PM
Sounds odd - thinner costs more ?
https://hobarts.com/sheet-materials/acrylic/acrylic-sheet-clear_124_7_1/ (https://hobarts.com/sheet-materials/acrylic/acrylic-sheet-clear_124_7_1/)
Quote from: ianrs54 on 30 January 2015, 04:14:58 PM
Sounds odd - thinner costs more ?
Yeah, it's the same with the MDF. Really thick (10-20mm) is expensive and then it gets cheaper as you come down through 8/6/5/3mm, etc. 2mm seems to be the most efficient and cheapest point, and then it gets more expensive again as you get thinner. 0.8mm MDF & plywood are both available, but they're 6x the cost of 2mm MDF.
I've always assumed that really thick is expensive because you're paying for the physical material, and then really thin is expensive as it's more laborious to produce?
EDIT: WeeWars' post is the place we would normally use, so you can see the prices there.
There's also 0.8mm Clear Polypropylene.
https://hobarts.com/sheet-materials/polypropylene_124_2/8mm-clear-polypropylene-p-827.html (https://hobarts.com/sheet-materials/polypropylene_124_2/8mm-clear-polypropylene-p-827.html)
The 2mm stuff would be perfectly ok.
I don't mind being the guinea pig - what sort of anount do you need to order to give it a go.
what colour would the edges be?
Quote from: Just a few Orcs on 30 January 2015, 06:13:44 PM
The 2mm stuff would be perfectly ok.
I don't mind being the guinea pig - what sort of anount do you need to order to give it a go.
what colour would the edges be?
I'd hope that they're clear as well, the lasercut acrylic I've seen elsewhere doesn't have any burns marks from the cutting process at all. I'll remember to get some in and we'll let you know how we get on. It'll probably be a couple of weeks though before we get to it though.
Could be handy for naval gaming too...