safely transporting/storing your miniatures

Post by **Kinslayer** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 3:36 pm

i think this is the right forum since its a general gaming topic, ive been thinking about how to store my miniatures safely and also how to transport them to and from games.

At the moment my druchii are on 2 shelves in my room, as my brother seems to have taken my GW case for his asrai. I dont mind that since its cut to fit his models now, but we have a lot of models that wont fit (knights, hydra, pegasus...) in the GW carry case, not to mention the fact its really expensive.

So does anyone have any tips

Noble korhedron · Post by **Noble korhedron** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 4:01 pm

I know the G.W army transport cases are just a tad expensive, but what about the ones that are half infantry(3 layers I think?) and half cavalry/war machines? You could put it on a birthday/Christmas list, or just plain save for it? Unless those are no longer available.....?

Milney · Post by **Milney** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 4:25 pm

The Army Transport case is horrendous anyway - not deep enough to fit a dragon, and only houses about 96 infantry.

Personally I'd look for an independant case manufacturer. I know someone who bought a case which fits his 2000pts Dwarf Army, his 2000pts Tomb Kings army and his 1500pts Imperial Fists army in it - all with smaller dimensions overall (shorter but deeper which is easier for carrying around).

When I speak to him next I'll ask where he got his case from and will report back here.

Jrg · Post by **Jrg** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 4:26 pm

Well as i walk around my friends houses alot to play. i find transporting very hard too, so what i do is use a shoe boxes to transport them. I get each individual model and wrap them up and put them in boxes, like the ones you buy warriors in and put them in the shoe box then i put the box in a backpack, (not like a hiking one, but ones you used for school) and off you go, cause i dont wanna look like a twat walking around with a GW models case. but this s only good for small armys, with no large models.

But if i had a car i wouldnt care.

Dreske · Post by **Dreske** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 4:59 pm

Sabol designs makes the Army Transport case. I've used them in the past. They are nice but can get pricey, however you can buy exactly what you need to hold your figs.

http://www.saboldesigns.net/home.html

Sporting goods stores sell large pistol cases that are similar in size to the GW cases, but cost about 1/4 of the price.

Macknight · Post by **Macknight** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 5:44 pm

GW case sucks, sable all the way,

http://thewarstore.com/sabolarmytranspo ... cases.html

the warstore sell them at discount, theres also ebay.

the only figure i can't figure to put in is the new plastic HE dragon kit which i use for my lord, as the wings are expanded, alternative case method for it, if anyone finds a good solution please let me know.

Post by **Kinslayer** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 5:51 pm

arent the wings on the dragon designed to clip in and out of place if you dont glue them, to make transport easier?

Macknight · Post by **Macknight** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 5:57 pm

wow, good thinking, i usually glue it all together as i'm afraid to chip the paint once they're painted, its a special case, so i will do as you said, thx mate!

Aralone-saori · Post by **Aralone-saori** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 6:23 pm

A gd way of doing it is buy a 2nd hand case, or tool box, n there is a web site that sells the padding for bout £5 a sheet, for both inventry n calvery...google for them.

Cal'mihe · Post by **Cal'mihe** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 10:56 pm

http://www.figurecase.com/ is another option. I personally like them, particularily as you can order the foam insets seperatly and/or specify what size you want when ordering a case.

If you want to remain on the cheap side, you could simply get the foam insets, either the cut-it-yourself Raster trays, or the regular trays, and make/find a cardboard box to fit them in, thus skipping out on the bag itself.

Izirath · Post by **Izirath** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 1:49 am

http://www.clasohlson.se/Archive/Images ... 302_54.jpg

I use the biggest one in these pictures. It's 58x29x29 cm and it's the largest you can get around here which is still a toolbox. I haven't prepared it yet, just aquired it. I have something a tad bit smaller right now.

Edit. I use old madrass for sheets.

Rabidnid · Post by **Rabidnid** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 2:04 am

Well, I use fridge magnets and metal tool boxes. It keeps everything in place and you don't have to have specific boxes for specific models either.

Izirath · Post by **Izirath** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 2:30 am

Well those are quite hard to come by, I think. Where did you get them?

Mordru · Post by **Mordru** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 2:33 am

Magnets and metal tools boxes are nice but metal tool boxes are pricey and heavy. I don't know what the equivalent in the UK (or even if there is one) but pistol cases from outdoor stores or Wal-Mart are ace and a bargain you can get three of them for less than the price of one GW case.

Rabidnid · Post by **Rabidnid** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 4:36 am

izirath wrote:Well those are quite hard to come by, I think. Where did you get them?

Yellow pages for the magnets, the tool boxes are as cheap or expensive as you want thenm to be. For things like nids there is nothing better, as you don't get all the hooks and claws broken off from catching in the foam.

Lonely shade · Post by **Lonely shade** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 6:19 am

Don't have any input of my own, but all these suggestions are great! I've been grappling with the same problem since I lost my GW carry case and didn't want to fork out the cash to buy a new one, so I will try some of these. Thanks guys!

- Lonely

Coldeyes · Post by **Coldeyes** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 6:21 am

lols i find a good sized shoebox with those foam peanuts always cheap and effective

Archon_matt · Post by **Archon_matt** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 7:27 am

I bought me one of those big plastic boxes with the little plastic boxes inside in rows. cost about $20 from K-Mart (Aussie equivalent of Walmart or some other department store). then I just bought some cotton wool buds. I put about 3 models into each little box and surround them with cotton wool, and they keep well and don't get damaged. bigger models, however, don't fit so you just gotta use a shoebox or something.

Herod · Post by **Herod** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 10:41 pm

I use a stackable sterilite container from Walmart. I use pop rivets to fix a metal bottom (duct metal from the hardware store). Then I just magnetize all of my models, and the bottom of the movement trays.

The containers take me 15-20 minutes to make, and cost about $12-15 in materials.

The real advantage is that particularly tall models (like the Shaggoth) will fit easily. They also stack for storage purposes, and fit 3-4,000 points depending on what army.

Here is my old BoC army in one as an example:

Ragian Cain · Post by **Ragian Cain** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 8:00 am

I use a MAXI Case, from these dudes, awesome, fits my Hydra too.

http://www.figurecase.com/

Lord_jimmy_ · Post by **Lord_jimmy_** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 8:08 am

Try Felherr cases, for £36 i got one that holds 180 models, is much more compact than the GW one and looks smarter, with a shoulder strap. Nice bit of kit.

Mormeguil · Post by **Mormeguil** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 7:55 pm

I bought a Sabol design and i'm not that much of a fan. The strap doesn't allow for such an easy transportation.

For my Skaven I put my units on movement trays with magnets and each tray is put in a foam I bought and it all fit in a big toolbox. Not very practica; but skaven are just too numerous for regular cases.

So overall i'm still looking. The Feldherr MAXI look great. I wonder if I can get it in Canada...