Thanks, Dave--shading for tumblehome would probably have to be a fleetwide, so it doesn't work for a Vessel Visual Identification System marking. (Me, if the Admiralty had come to me and asked for advice I would have probably done something like the orange slash on US Coast Guard cutters today, but with two such stripes--the first identifying the squadron, the second identifying the ship in it. Something like the interwar US Navy's colorful aircraft-ID markings.)

Those long skinny Harbor Freight cases are No-Go--they're only 4.75" section length inside, for a two-ship row we need at least 6", and the dividers are only removable not repositionable. Back to the Dream Team of Plano & Dremel...

Ship basing math... each magnet I use is 5/16" O.D., about 8mm. Three magnets inside a 28mm spacing... well, if my math is right three magnets are 24mm of length, leaving a 4mm "slop" or 2mm spacing between them. I need to run another test with three magnets clustered together on-center... the evil little beasts seem to get dramatically stronger when they're stuck together as a single mass. (Why 28mm? That's the Ares minimum size for a ship in the game, and my thinking is a standardized mount will ensure compatibility fleetwide.)

Ugh, gotta find a magnet with a marked North pole so I can mark mine... these things will screw over a compass if they get too close to it. Hmm... maybe I could take a small portion-cup, float it in a bowl with the magnets inside and see which end goes north.