Wednesday 9 January 2013

Lasers Make Everything Better

So a while ago I posted some images of some industrial platforms that literally came to me in a deem.
I refined my designs and sent them out for some CNC laser operators to quote on.
I was surprised that two of the local operators had some of the best prices and were actually interested  in such a small job. Well I had a local guy Lazer GraFX and Carlos from Mechanical Warhorse both make up some sets so I can compare price and build quality.

The Lazer GraFX guy was super fast and I have had there set for a couple of weeks, I expect Mechanical Warhorse to take a couple of weeks for fabrication and then ship from the the US.
Anyway I have had a chance to assemble a set and see if it fits together. It's an interesting experience to visualise something plan it out then then have it arrive on your doorstep. It looks just like I expected it and fits together just as I imagined. I think they will look great painted up. After fitting them together and checking them with some miniatures I have discovered some problems that have made me adjust my designs.
The angles of the ramps are too steep, miniatures tend to tip over also the spacing of my ramps don't allow a standard GW mini base to fit between the notches I designed to prevent minis from slipping along the ramps.
Also the ladders I designed need to be wider to better grasp the edge of a base so the minis can actually climb the ladders.

I need to send wait to see how Carlos dose with his set then I can start sending my revised designs for fabrication then the some I get to paint them and play some games with it.


Except Alderaan

Some of the original plans








The pieces are modular so they could be rearranged  for each battle.

Long ladder.

Short ladder.


The scale looks good.

The ladders actually work.


All the fine detail cut outs look great.


I think a table full of this would be fun to play on.

These are the only sample pieces I had cut


2 comments:

  1. Looks like you are off to a good start. Here is some info I have found from making similar terrain. Slopes need to be 30 degrees or less. This is really true with 40mm and larger bases. Most are top heavy and it doesn't take much to make the fall. Longer ramps, stepped ramps and landings can help this. If you need to go steep then add anti-slide blocks to the ramps.

    I love the idea locking minis to the ladders. What about making movable plates that slot into the ladder to hold the mini instead of relying on the mini's base. With resin and scenic bases being so popular designing a ladder to support them is a little tough.

    Torchmaster - Burn In Designs

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    1. Thanks Diehard,
      My revised designs have some minor changes the ramps are at 25deg with greater length and width. they still have anti-slide
      blocks. The movable platform for the ladder sounds like a good idea.

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