"Transporting My Aircraft" Topic

Hello all

Just curious on how or any good suggestions for transporting 1/285th aircraft between games and storing. I mount my planes with, cut down nail heads an then mount them on flight stands for games. I transport them in panzer keepers at this time, but first bump on the road or first tilt of the box an they slide all over. I'm just looking for thoughts or pictures if any would be helpful on a better idea for storing an transporting aircraft. I have all the planes for BOB (CY6). So, its quit a few planes an now working on Falcon of the Duce. Thanks again guys an gals.

fullmetal

I mount magnets on all my 1/285 planes. I transport them in magnetic metal boxes (not tin, tin isn't magnetic, but most cheap metal boxes these days aren't tin), attached to the bottoms and sides. I have some plastic planes that I can even transport upside down attached to the lids.

Fill you box with a thick foam piece from the fabric store and cut out individual cavities for the flight stands. You can also use thin magnets on the bottom of the flight stand to help hold them in place.

zippy where do you get your boxes, an rough size some of my Italian bombers an German get to a decent size.

I have all of mine in the hard plastic Chessex cases with the foam inserts. If you buy the 80 slot box you can fit 80 fighters in it or about a dozen heavy bombers.

Holds everything secure enough that you could throw it against a wall and not have any breakage. I dropped one of mine down the basement stairs once on to a concrete floor…. no damage.

This is not an endorsement of the seller but just the first place I found with good pictures.
link

I get document boxes (Staples, Office Max, etc) and use batting (for padding quilts, etc – can get at fabric stores) to pad the planes. I put a layer of batting, the planes, another layer of batting, and sheet of corrugated cardboard, then two more layers of batting with a layer of planes in between. It's not perfect, but I can store a whole bunch of planes pretty securely in a 2 inch deep box. Fits fighters better than bombers, but medium bombers work pretty well. Heavies are just too big to get many in a box.

fullmetal, I scrounge every cookie box I can find. A couple of years ago I ran into a shelf full at a dollar store and bought them up. Haven't seen any commercially available since them. Many of my boxes are 6" X 8" X 2" or thereabouts. Big bombers like Nells or B-17s fit surprisingly well into a round box if you point the noses out and the tails in. Then I stick fighters to the side of the box.

The only problem I have is the cutesy themes of the decoration on many of the boxes, especially the Christmas specials. One day the little pine trees and snowmen will annoy me enough that I'll spray-paint all the boxes some manly solid color like olive drab or blaster black.

I'm currently storing my fighters and single-engine bombers in these 4x6 photo boxes. I cut a piece of 4"x6"x1/2" foam from a fabric store, place the airplanes upside down on top of the foam, and the lid presses the planes into the foam, putting all the pressure on the mounting screw (not the painted plane surface). Nothing moves inside the box while the lid is shut. I've managed to fit 12 fighters in a box by arranging them carefully, and my box of Skyraiders holds 6 of them without a struggle. You can buy these boxes in a carrying box of six or twelve in a carrying case. (The larger carrying case is nicer for several reasons, but both do the job.)

Since the Panzer Keeper is essentially the same thing (a foam-filled flat box that opens like a clamshell), the same principle should work. Just fill it with foam and let the lid push the plane into the foam to hold it securely. If you prefer, cut slits in the foam for the rudder(s) and/or fuselage.

If you don't like that idea, do what 79thPA suggested to the Panzer Keeper foam – cut holes the size of the airplane (or even roughly shaped like it) so the plane can't contact other planes when the box is jostled. If the planes still move vertically too much inside the hole, cut some thin polyethylene foam sheet to line the top and bottom of the box.

An even cheaper idea I've seen before, and a slight twist on what Sundance described – put layers of wavy foam into cardboard boxes, seating the planes in the valleys, stacking layers of plane-filled foam into boxes and carrying the boxes horizontally. The weight and friction of the stacked foam secures the planes against jostling, and you can lift each layer of foam out like a tray of airplanes. Simple but brilliant. This is also the only secure and inexpensive way I know to transport a lot of big (2- or 4-engine) bombers. The only trick is to make sure you put just enough foam in the box to compress slightly (but not too much) when the box is closed.

- Ix