From Junk to Stasis Pods

Stasis pods make for secure places to confine prisoners.

This was a quick and easy project that combined a happy coincidence, a moment of inspiration, and a need for a particular piece of terrain. There are better looking pieces available for purchase. Two fine examples are the "Bio Chamber” from RAFM Miniatures and the gorgeous "Stasis Coffin" from Warsenal . Unfortunately, I was both in a hurry and broke. So I made my own out of things I had lying around.

The coincidence happened when I was playing with some random junk from my bits collection. The shape of the milk bottle caps saved them from the recycle bin. A trip through the dishwasher later and they were in my bits collection. The prescription medicine bottles were washed and saved because of how useful they are in storing bits small enough to get lost in bags and boxes. The coincidence was that the threading on the milk bottle cap meshed with the medicine bottle. It isn’t a perfect fit, but is tight enough to be secure.

The inspiration was the appearance of the two joined bits. I had recently watched Rogue One again and it reminded me of the bacta tank that Darth Vader spent some time in before dealing with some personnel issues. I didn’t have any need for any such terrain pieces at the time, so I made a note to myself and moved on.

Havoc Girls in trouble.

It was a good thing I made that note. Sure enough, I have a need for some kind of cryo-stasis pod for a game coming up in about a week at the time this gets posted. It would take too much time for me to order something, have it arrive, and get it ready for the gaming table. Besides, I have nothing in the gaming budget at the moment. The stuff in my bits collection is already paid off and saved from the recycling bin.

Digging around my bits collection turned up four caps and bottles along with some random plastic bits to add a little detail to the finished piece. The caps and random bits were sprayed with black primer. Next was a spray of silver paint at an angle. The goal was to leave some of the black primer coat showing to give the impression of shadows. The rest was just a matter of gluing the now-silver painted plastic bits to the bottoms (now tops) of the medicine bottles.

Prescription bottle, milk bottle cap, and random plastic bit before painting.

The pieces are right size to fit a 28mm-32mm scale human figure as long as the figure doesn’t extend too far from the base. So figures striking epic poses are not suitable volunteers for trips into these stasis pods. A 25mm base fits with plenty of room and a 30mm base barely squeezes in. So I’ll need a bigger pod to put any ogres or dragons into stasis.

Overall, I’m pleased at how this quick and easy project turned out!