PLASMA FX – AK BASING BITS

Energy instead of lead

Tabletop games and fantastic subjects call for a different vocabulary from historical modeling. Where cordite flashes in a military scene, a bolt of light flies in the future, and it is precisely its shape that this item offers. The elements have an elongated, slightly wavy course, so on a base they look like the path of discharged energy and not like a static rod.

Translucency is the key

For a discharge to look luminous it must not be colored with an opaque paint. A base in silver or white proves itself, over which a clear shade is applied in thin coats. Every further coat deepens the saturation while keeping the impression that the material lets light through. It is a good idea to go over the surrounding surfaces lightly with the same shade, because real light always spills into its surroundings.

Assembly

The pieces are separated from the carrier grid with a sharp knife, not with nippers, otherwise a tip risks breaking off. The contact face tends to be small, so it pays to strengthen the joint with a drop of thicker super glue. In size everything matches the usual figures of the standard military size, but it suits larger figures from tabletop games as well, where an elongated discharge fills the space around a base.

Placement on a base

A discharge should come out of the muzzle of a weapon and point out of the board, not parallel with its edge. That opens a scene up optically and gives a viewer the feeling that the action continues beyond the base as well. Anyone who dares can prop the lower edge of the element with a thin wire and leave the discharge hanging a little above the ground. The shadow that arises will give the whole a depth that paint alone will not provide.