# Jupiter 2 base



## Tim Nolan (Jul 9, 2008)

I started thinking seriously about building a base for my J2 after one of the guys questioned me about the weight issue from all of the added electronics and weakening the landing gear. I had one small incident already, a quick fix, but I decided to go ahead and make a simple base last night.

I'm a packrat, and I had an old display stand base out of my business in my stockpile for just such an occasion. Starting with that, I sat the J2 on it and did some measurements for positioning support rods under the ship. No biggie, and I drilled the holes on my press. I had an old towel bar made from acrylic rod in my stash, so I cut it into (4) 3.5" lengths, and drilled them out to accept some mounting hardware. I topped the rods with some small self-stick "felties", those little things you put on the bottom of chairs to keep from scratching your hardwood floors. (Ask me, I do this often....) The rods support the whole thing nicely, and with the felts, won't marr the finish at all.

So far I have this:









This weekend, I hope to do some custom paintwork on the base. I'm thinkin' some heavy flaked kandy blue! 









The rods are just the right height, leaving room for my "Alpha Control" box to fit under the ship, and in the future when we have the scale Pod and Chariot to go with it, they can all be displayed together! I'll leave the old holes that were already in the base, so I can run some wiring up to those models for lighting hopefully! 









The height also allows for nice viewing of the core lighting at work, as well as the stairwell lights. I have already made some custom decals of my own for my studio to go on the base as well as the ship, and I'll probably print some up of the "Lost in Space" show logo to put onthe base as well. I'm pretty happy with the results. This all took maybe 45 minutes of work so far, I'll have that much time in paintwork when done. I had all the stuff to make it with, so no real cost involved! I love it when a plan works!


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

Tim,
Even though I have the hero gear (with it's metal support rod) I added a little extra support by cutting a length of 3" clear acrylic tube (1/8" thick walls)and sitting it under the core - sorta like how the c57D crusier from Forbidden Planet sits on a single column

it's a minimal intrusion visually and I really only use it for prolonged display. If I'm show ing the ship just for a little while, I skip it.


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## gareee (Jan 1, 1970)

Where did you guys find the acrylic rods at?


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## liskorea317 (Mar 27, 2009)

gareee said:


> Where did you guys find the acrylic rods at?


You can probably find them in any arts and crafts store, not to mention home depot or a place like that.


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## gareee (Jan 1, 1970)

I've looked at home dept, lowes, michels, and ben franklin, with no luck. Hollow or solid would be fine, but finding a local source for them is my issue. I was even looking for acrylic shower rods, anything that might be similar.


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## teslabe (Oct 20, 2007)

gareee said:


> I've looked at home dept, lowes, michels, and ben franklin, with no luck. Hollow or solid would be fine, but finding a local source for them is my issue. I was even looking for acrylic shower rods, anything that might be similar.


http://www.laftoys.com/index.php?cPath=15&osCsid=8afc38431c49be56518c3de48cf806b8

Although not the same, this would work very well.......:thumbsup:


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## B-9 (Jun 8, 2009)

Also, McMaster-Carr. Anything you could possibly want:
http://www.mcmaster.com/#plastics/=7lpuva


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## Tim Nolan (Jul 9, 2008)

I cut the rods from an old acrylic paper towel holder I had in my stash!


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## liskorea317 (Mar 27, 2009)

gareee said:


> Where did you guys find the acrylic rods at?



http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m570.l1313&_nkw=acrylic+rods&_sacat=See-All-Categories


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## gareee (Jan 1, 1970)

Wow! Never thought to look on ebay for them! Thanks for that link! And those flex bases also posted look pretty handy as well!


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## wayvryder (Apr 11, 2010)

gareee said:


> Where did you guys find the acrylic rods at?


I've used eplastics.com for my plexiglass/acrylic needs. Great customer service.

http://www.eplastics.com/Plastic/Plexiglass_Acrylic_Rod


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## gareee (Jan 1, 1970)

Perfect! I have life sized Ghostbuster proton pack and gun props we've made, but really needed to get clear acrylic tubes for the thrower/guns. Suppliers of the rods wanted $30+ for them.. this place has twice the length I need for just a few bucks! Totally awesome!


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