I’ve seen many ships mounted on bases and held up with,for lack of a better term,golden pedestals. Where can these be found?
Ace Hardware in the lamps & lighting section. They’re called lamp finials
They are used to hold the lamp shade to the lamp harp. Drill a through hole and cut off the top knob. Run a bolt up through the base, finial and into the ship bottom. They cost about a buck at the local Ace.
The two on the right are lampshade risers. Same principle – drill a through hole and cut off the threaded part. I got the risers from the local Home Depot/Lowes int he electrical department.
Print the picture and take it with you when you go to your local Ace Hardware. Find the oldest guy in the store and ask for lamp finials. Show him the picture.
Alternatively, ones with ears to fit aroung the keel on wooden ships are available from ModelExpo at about 5 bucks
Another alternative is short pieces of brass or bronze tubing, which can usually be found in the “odd fasteners” part of a big box store, or the dustier bins of a REAL hardware store.
One thing - figure out what kind of base and finials you’re going to use, and how you’re going to attach ship to same, BEFORE you start construction. Trust me on that one …
De-primed pistol cases?
I have a tendancy to put most of my ship models on keel blocks, as if in drydock. I have added 1/8" inside dia. tubing to the hulls of my 1/700 scale DD-770, and CVS-15. These will be set at height above the base, in an underway replenishment scene, with a 1/700 “Skipjack class” sub lurking beneath, using 1/8" dia. brass rod fixed in the base.
Very impressive. Thank you.