{"id":2016,"date":"2013-01-17T07:30:19","date_gmt":"2013-01-17T07:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/?p=2016"},"modified":"2013-01-17T07:34:10","modified_gmt":"2013-01-17T07:34:10","slug":"nap-of-the-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/2013\/01\/nap-of-the-earth\/","title":{"rendered":"Nap of the Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Our new PacFed vehicles are designated as grav tanks, so when I assembled some I wanted them to be hovering just above the table – not flying, but not sat on the surface either. I spent a little while think about how I would achieve this, and came up with a solution using one of our normal flying stands.<\/p>\n

\"NOE-1\"<\/p>\n

The first thing I did was to find the balance point of each hull – to do this I used a hexagonal pencil and balanced the model on it. It’s quite a delicate operation, but you should be able to make the model balance. Note how far along the hull the pencil is in relation the model – this is the model’s centre of gravity, and where you want to mount the base. When you do this, make sure the turret is on the model (which I forgot to do :-() – the weight of the turret, especially a large metal turret like the Cougar’s, can shift the balance point significantly.<\/p>\n

\"NOE-2\"<\/p>\n

The grav skirts for each vehicle have holes in the middle, in which the resin hulls sit. This means that if you turn each vehicle over you can get at the bottom of the hull. I drilled a hole about 6-8mm deep into the resin using a 5mm bit. Be careful not to go too deep, you don’t want to come out the top of the hull ! The sheet of bubble wrap stops the model slipping and protects the paint job from scratching.<\/p>\n

\"NOE-3\"<\/p>\n

I then took a normal plastic flying stand (clear or black, the choice is yours) and cut the post down very short (about 6mm\/\u00bc”). I then fixed this into the hole in the hull using some gloopy superglue (you could use an epoxy like Araldite, a contact adhesive such as Evo-Stick or even a hot-glue gun – anything with a bit of substance, but not a runny superglue).<\/p>\n

\"NOE-4\"<\/p>\n

If you’ve got the balance point right then the model should sit happily on the base while the glue dries – if you wanted to be safe then you could support the model until it’s set. To make a super-stable model you could put one of our base-weights in the base, but I haven’t done so.<\/p>\n

\"NOE-5\"
\nAnd that’s it – you now have PacFed tanks that hover about a quarter of an inch off the table with no visible means of support !<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our new PacFed vehicles are designated as grav tanks, so when I assembled some I wanted them to be hovering just above the table – not flying, but not sat on the surface either. I spent a little while think … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-15mm-sf","category-painting-and-modelling"],"views":2975,"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p26BWy-ww","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5145,"url":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/2015\/03\/one-month-and-counting\/","url_meta":{"origin":2016,"position":0},"title":"One Month and Counting …","author":"Tony","date":"March 25, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I like days like today - it's a brisk spring day, not too cold, so I can do some resin casting outside (but not so warm that the resin sets too fast, which can be a problem in the summer). The cat's basking in the sunshine on the deck and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "15mm SF"","block_context":{"text":"15mm SF","link":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/category\/15mm-sf\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Dsc_1238.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Dsc_1238.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Dsc_1238.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Dsc_1238.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5594,"url":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/2015\/07\/flying-airfield\/","url_meta":{"origin":2016,"position":1},"title":"Flying Airfield","author":"Tony","date":"July 17, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Today we're unveiling a new Aeronef model, and our largest to date in this range. The Langley is an American carrier which supports up to 18 fighters in its capacious hangars. It's well equipped with anti-fighter batteries for self-defence, although with nothing in the way of offensive armament. The model\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Aeronef"","block_context":{"text":"Aeronef","link":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/category\/aeronef\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/VAN-215.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/VAN-215.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/VAN-215.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/VAN-215.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":925,"url":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/2012\/07\/bits-n-pieces\/","url_meta":{"origin":2016,"position":2},"title":"Bits ‘n’ pieces","author":"Tony","date":"July 10, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"While I had the camera out for the Bizon the other evening, I took the opportunity to take a few snaps of some work-in-progress 6mm stuff that was lying on the workbench. I tend to work on multiple items at one time, so that while one master is drying\/setting\/curing I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3D Print"","block_context":{"text":"3D Print","link":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/category\/3d-print\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/SF300-409a-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7834,"url":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/2017\/07\/upgrading-the-empire\/","url_meta":{"origin":2016,"position":3},"title":"Upgrading the Empire","author":"Tony","date":"July 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"As the next stage in our gradual resculpting of the Aeronef range, we're pleased today to be able to release five new capital ships for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. 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