Magnet, metal or wood?

[Andrew Beasley]

Despite having a grand total of two plastic Ogre vehicles painted I’ve been thinking about storage (as there’s fousands of ’em * – well it feels like it) and as it’s been years since I stored 6mm tanks I wonder if I’ve missed any options:

1. Loose – varnish well (gloss then matte) and just store in a plastic case using tissue paper for packing. Possibly base on MDF / Ply and use a case / tray with lots of partitions to limit movement.
2. Base on MDF / Ply and store in foam trays with pre-cut holes. Different bases sizes would be limited and I’m ok mixing opponents in one tray to cut the number of trays needed.
3. Base on metal and use mag sheets. The sheets would go into MDF trays and trays then into a 9L RUB
4. Base on magnets and use metal sheets – basically the flip of above
5. Create an adjustable box (like a sock drawer sorter – imagine multiple combs at 90deg to each other with the teeth interlinked.) using card and fit in a tray then a box. Vehicles would be based as some of them are small (LGEV are only 2cm by 0.5cm).

So far the vehicles are not based but 3 infantry figures are on round bases and designed to be removed as they suffer damage. I’m not going to do this as the legs are thin and liable to break in my mind. Rather than rebase I’ll just use a foam tray with circles if I go that way.

 

* Who can forget:

[Mr. Average]

My method is wood base with a magnet either inset into it or glued to the bottom of it. The wood makes adding basing material easier because it can be done with white glue, but the magnet means I can keep it in any convenient steel container without special preparation. Works well even with heavy minis like the below Cybertank from Microworld Games, in solid metal.

[MartinR]

All my stuff, from 2mm to 20mm, gets based on artists mounting board with magnetic strip on the underside. It is stored in A4 box files lined with steel paper.

The oldest magnets are well over 25 years old and still work fine. My very oldest 6mm stuff from the early 1970s, still lives in its original cardboard boxes wedged between sheets of expanded polystyrene ceiling tiles. Most of it is horrible, Lancashire micro blobs with pins for gun barrels.

"Mistakes in the initial deployment cannot be rectified" - Helmuth von Moltke

[Andrew Beasley]

Could be worth spending time at Partizan looking at magnets again – at least one demo game has 6mm tanks I could pick their brains.

Warbases have liners to hold figures on bases in place – it may be a bespoke cut for shapes other than circles so it may work out similar cost to foam but easier to manage getting things in and out https://warbases.co.uk/product/rub-tray-liners/

MartinR wrote:

… with pins for gun barrels.

I’m already thinking of replacing the heavy tank barrels with brush hairs as they are bound to snap. As for blobs – at my age lots of figures look like this 🙂

MartinR wrote:

… wedged between sheets of expanded polystyrene ceiling tiles…

Interesting idea – possibly thin upholstery foam would be a modern replacement though the plastic barrels may stick to it. Did a quick search – I can still buy these type of tiles for “creating a modern and stylish ambiance” according to B&Q.

Mr. Average wrote:

… Cybertank from Microworld Games, in solid metal.[/quote]

Super paint job on an ace model. I do like the info strip – I could add unit designators / move and combat values…

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