Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hi

To start off, this is what I ended up with using this method:



If you lost interest already after seeing the result.. this thread is not for you,


I'm pretty sure I'm not pioneering this technique.. but I'd like to share it with you guys anyway.

Note that this method is suitsble ONLY for lightweight, plastic models as guitar string resistance only goes that far. But i think guitar strings are the closest to invisible you can get...really..



Ingredients:

-Guitar string
-lighter
-sand paper
-steady hands

Im not the worlds best photographer but I hope you get the point! If not, ask away, please.

1)
This what you start out with, your typical, boring, conspicuous, glaring, standard issue flying base. Hey, but they're transparant, so it's like your model is flying, right? Wrong.. it looks like crap.



2)
Now.. take whatever diameter guitar string you think is most suitable.. the thicker, the stronger does NOT apply since thicker strings are usually ringed, making them significantly less rigid. I used 'Earnie ball 17 gauge'' for this tutorial... cause I had some laying around from back when i thought i was going to be the next Van Halen. The model does get kinda wobbly with longer lenghts, but this thickness of string is hardly visible against darker backgrounds.

Cut it to a desired length using a wire cutter

Now take the length of wire you just cut off and place it against the tip of the base's stem/stalk ('tip' being the part that goes into the model 'connector hole').. I get the best results with this when holding the wire using spliers. You simply put the wire in the middle of the stem tip and heat the wire where the flame doesnt insta-melt the plastic of the base stem. The heat will spread along the wire causing it to sink into the plastic because of the weight of the pliers you;re holding the wire with.

Too much talking, too little .jpg, so here:



Don't bother to care if it's not right in the center or not perfectly straight.. as long as it's stickin you;re fine and a lack of straigtness can be easily corrected by sightly bending the wire.

3)

Now cut the tip of the base stalk + wire from the remaining portion of the base stalk.
Next, you cut the remainder of the base stalk from the base.. won't be needing that. Don't toss it in the bin..put it in a box.. bits and pieces are your best friend.

At this point there are 2 options..
1- you don't do any 'basing' on your flying base.. in which case you better keep it transparant (and shiny). For this, smoothen out your base by taking off any remains of the base stalk that you just removed.. typically this would be done using a knife.
2- you do plan to do basing on your base.. in which case you better roughen the flying base up before applying glue..otherwise it wont stick.This means that theres no harm in using sandpaper to make the surface of your base even. So, take a piece of sandpaper and remove any remains of the stalk that you just took off.

Now take the base tip + wire and heat the 'naked' end of the wire.. the part that goes into the base. stick it in .. et voila.. were done:




To add a little dramatic effect you can bend the wires so mimic more action-like poses.. in stead of the boring ol' horizonal hoover look. Just look at these three bad boys hangin out:




** On a practical note**

I've heard some people complain that the wings on the Tyranid gargoyle models (although awesome) make it difficult for units to be ''bunched''. The above technique negates this problem by allowing you to vary in model height, so models can overlap and bases are closer together. So you get to have cool high-flyers and near ground strafers AND solve a problem. Just dont be surprised if some of the higher models are still bobbing from the turn before.

To illustrate this:






Hope you enjoyed,

Gr,

Those look realy cool. Is it possible to make them without the GW flying base?

Sure.. as long as you manage to find a way to attach the metal wire to your alternative base and model.

I dont know how well the grey, polystyrene plastic used for the models respons to heating...so I can't postively say that sticking a heated piece of wire directly into your model (e.g an assault marines foot) is gonna make you happy.. test try on a piece of sprue first. The transparant base plastic forms a really solid bond with the metal wire, provided that the wire is sunk into the plastic deep enough... im not sure about grey plastic in this respect...again.. trial and error is the only road to innovation.

If you're using regular fantasy/40k bases you could fill up the slot with greenstuff and superglue the wire to that.

Hope that answered your question.

Interesting tutorial, might give this a whirl for my gundrones.

creativehivemind wrote:Sure.. as long as you manage to find a way to attach the metal wire to your alternative base and model.

I dont know how well the grey, polystyrene plastic used for the models respons to heating...so I can't postively say that sticking a heated piece of wire directly into your model (e.g an assault marines foot) is gonna make you happy.. test try on a piece of sprue first. The transparant base plastic forms a really solid bond with the metal wire, provided that the wire is sunk into the plastic deep enough... im not sure about grey plastic in this respect...again.. trial and error is the only road to innovation.

If you're using regular fantasy/40k bases you could fill up the slot with greenstuff and superglue the wire to that.

Hope that answered your question.

Overall the GW plastics respond poorly to heat. However you could use a pin vice to drill a small hole into the model wich you can then insert the wire directly into. Alternatively you can fill the existing fly pole hole with some greenstuff and add the wire to that. I'll be using this tutorial for my next batch of stormboyz

A quick update to finalize this topic. Here's a pic of all 10 modified flying bases, after basic 'basing' using sand was performed...10 antenna-sandcookies ready for priming.


plus.. the result of the first run of my next experiment in which i attempted to recreate Zerg 'creep' .. the purplish, organic stuff Zerg buildings grow on in the Starcraft games. Once i;ve finished my gargoyles I'm going to fetch myself some tyranid ground units to do some 'creep' basing with. If my cookery yields something worth sharing.. you'll find out.

Gr

Wow that is a very convincing zerg creep, subscribed :'D

Also, does guitar wires bend back to the original straightness?
Im worried about transporting it

It's quite flexible.. but it will bend with enough force... of course. Just play with it a bit and see for yourself.

If you;re worried about bending you can always use shorter lengths of string.


Hmm. just another tiny thing.. I used the leftover stalks that were cut from the flying base to craft a patch of minerals... ORANGE minerals.. but thats mainly cause I just re-started the hobbyafter 15-or-so years and didnt have any time to pick up some flashy colors yet. The orange was done with Citadel ''orange wash'' that had been laying around for 15 years... Surprisingly still in excellent condition (nasty plastic lit containers though.. hard to get open)

anyway:


The stalks..right


I cut the tips of the stalks so they looked more ''crystal like''.....and sandpapered them so they would hold the paint better. They are still kind of see-through.. which i think is nice...considering they are supposed to be crystals. The sand was just applied before taking this picture... I will paint it a nice ash-world typ-o black/grey.
The color perhaps isnt the best for crystals.. blue would be a lot nicer i guess.. but the craft-spirit got the best of me.

And finally with an ash-world style coloring applied.. in my opinion it's not all that bad for bits of trash:



This is really starting to turn into one of those all-rolled-in-to-one kinda DIY threads.. I tend to be kind of chaotic.. I apologize.

gr,

Nice job on them crystal formations. gotta try that out with a few other colors should be excellent for making necron themed terrain too

Creativehivemind, I'm loving your tutorial threads. Really great low budget but good looking stuff.

Nice solution to the gargoyle thing, very creative.

Like the crystals a lot, now to find an excuse to use them with Tau