Looking for Miniature Storage Advice

[Shades of Green]

I get more and more involved in the 15mm miniature hobby as time goes by. However, we live in a small two-room apartment and storage space is at a premium - even when considering the small relative size of 15mm miniatures - so I'm starting to run out of space to store my minis - and I'm ion the mood to buy several more sets. There is also the problem of dust entering the closets I'm currently using and covering my minis.

My current storage space:

By golan2072 at 2010-09-04

So I'm looking for advice about improving my mini storage.

One option I'm considering is buying an Army Kit Bag from Flames of War, but its a bit expensive ($100 not including shipping).

Advice would be very welcome.

 

[frankthedm]

Stuff you need:
closing tool box or bin
a several sheets of cardboard cut to slightly smaller than the bin
several sheets of 1/4" foam or bed cushion / egg crate foam
a few sheets of 1" or 1.5" thick foam [optional]
masking tape


Box lid
Extra foam for stability
Cardboard
1/ 4” Foam sheet
Minis {Small minis on 20MM bases/ pennies , Rats, Ratmen Gobbo's, dogs]
1/4” Foam sheet
Cardboard
1/ 4” Foam sheet
Minis ( Medium Minis on 1 inch washers and bases)
1/4” Foam sheet
Cardboard
1/ 4” Foam sheet
Minis (Big 40mm based minis, Reaper Ettin, Chainmail Owlbear, Ogres and Minotaurs)
1/4” Foam sheet
Cardboard
1/ 4” Foam sheet
Minis {Calvary;1”x2” bases Orcs on Dire wolves, Bretonian Knights on Horseback}
1/4” Foam sheet
Cardboard
1/ 4” Foam sheet
Minis {cheap sturdy plastic minis from box sets.}
1/4” Foam sheet
bottom of box.

Masking tape should be strong enough to hold the foam layers in place to the cardboard. Take a 5 inch piece of the tape. Connect the two end to make an O and use the tape piece as you would use double sided tape. For extra STR. I have two layers of cardboard taped together for each cardboard layer.

The design above is good for decently built and properly sealed minis, but if you don’t want a lot of pressure put on certain fragile minis, like a lot of the WotC multi pieces or a mini that has a lot of easily bent parts, try this;

Take a 1 inch or 1.5” thick layer of foam the same size as one of your layers and cut out with a sharp blade a nook for a fragile mini. Keep doing this until you have filled the sheet with nooks for fragile minis.


1” foam sheet with minis in nooks [Chainmail glaiver, musketeers with pewter rapiers.
1/4” Foam sheet
Cardboard


http://www.enworld.org/forum/art-ga...ing/49415-how-make-miniature-storage-bin.html

 

[TheAuldGrump]

As we head into autumn you will start seeing plastic pistol cases showing up at places like Walmart. Light, sturdy, with egg package-like foam inserts. The larger pistol cases have an extra layer of foam, so you can have two layers of minis.

Humanoid minis are best placed in pairs, so that the bases share a depression in the foam - base to base. They will rub against each other, but this does not matter for the bases. Keep the minis lined up on the same diagonal alignment, and you can fit a lot of figures in each case.

The double cases run about $15 at Walmart. And, if you are paranoid, are designed to accept a lock.

The Auld Grump

 

[Oryan77]

I use these for my minis, you can find these at Sears and Home Depot:

Stack-On 39-Drawer Organizer: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00965901000P?mv=rr
and
Stack-On 18-Drawer Storage Cabinet, Gray: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00962319000P?keyword=stack+on+storage+cabinet


I use these:
Sterilite Wide 3-Drawer Cart - White : Target

for my huge and bigger sized minis.

I'll attach some pics of how I store my tiles for those that are interested. But I used razor blades to cut out the slots so the tiles would fit perfectly in them. It was a lot of work and caused me to have very sore finger tips. But if you're willing to do it, they work very well for storing tiles.
http://www.enworld.org/forum/attach...-tiles-storage-solution-ministorage.jpg?stc=1
http://www.enworld.org/forum/attach...ngeon-tiles-storage-solution-tilestorage1.jpg
http://www.enworld.org/forum/attach...tiles-storage-solution-tilestorage2.jpg?stc=1
http://www.enworld.org/forum/attach...tiles-storage-solution-tilestorage3.jpg?stc=1
http://www.enworld.org/forum/attach...tiles-storage-solution-tilestorage4.jpg?stc=1
http://www.enworld.org/forum/attach...tiles-storage-solution-tilestorage5.jpg?stc=1
http://www.enworld.org/forum/attach...tiles-storage-solution-tilestorage6.jpg?stc=1

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

For metal minis, I use:

Chessex grey plastic boxes
Customizable foam lined black plastic cases from Container Store

For plastic minis, I use:

ArtBin boxes
Sterlite 16" stacking drawers

 

[Shades of Green]

Thanks for the advice - all of it was very useful and thought-provoking!

Now I'll take a look at what is available at local hardware stores and see what fit my needs...

I might also buy this...

 

[Samurai]

I use 5 (ready to buy a 6th and 7th...) Plano Pro-latch storage boxes:

They are cheap (about $5 each at Walmart), and you can change the size of each section, making a smaller compartment for your pile of kobolds and a larger one for your orc horde.

 

[doctorhook]

Speaking as a six-year collector with a collection of around two thousand minis, my advice is to get out while you still can. Minis are an expensive, time-consuming hobby with no end. You will always have more minis than you can handle, and you'll never have enough minis of the creatures you need. Sorting and storing minis will forever be a problem, I promise.

Switch to tokens, before you go broke. The advantages of tokens are that they're dirt cheap to make and customise, and thanks to the free artwork available on the internet, there's some pretty damn accurate images to use. Being cheap and flat, they're both easy to store and not a big deal to throw away when you don't need them. Alternatively, you can make and store a hundred, or even a thousand copies of a single token for a fraction of the space, time, and money it would cost for minis.

 

[Silverblade The Ench]

tip:
buy TINY neodium magnets from ebay
glue to mini bases
like 4, 6 or 10mm diameter x 0.5 mm thickness size
these are awesome for sticking minis down to a sheet of suitable material, liek magnetic plastic, in trays or whatever so they do not move.
Line a cheap plastic set of drawers or tool box with the base material.

 

[Cor_Malek]

If you have IKEA nearby, check out additional stuff for PAX series - namely drawers for jewellery. Lot's and lot's of space for minis, with everything you need to add it to your furniture (they're meant for PAX series, but it works with others). Measure inside of your cupboard before you go, so that you can compare and take the right size.