Hi,
Inspired by the success and quality of Worldworks, I'm convinced that there's a way to get nice looking 2d paper minis onto a gaming table of worldworks terrain.
I'm not really happy at all with A-frame white background minis when juxtaposed on my still-warm-from-the-printer SoM set.
While plastic and metal minis are readily available, there's a reason we print out tables and tables of Worldworks terrain instead of basing and painting huge amounts of resin or metal or self molded specific use terrain. For me, printout terrain is easily modifiable, instantly attractive, and infinitely modular. Oh, and economical. Worldworks rules.
I really don't want to buy/base/paint a cityful of Foundry Street Violence civilians, police, gangers etc when I'm convinced there's a way that could work equally well and is kinda unique, too. I'd like to have a handful of nicely painted metal trenchcoated avatars, but for city 'filler' I'm betting card is the way to go.
What I've been looking at and fidding with, is a way to get two sided print out miniatures mounted in a attractive and sturdy fashion.
What I've come to so far, and what's stumping me, is that while it's possible to cut out the minis after printing on cardstock (or at least print them on transparencies), they need a nice mount if they're to stand up to gaming and storage abuse. Some sort of clear plastic or glass 1x1.5 inch backing that could fit into a standard wargaming base would be exactly what I'm looking for.
Of course, at 2:40 am and after some bleary eyed ebay and google searching, I can't seem to find the name or even general category of what I'm looking for.
The reason I'm thinking clear, is so the borders around the figure don't clash with the surrounding terrain. Plastic slotta bases are readily available, and I'm trying to think of a vertical mounting solution that can be eagerly recreated by gamers anywhere with easily available parts. The color of the vertical mount doesn't necessarily matter, but I'd like the material to be sturdy. My initial experiments with foamboard as the base and the vertical backing 'worked', but it looks untidy and is kinda flimsy. 'Microscope slides!' popped into my mind, but the standard size is 1x3 inches, over twice the height of a 28mm mini.
I think I could get plastic cut in bulk to that size, or cut it myself... but I'd really like to find an easily reproducable way so other people can try it too.
If anyone has any ideas of where I might point myself, that'd be great! I'm hoping, somewhere, someone knows exactly the bit I'm thinking of... I also need to sleep on it at this point, and writing a forum post helps organize the brain...
Leads I can think of to pursue:
-General craft supplies
-Science supplies
-Obscure wargaming pieces
-Game counters
-Art tiles or pieces
Thanks guys!
~Steve
EDIT:
While I was originally thinking of a one piece clear plastic thing, where the front and back of the mini would be glued onto the front and back of the piece, maybe there's also some kind of a clear plastic 'sandwich' where a flat two sided mini could be squeezed in between.. hmm..