Northeast Wars X

Previously Inside the Hobbyist’s Studio, I showed how I approach magnetizing my bases.  Today’s article will continue in this theme and I will show how I currently am producing magnetic movement trays.

Magnetic bases and movement trays are very useful to keep “unit cohesion” when moving a unit across the battlefield.  Not having to constantly stand models back up that have tipped over is great.  And let’s not forget those situation when your unit of beautifully painted but metal minis stops on the slope of a hill and they all want to slide into a pile of bent lances and chipped paint.  Also, if the minis are stuck tight to their trays, the trays themselves can be part of how to store them for transit.  Instead of plucking each mini out of a foam nook before each game and then having to place them back in, wouldn’t it be a great time saver — as well as way cool — to be able to just lift movement tray full of already ranked troops out of your movement case?

Step One: Tray Material Options

I looked into using the magnetic sheets of rubber/plastic used for refrigerator magnets.  While easy to work with, I was not impressed with their strength.  They would help keep a plastic mini from sliding, but the weight of a metal mini would cause it to still slide.

Then I moved onto taking a standard Games Workshop movement tray and cutting a sheet of sheet metal to fit it, gluing the metal in place, and then flocking it.  This did work, but the technique has some draw backs, most of which revolving the difficulties of cutting metal.  Metal snips will do the trick, but it leaves many razor sharp spurs which have to be removed.  Also, in my experience, the process of cutting will bend one side of the cut a fair bit especially with longer cuts.  The metal can be flattened to some degree, but I couldn’t fully get rid of them without a roller.  With the proper equipment, this could be much easier, and I actually contacted a few metal fabricators to look into having them cut the metal for me.  I dropped this inquiry after I started to pursue the path I will describe below.

So I went to the hardware store looking for some form of pre-cut metal.  What I found was “tie plates” as well as some plates which I think are for circuit boxes.  The tie plates are for securing wooden beams.  If you have seen those prefab roof struts you have likely seen them.  They are rectangles of steel with evenly spaces holes in them for nails or screws.  What is great about them is that they are either about the right size or one cut away.

A metal plate that I think is for electrical boxes.

A steel tie plate

Step Two: Fun with Power Tools

So I bought several and was going to glue them into my movement trays when I realized that since the metal was thick enough to not flex and could thus be its own movement tray if I could find a way to make it safe to handle and also more aesthetically pleasing.  Both concerns could be addressed by wrapping the plate in a layer of cloth that would protect fingers from any sharp edges as well as make a great surface for painting and flocking that would — since it did not have the “lip” of a standard movement tray — blend right into a similarly flocked board surface.

If you were paying close attention, you may be crying foul as I talked about the difficulties of cutting sheet metal and yet glossed over the fact that the tie plate will in some cases also need to be cut.  The reason for this is that since the tie plates are thicker than sheet metal I had previously used, I used a dremel cutting wheel (or a hack saw) to score a cut into the plate and then snapped it.  The plates are thick enough that they will prefer to break along a sufficiently deep score rather than just bend and warp.  Also, if you use score along a line of the nail/screw holes, it will be even easier.

I sometimes also cut off the corners to round them off and help prevent them poking through the cloth.  But whenever I am working with a plate that I have cut, I will knock down any spurs on the cut surface with either a file or a grinding wheel.
I will now point out that working with power tools and cutting metal is potentially hazardous work.  Leather gloves and safety glasses are a must.  Not only will you have razor sharp metal spurs, the dremel’s cutting wheel will heat the metal enough to cause a nasty burn if you touch the cut location too soon, as I can attest from personal experience.

Step Three: Putting a Dust Jacket on a Piece of Steel

Thin Tough Cotton or Linen

Now that you have a metal plate of the right size –”right size” depending on what size bases your troops use and how you want to rank them — you need to cover it with cloth.  At first I used felt, it was cheap and easy to work with.  However, it is pretty thick, and the force that magnets assert  decreases very quickly with distance.  So I have found using a linen or cotton fabric preferable in that; they are tough enough to keep the metal from poking through yet thin enough to maximize the magnets’ strength.  However, felt has the advantage of not having a visible weave of threads.  Your call!

