Sabot Bases for 15mm Infantry

 I like to base my 15mm figures individually for flexibility, but it's usually much more convenient to move them when they're mounted on multiple-figure bases.

The solution to this issue is, of course, sabot bases, and I've tried several methods of making them. Up until now, the most successful has been laser-cut MDF, with thin card or fridge magnet material glued underneath.

However, now that I have a 3d printer, I reasoned that I could create magnetised sabot bases with a minimum of trouble, just ten or fifteen minutes design time in Blender, and about twenty minutes to print this particular three-man base. Printing a whole army's worth of bases will take a while, but I can put them on to print at night and take them off the next morning. Easy-peasy.

I use 3x1mm rare-earth magnets I bought from China. I have hundreds of them, and they cost very little — I don't recall exactly how much, but it was something like $2.50 for a hundred.

The magnets are thin enough that the sabots don't have to be overly thick, and strong enough that I can pick up the whole base by one figure quite securely.

I use two magnets per socket, because I base my 15mm figures on steel washers, which have an inconvenient hole right in the middle where it would be most convenient to put a magnet. However, the magnets are cheap enough that doubling up isn't a big deal, and it does make for a more secure hold, with one magnet on each side of the base.

I'll judge this experiment a success, and go ahead and make sabots in sizes to suit my army organizations. For the British, that means one five-man and one 3-man base per section, which allows me to split off the Bren team if need be. The most tedious part of making them all will be painting and flocking them to match the figure bases.