Omni-Stand System by Corsec Engineering

This is a follow-up/companion article to my “Corsec Bases and Rods with tweaks” posting that I did back in November of 2015. I’ll repeat the first three paragraphs from that posting and then go on to show in more detail both the standard way that the system can be used and then add some additional information on some of the tweaks I described in the earlier post.

Over the years I’ve tried out several different types of stands and bases for my miniatures, but I think I’ve finally settled on the using the Omni-Stand system from Corsec Engineering.  What I like about it is that it is very versatile, especially when combined with a few accessories from a fine tool store like Lee Valley.

There are three main parts to the Omni-Stand system, the base, the supporting rod, and the mount, all of which are interchangable, which means you can use the same miniature for multiple games and just swap out the base, going from a round base with 30 degree firing arcs for something like Full Thrust, to square bases customized for use with the X-Wing Miniatures Game.

It might initially look like the bases and rods are more expensive than others brands, but you also need to consider that the same base and rod can be used with multiple miniatures because they aren’t permanently attached to the miniature.  The only part that is usually permanently attached is the actual mount, and there are several options for these.

Here’s what my current collection of Omni-Stand components looks like, and I fully admit I may have gone a little overboard, but in my defense, I did need a lot of stands and rods for my Shipyards.

Bin of Omni-stand components

I also have a smaller bin of other items that I use with the Omni-stand system, but aren’t part of it. Stuff like earth magnets, washers, earring posts and a few other items.

Extra bits for use with the Omni-stand system

There are two standard ways to set miniatures up to be attached to stands, using the Omni-Stand Mounting Pegs, or using the Omni-Stand Small Mount.
I usually use the Small Mount as most of my miniatures are not very large. I did use the Mounting Pegs for some of the Space Stations. The Mounting Pegs usually require you to drill a hole into the miniature where the peg can then be inserted and glued in.

Mounting Pegs and Small Mounts

The small mounts can be glued to the miniature, any sort of super glue usually works, you may need a thicker type if the surface is particularly uneven.

Next, pick a base to use with the miniature. There are several shapes and sizes of bases for the system, with and without markings. The ones you will want will depend on what games you want to use your miniatures with and what size your miniatures are. One of the great things about this system is you can very easily change bases which allows the same miniature to be used in multiple games.
Here are most of the sizes and styles I have gone with:

Assorted bases

Next, choose a rod, these come in several lengths. Again, because most of my miniatures are fairly small, I usually use the shorter ones unless I’m trying to line them up with a taller space station or something similar.

Now you simply screw one end of the rod into the base and the other end into the mount on the miniature.

Base attached to Rod
Rod attached to D7 Ship, Rod and Base attached to Warbird
Both ships attached to bases.

In the picture above you can see that I went with a very small base for the Warbird as it is a small ship and it’s center of gravity is pretty much in the middle of the ship where the mount is.

For the D7, it’s a little larger than the Warbird and a little less balanced, so I used a larger base.

If you don’t like having to screw the rods into the mounts on miniatures, perhaps if you know you will be swapping out the miniatures fairly frequently during a game, maybe you have ships that are cloaking and decloaking and you want to represent this by using transparent and regular miniatures, there is another interesting option. There are two sizes of magnetic add-on’s available.

These simply screw onto the top of the rod where you would normally attach the ship, then the magnet will adhere to the mount, or any other metal part that may be on the ship. The earth magnets are quite strong and the miniatures are quite stable using this connection.

Bases and rods with Small Magnet Add-ons.
D7 and Warbirds on stands using Small Magnet Add-ons

Another really fun component is the Sphere Magnet Add-on. This also attaches to the top of the post, but because the magnet is a sphere, it allows the miniature to be positioned in various alignments. I’ve only picked up a few of these, I haven’t really had a need for them in any games but I think they will be great to use for photographing some of the miniatures once I get them painted.

Sphere Magnet Add-on
Sphere Magnet Add-on attached to rod and base
D7 and Warbird maneuvering

With the magnetic mounts, it makes it easy to use other materials on the miniatures. This can have some advantages, particularly if there is a chance that you may still have a need to use a different sort of stand with the miniature. I’ve used washers and earth magnets in the past. I initially used counter sunk washers, which do work well with the Sphere Magnet Add-on, but, if all I need is to be able to use a different stand, I would now use something like the regular washers shown in the picture below.

For the Abramsverse Enterprise, I used an Adhesive Backed Rare Earth Magnet. I set it a little ways back from the hole for the stand that came with the Hot Wheels model. I could then just attach a regular Small Mount to the top of the rod to provide a surface for the magnet on the Enterprise to hang onto.

Alternate mounting methods
Warbird and Enterprise

One of the stranger things I came up with is for the Attack Wing (and X-Wing) ships. This is an improvement on what I described in my earlier posting and involves using open back screw posts. Make sure they are Nickel or some other magnetic metal. I think they may be available on Amazon, I got mine from Tandy Leather.

The Attack Wing ships have a post that the stands they come with attach to. If you know you aren’t ever going to want to use those stands, you could cut them off and use the regular mounts but I didn’t want to do that.

Regular Attack Wing stand, and posts on bottom of ships.

After experimenting with several different ways to adapt these to work with the Omni Stand System, I figured out that the part of the open backed screw post with the hole would fit nicely over the post, with just a little bit of clearance.

Open Backed Screw Post on Attack Wing model post.

These also attach to the tops of the magnetic mounts on the stands nicely

Open Backed Screw Post on Magnetic Mount

I will admit, the miniature does tend to spin if this is all you do. You could however actually glue the Screw Back to the post on the miniature, just making sure that the wide end of the Screw Back can contact the magnet.
The open end of the original post is still accessible and you could still use the original stand if desired.

Original Stand with Screw Back attached to Miniature
Several Attack Wing ships on various stands

I hope you found this article interesting and feel free to leave a comment below.

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