Hexagon stands for paper standees - A wood carving project.

[Fear Factory]

Does this count as a miniature?  ;)

I've had this idea for a while and I would really like to sell these hex bases at some point... issue is I can't really mass produce them because I'm not fast enough. It'll be nice to get some extra cash in these tough times once I figure it out.

Anyway, all of them are made by hand using nothing but hand tools. Template, cut, sand, and eventually some kind of finish. There is a spot for a movement die slightly smaller than a normal d6, each side is marked 1 through 6 for when you have to roll what your facing is during a fall, each side of the base will be a different color to indicate firing arcs, and there is enough space behind the mini for a unit decal. They're also a way to get people into Alpha Strike because you can efficiently track base-to-base, line of sight, same as a normal miniature.

I'll have a follow up to Abou's video on our youtube channel showing the template process... he's way better at this than I am, but I'm determined to make this work...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIGkCZFXqYI

[Luciora]

Looks good!  Better than the old black plastic stands of yore!

[worktroll]

I love the idea, and the labour you've poured into them. I can't help but feel you should look at casting them in plaster for mass-production - consider the wood ones masters. That way you're minimising the labour per sale unit.

Give the plaster bases a good spray with coloured paint - red for Kurita, purple for League, mustard for Davion - to show factions.

Would this work for you?

[Hellraiser]

Oh, I like those !!!

I wonder if you could actually use the old cardboard stands from 2E & Reinforcements boxes on little hex bases like that.

[Sartris]

they're thinner than the 4E standees so probably

[Guardian11]

These could probably work with the AGoAC and Beginner's Box standees as well.

[Two Guns Blazing]

These will be cool to have, and like the vast majority of commercial ventures, their success will depend on how much you charge for them...or if you can make them truly unique, that the novelty of ownership will entice purchases (niche market).

I could get into Inkscape (free downloadable program) and spend less than 5 minutes creating an SVG file to send to then email to a local laser cutter to have very similar items made from MDF or Plywood for fairly cheap, or spend a little extra cash and have them cut in acrylic, as many as I like.

So if you can keep your costs below that, then you will likely sell some...if you're not married to the idea of wood, then Worktroll's suggestion of casts would be a good idea for the stated reason, although I'd go with resin rather than plaster.

[jimdigris]

I like those!  The spot for the dice is particularly clever.  :thumbsup:

[Fear Factory]

Oh, I like those !!!

I wonder if you could actually use the old cardboard stands from 2E & Reinforcements boxes on little hex bases like that.

I tested it with a city tech OST, so yes.

[Hellraiser]

I like those!  The spot for the dice is particularly clever.  :thumbsup:

Oh Nice,  I'm blind & just thought they were sitting there.

I didn't notice the little cut indentation spot.

[Fear Factory]

Yep. There are Roman numerals so you can determine facing after a fall too.

I'm looking into selling packs of these. Probably 12 per pack for company v company.

[Fear Factory]

Made 4 more today. I'm getting faster.

[Fear Factory]

12 down. I'm getting a lot faster and starting to get a system together.  >:D

Now to decide on what type of varnish or stain to use.

[Renard]

Do you have a table saw, or access to one for a few hours?  You could sharpie out the hex grid on a panel of wood, slice dozens of little hexes, then use an orbital sander to clean the edges up and get rid of the sharpie outlines.

worktroll mentioned staining by faction, and that is an awesome idea. I kind of like the general idea of swapping base colors to give mechs different affiliations, like an IFF signal?

You could use liquid or spray acrylic matte varnish. Since these are pretty thin, I imagine liquid would run down the sides and be a general pain unless you wanted to do many coats, in which case the spray just seems way easier. You could tak the bases onto a wine cork or something and dip them to speed things up, if you're not a perfectionist who cares about an unfinished/unvarnished spot on the bottom.

[Fear Factory]

Do you have a table saw, or access to one for a few hours?  You could sharpie out the hex grid on a panel of wood, slice dozens of little hexes, then use an orbital sander to clean the edges up and get rid of the sharpie outlines.

