Types of Foam for Miniature Storage & Transport

[Maelish]

Hi gamers. This question is for folks who've tried to retard paint from rubbing-off or chipping on their painted miniatures. I have a fair number of metal figures and a few that are plastic or resin. It was a lot of work to paint some of those beloved miniatures. But over time I've noticed that I have to do touch-ups far more often than I should. Sealer doesn't always help because they rub against foam. Taking your favorite miniatures 20 or 30 times to a game session takes a toll, far more than you'd expect.

1. How do you keep the paint from rubbing or chipping off when storing?
2. What about when taking them to a game?
3. Do you store your metal figures differently than your plastic or resin figures?
4. How do you transport miniatures to a gaming location?
5. Do you use different types of foam? Soft or hard? Open cell foam or closed cell?

I've come to believe a very soft open cell foam is the best choice. If you think back about the types of foam used in miniature boxes back in the 80's, they used this type of foam to store figures.

What is your opinion?

 

[aco175]

I have not had much problem, but I do not care that much if my figures get beat up a bit. I have made some compartments in my dice box lined with this thin foam and it works pretty good. It sometimes comes as packing instead of those peanuts. I also see where you can buy on amazon. I have also used some of this in pill bottles to wrap some figures to help protect them.

 

[Bawylie]

I store my minis in cardboard package boxes that are 4” x 4” x 12”

Anything that’s painted metal gets wrapped like a Christmas Ornament. Painted plastic gets chucked in with everything else.

For transportation I grab whatever I will need for the session and put it in another of these package boxes (I got 50 on amazon for very little money). A rubber band gives me a little extra security for keeping it closed.

I’m trying to post a photo here. I like the dimensions of these boxes because they fit perfectly in the shelves I have. I keep terrain in 12” x 12” x 12” canvas boxes. But I rarely transport terrain at all (because I play most games here at home).

 

[Fenris-77]

Magnets are a wonderful answer - the peel and stick kind. You put a little bit in the base and a layer in your storage container and poof, no rubbing.

 

[Maelish]

Magnets are a wonderful answer - the peel and stick kind.

Do you transport them on a metal plate? Or is this just for home use?

 

[Fenris-77]

Do you transport them on a metal plate? Or is this just for home use?

That's one option, yeah. Some guys use metal tool boxes. I was talking about transport though. I've seen guys carry whole 40K armies like that no sweat. Generally mods on tool and tackle boxes.

 

[Maelish]

I have not had much problem, but I do not care that much if my figures get beat up a bit. I have made some compartments in my dice box lined with this thin foam and it works pretty good.

What are those foam wraps called?

 

[Nytmare]

What are those foam wraps called?

Packing Foam. It comes in sheets and bag form. The sheets tend to be either tear-apart like a roll of paper towels, or just a giant roll you can cut up yourself.

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I personally haven't done minis in a long loooooooong time, but if I did, I'd almost definitely go the magnet route. Either magnets in the bases themselves, or magnets mounted in a tackle box and steel washers on the bottoms of all the minis.

Not only would it be faster to deal with, but I always ran into problems with the sealer on my minis sticking to the foam inserts of my miniature cases.