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I used to do this back in the day with my Beakies and have started again with the boys. Thought I'd share it. My brother and nephew think I'm crazy for using nickels but as much as we all spend on this stuff already, what's a few rolls of nickels gonna matter. You could use green stuff or other putty but I always felt this was the fastest way to get a nice even weight into the bases and I like the heft it provides. Better than Weeble Wobbles!

I use pennies because I'm cheap...

I use a British 1p. It fits nicely and as it is ferrous it can be magnetized.

I generally fill the bases with Plastic Padding to make them smooth.

Lead shot for fishing lines is good for the types of bases where pennies won't fit.

How much is a nickel worth?

A nickel is worth 5 cents or 5 percent of a dollar.

Note you can also procure 1 inch washers at the hardware store for like 20 for a dollar or such. they fit on the bottom of a round base absolutely perfectly and are perfectly flat so no issues about smoothness.

So a dime is 10c?

Every night when I get home I empty my pockets of loose change -- or Shrapnel as we call it in the UK -- and put all the 1p and 2p coins in a box.

Yeah, the US nickel fits perfectly.

Yes a Dime is 10 cents. But way too small (smaller than a penny) for this.

1p? A Pound?

Why? Use a washer, you get a bag of 100 for a buck.

I use pennies but they fall to much

Frazzled wrote:A nickel is worth 5 cents or 5 percent of a dollar.

Note you can also procure 1 inch washers at the hardware store for like 20 for a dollar or such. they fit on the bottom of a round base absolutely perfectly and are perfectly flat so no issues about smoothness.

So in other words, about 5 cents each?

Ozymandias wrote:

Frazzled wrote:A nickel is worth 5 cents or 5 percent of a dollar.

Note you can also procure 1 inch washers at the hardware store for like 20 for a dollar or such. they fit on the bottom of a round base absolutely perfectly and are perfectly flat so no issues about smoothness.

So in other words, about 5 cents each?

OWN'D

metal tabs from mini's! like, the spare flash you get on metal sprues and the like

Yea I used to do the same thing. Its a great trick for balancing out a top heavy mini.

GoFenris wrote:I used to do this back in the day with my Beakies and have started again with the boys. Thought I'd share it. My brother and nephew think I'm crazy for using nickels but as much as we all spend on this stuff already, what's a few rolls of nickels gonna matter. You could use green stuff or other putty but I always felt this was the fastest way to get a nice even weight into the bases and I like the heft it provides. Better than Weeble Wobbles!

Same here. Naturally this is illegal because you're defacing the currency of something else equally nitpicky, but screw 'em.

Defacing Currency:
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=426715

GoFenris wrote:

1p? A Pound?

100 x 1P (or penny) = £1 Sterling

IIRC, your 1p are about the same dimensions and weight as our nickels and your 2p are about the same as our quarters.

Great way to combat inflation.

Ozymandias wrote:IIRC, your 1p are about the same dimensions and weight as our nickels and your 2p are about the same as our quarters.

nah 1p is same as your cent and 2p is larger than all of your coins.

edit: correction, your cents mite be a tad smaller. but in any case a british penny is smaller than a nickel.

found a pic, ignore th 20p on the left.

I use washers (mostly) that cost about 2c (AUS) each - I used to use 2c coins, but they took them out of circulation.

I've also got some on punched 20mm aluminium discs (punched out of sheet to make some kind of industrial mesh) - by brother in law gave me a bag of them.

I use cheap ready-mix filler.

Yes, I am ignorant in regards to British currency.

What is a schilling? Another term for penny?
What's a quid? Another term for pound?
Pence I can assume is plural for penny?

MarvinGayeIsMyDaddy wrote:Great way to combat inflation.

I lol'd...

GoFenris wrote:Yes, I am ignorant in regards to British currency.

What is a schilling? Another term for penny?
What's a quid? Another term for pound?
Pence I can assume is plural for penny?

Shilling's don't exist anymore, they were old coins I can't remember how much they were worth but they have been out of circulation for years.
On the other two points your quite right quid is just a slang term for pound and Pence is the plural of penny.

BigToof wrote:Same here. Naturally this is illegal because you're defacing the currency of something else equally nitpicky, but screw 'em.

Defacing Currency:
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=426715

Not so sure about the defacing part... I've had nickels fall out of the base when they take a good knock and they look just the same as when I stuck 'em in there.

I prefer to think of it as "creative savings".

Canadian nickels also fit excellently. Gives it a great weight.

The Green Git wrote:

BigToof wrote:Same here. Naturally this is illegal because you're defacing the currency of something else equally nitpicky, but screw 'em.

Defacing Currency:
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=426715

Not so sure about the defacing part... I've had nickels fall out of the base when they take a good knock and they look just the same as when I stuck 'em in there.

I prefer to think of it as "creative savings".

Damn, this was my small way of stickin' it to the man! Maybe I'll start filing one side first before putting them in!

When you find certain things around the house that are small, slightly weighted but you have no use for them.... chop 'em up and use em for base weights. I do this all the time and it works a treat. It also means you don't waste money.

Ozymandias wrote:

Frazzled wrote:A nickel is worth 5 cents or 5 percent of a dollar.

Note you can also procure 1 inch washers at the hardware store for like 20 for a dollar or such. they fit on the bottom of a round base absolutely perfectly and are perfectly flat so no issues about smoothness.

So in other words, about 5 cents each?

Yes, but unlike Nickels, they're not ILLEGAL to use in this manner.

I'm not destroying the nickel. All you need to do is pop it off and it can be used for currency again.

But when you pop it off and the mini falls over what will you do?

Ozymandias wrote:I'm not destroying the nickel. All you need to do is pop it off and it can be used for currency again.

The problem becomes that the law states "With the intention of making it unfit to return to circulation". If you're gluing it to a base, you obviously don't intend to remove it again, which then makes the action illegal, as there is no intent to keep it fit for circulation.

I'm not saying you WILL be prosecuted for it, but people should still be aware that it is illegal to do so.

I use nickels also. They are the perfect size and weight. Washers are a poor substitute. And they are definitely more than 1 cent each.

I don't weigh all my bases, but some of these will fall right over, and those deserve nickels.

My 5 cents.
Solorg