Right sized cloth

Also, as you can see, I use black cloth for pretty much the same reasons as one would use black primer on your minis.  The cloth should be cut to allow it to fold tight along one edge of the plate but have an inch or so excess on the other three sides.  The cloth will need to extend past the edge to allow them to have sufficient surface area so that they can be glued together securely.  After making sure that the cloth is the right size, I lay it down and apply an adhesive.

Cloth with spray adhesive

Here I have used a spray adhesive with some Gorilla Glue applied when the plate is placed down around the edges.  The spray adhesive serves to give initial complete surface adhesion so that the cloth does slip around while the other glue is setting and that there will be no patch of cloth not adhered to some degree to the metal.  The Gorilla Glue will do the heavy lifting and seal the edges where cloth will need to grip to cloth.  I also added some Gorilla Glue over some of the nail/screw holes to hopefully “stitch” the cloth together in the middle as well.  Gorilla Glue is nice in that it will expand some and penetrate the cloth for a very strong bond.  I initially did not add enough and had to go back after and slip some more in, so feel free to add more than you see in the photos.  Other adhesives, like epoxy, can also be used.

Notice Gorilla Glue on edge of plate and the holes

I try to place the edge of the plate that will be on the fold of the cloth down first. I then pull cloth taut as I hinge the plate down onto it to try to avoid wrinkles and folds.  I then “roll” the other half of the cloth over the plate starting at the fold, again using my fingers to keep the cloth taut to prevent folds and wrinkles.  Once the plate is “dust jacketed” by the cloth I then place it in between some parchment paper, since it is non-stick, and some cardboard — to apply even pressure — and then something with weight like bricks or heavy text books while the Gorilla Glue does its thing.

As I previously mentioned I skimped with the glue in this batch.  In addition to not adding enough Gorilla Glue along the edges, both in quantity and by not adding it to a wide enough zone away from the edge of the plate, I also didn’t feel that I applied enough spray adhesive and the cloth would slip away from the metal in places.  So after retouching the Gorilla Glue in the weak seams, I applied a mixture of wood glue and rail road model scenery glue that I use for basing over the surface of the cloth to stiffen it.

Once your glue dries, trim the excess cloth away from the plate.  I like to leave about a half to three quarters of an inch of cloth to preserve a strong seem and to make a nice transition.  A strong seam is important as you will likely be picking these trays up by their edges and a weak seem will peel back like you were opening a book with repeated use.  In the future I might actually sew these seems shut.

Step Four: Make it Pretty

Grey Primer

Now we are at the artistic point in the process, where we paint and flock the trays.  I like to spray some gray primer on my cloth as the black fabric will soak up paint dulling it immensely otherwise.  Felt is especially “thirsty” for paint by the way.  In this instance, applying the primer so that it is patchy and irregular is good a good thing as the colors will then be even more “natural.”  Once the primer is dry, I applied splotches of brown and green in irregular patches.  This of course will vary depending on what kind of terrain effect you are looking for.  This is a good way to use up paint that you never use or has seen better days.

Glue has been applied over the top of the painted surface

Once the paint is dry, apply thinned down glue (or in my case the previously mentioned mixture of wood glue and rail road model scenery glue) and apply some flock.  For this project I went with the both the finely ground foam/sponge variety as well as some various flavors of static grass.  There are some bits of “gravel” in there but you don’t want flock that is to ‘thick’ as that would reduce the strength of magnets.

The flock on wet glue

After drying, it is good to either apply more thin glue or a spray sealer to tie it all together.  What you don’t want to do is then leave the trays to dry under a rain spout right before a thunder storm.

Conclusion

I have found this style of movement tray great for gaming, transporting, and helping to set off the look of the unit on the battle field or in a display case.  I will continue to tinker with the technique and I may write up any improvements in an article here.

Speaking of future articles, I have alluded to how these trays do a good job at holding the miniatures in place during transport.  But to badly paraphrase the Watchmen, “Who holds the movement tray?”  Building a magnetically enhanced army transport out of a tool box will be the subject of the next article.

A movement tray on the battlefield. It would look better with a turfed landscape rather than green felt.