So far I've been penciling a hex grid, tracing with a razor, then cutting with a hand saw.

worktroll mentioned staining by faction, and that is an awesome idea. I kind of like the general idea of swapping base colors to give mechs different affiliations, like an IFF signal?

You could use liquid or spray acrylic matte varnish. Since these are pretty thin, I imagine liquid would run down the sides and be a general pain unless you wanted to do many coats, in which case the spray just seems way easier. You could tak the bases onto a wine cork or something and dip them to speed things up, if you're not a perfectionist who cares about an unfinished/unvarnished spot on the bottom.

I'm thinking a spray would be the best bet. Maybe from Minwax.

[Renard]

So far I've been penciling a hex grid, tracing with a razor, then cutting with a hand saw.

I'm thinking a spray would be the best bet. Maybe from Minwax.

If you go here

https://www.minwax.com/wood-products/stains-color-guide/

there's water-based express color.  I used the crimson for some nighttables, and it worked really well.  You can see the wood grain, but it's also obviously red and not just a cherry kind of wood.

Are you trying to keep the wood grain, or do you not care about that?

[Fear Factory]

If you go here

https://www.minwax.com/wood-products/stains-color-guide/

there's water-based express color.  I used the crimson for some nighttables, and it worked really well.  You can see the wood grain, but it's also obviously red and not just a cherry kind of wood.

Are you trying to keep the wood grain, or do you not care about that?

Maybe slightly. I did sand the sides so it doesn't show as much, it would be nice to have more of a shine.

[Mecha82]

That is some nice job you have done there.

[Fear Factory]

Instead of spending a ton of money on dice I decided to make my own. You're not throwing these, just tracking movement, so I thought this was a lot better.

[Syzyx]

If you're going to the effort of crafting dice for these, then you may want to look at using numerals instead of pips, and perhaps a letter or icon that could point a certain way for walk/run/jump on each face. Though that sounds like a great deal more work, perhaps.

[Daryk]

A pointing icon for movement type would probably work better with pips than numerals...

[Fear Factory]

If you're going to the effort of crafting dice for these, then you may want to look at using numerals instead of pips, and perhaps a letter or icon that could point a certain way for walk/run/jump on each face. Though that sounds like a great deal more work, perhaps.

A pointing icon for movement type would probably work better with pips than numerals...

It's really not that much effort. Just takes time.

The hex bases have numerals for facing for the "facing after a fall table" and a spot for a movement die (I don't have a lot of small D6, so I decided to make my own for this because it's way cheaper).

The die are just sections cut from a wooden dowel and sanded on the edges.

As far as some kind of pointer, I have a butt load of triangle scraps, so I could have them labeled as walk/run/jump on one side at each edge, and the other side as "prone."

[Fear Factory]

More die progress. Dremeled some holes and got some wood burning done in the process.

[Fear Factory]

The project so far.

Small d6 for movement die.
Standard d6 because why not.
Hex bases stamped
- Slot to put a paper 'mech standee
- Slot to put a movement die (12mm)
- Roman numerals on each hexside for "facing after a fall"
- Letters stamped above each hexside indicating firing arcs and facing.

[Fear Factory]

AND that's it.

Some spray shellac to bring out the color and seal the wood. Then, some paste wax to smooth it out.

[Fear Factory]

4th edition, 2nd edition, and Citytech:

[Fear Factory]

Movement mode and torso twist indicators.

[Sartris]

putting the movement mode on the torso indicator was an excellent idea. normally i just stick the die on the hexside where the torso is facing but you've already got a slot for that (also a neat idea)

[Fear Factory]

putting the movement mode on the torso indicator was an excellent idea. normally i just stick the die on the hexside where the torso is facing but you've already got a slot for that (also a neat idea)

Thanks a lot! I thought it was a cool idea. Abou helped me figure out how to do it.

[MarauderD]

These are super cool.  The standees from the Beginner's box and AGoAC are very high quality--do these fit as well?

Best,

Mad