"How do you transport your army?" Topic

Magnetized trays?

Foam?

Something else?

I mount all of my armies on steel, and use magnet lined boxes for storage and transport.

Some in magnetised boxes, some in compartmented boxes, tried foam but it sometimes decomposes after a long time.

I base all my figures on magnetic bases and line my troop carrying cases with steel paper. One exception is for my 28mm Old West skirmish figures. I use plastic cases lined with egg shell foam from Tap Plastics. They are called tradesman cases and go for $15.25 USD. You can see them on the Tap Plastics website at
link

I can fit about 40 28mm infantry figures in a case.

As per Extra Crispy. This approach is both resilient and can be very space-efficient.

What do you find better…

1. Steel box and magnets on minis or

2. Magnet sheets in box and steel washers on minis?

I magnetize the bases using business card magnetic material and use a steel cake pan for storage and transport.

pjm

Sabol Design ArmyTransport. Their foam trays are perfection. I wanted something that would protect the troops falling off the car trunk at 45 mph, or from bouncing down the basement stairs onto the concrete floor. Sabol can take it.

I've used steal/magnets and upon impact found a real mess in the bottom of the box. Magnets suck. Never again, not me.

Multi-tray steel tool box with minis magnetized.

I use these boxes

link

Line the bottom with sheet metal from Lowe's (they sell the perfect size precut). I base my minis on the thick Litko wood bases and use the adhesive backed magnet on the bottom of the base.

Individual figures are on washers and stored in plastic boxes with magnetic bottoms.

Multiple figure bases are in ornament boxes bought in sale in January. The compartments are perfectly sized for 3" square bases ala Volley and Bayonet.

Mine are on steel bases from Precision Wargame Supplies or on 1p or 2p coins, and I line my boxes with magnetic paper. The hold is strong enough that if I turn the boxes upside down they all stay put.

Depends, my 15mm stuff goes in one of those metal tool boxes as they have magnetic bases under there wood base. The 25's go in one of large plastic thingy's people use as storage under the bed with steel sheets as my 25's also have the magnets under there wood bases.
The 25's will have some paper kitchen towels in there as well if I'm driving far just to make sure they don't move much.

Depends on scale. Microscale have, at most, steel on the base and magnets in the box. 28mm have foam-filled carrying cases as the good Mr. Burke describes, but with more capacity. GW used to make them, and Game Parlor in Chantilly VA sells a 160-casting version. 10mm and 15mm go in flat plastic tackle boxes--Plano or equivalent--which fit three in a layer in a standard footlocker. 1/72 go in old pizza boxes.

The heavier the casting, the more trouble and expense in transport, which is why the metal 54's are a home and not an away army.

I use the white mailers available in any Staples. I use the one for 8 1/2 by 11 for 20mm and tanks, and I use the 11 x 16 x 4" or 5" ones for my 28mm.

For the small ones for 20mm which are all plastic I simply lay a sheet of foam rubber over the top. That usually keeps them from moving around.

For the larger boxes I use 1/4 by 1/2" basswood which slips into slots in the sides to secure the stands. Taken over 1,000 28mm minis at a time to over 40 conventions and even had instances where the box dropped off the pile and completely turned over hitting the ground. Only lost one or two figures knocked off easily put back on.

I like the mailers because I store most of my minis in special purpose and special built shelves. When they are in the shelves the dozens of boxes I have can be knocked down flat for easy storage along with the "struts" to hold the bases down.

One point though. I base my minis on large stands and never fool around with individual figures.

Remember! The big enemy is "shear", that is force which is maximized at the weakest point, where the figure is glued to the base (washer or cardboard) or against the attraction of the magnet to the metal. Even a moderate spill will be enough to pop the figure off its base or break the magnetic attraction. The other thing I find is that these mailers seem to "fit" the easiest in the jigsaw puzzle that is my car going to the convention.

Boxes painted with magnetic paint on the bottom, then magnet sheeting on the bottom of the minis.

I use gun cases from WalMart. They are slightly larger than the Games Workshop cases, and have egg crate foam inside. I buy some plain soft foam from JoAnn's fabrics and replace the egg crate foam, with special cut outs for the bases. For other single-mounted figures, I use Games Workshop foam inserts in gun cases.

The gun cases are designed to hold two pistols and ammunition and are made of a very similar material to the GW cases. In addition, they are waterproof when closed, and have a center punch to put a padlock onto for security.

Even when buying the replacement foam, or the GW foam sections, the cases still come in at much less than the GW prices.

A4 box files lined with steel paper, magnetic sheet on the figure bases.

I keep my figures in metal filing trays- deep ones for 28mm, shallow for smaller scales. bases are magnetized. Figures are carried in same trays that they are stored in. Easy to tidy away after a game and the Bisley cabinets looks neat in my office/ hideaway.
Re using metal bases with magnet sheet: it has the advantage of the figures being on a very thin base, which looks good on the table, but I find that scenic materials do not stick as well to the metal bases, so I prefer to use a thin ply base and stick self adhesive magnetic tape under that. If I was a bit richer, I would probably buy the all in one ready made magnetic bases.

KR Card boxes with foam inserts held in KR ruxksacks (2 boxes per bag with space for rule sets and dice etc).

They enable me to trsnsport armies on a motorcycle (pretty much the ultimate test) and I've even dropped a box on occasion with little ill effect.

Fantastic product.

John T

Really Useful boxes lined with steel paper*; magnetic sheet on the underside of the bases. It is a very effective system for transport; I move up to 5000 28mm minis at a time without damage.

*I buy in industrial quantities and sell the surplus
link

Hi Simon,
How many figures can you fit in 4 litre box, are they high enough to fit your pike men?

I find the humble A4 box file very useful, they take all of 28mm stuff,except for cavalry with lances and coulors and infantry with pike.
I have also put a shelf into a number of boxes for my 10mm Jacobite rebelion and my 10mm Crimean war.
I also use them for my future projects.You just need to remember to label them up, it you have 15 to 20 of them and most of them look alike.

When I was playing DBx style games I used magnetic bases and transported/stored them in metal boxes.

Now that I have switched to rules such as Hail Cesar, Impetus (actually, I still play DBA, but with Impetus bases) with their larger bases, I have moved to KR Multicases for both 15 and 28mm figures with zero problems.

A real problem was that the DBx bases are so thin that they fall over all the time during transport. A problem obviously solved by magnets, but deeper bases look better and don't fall over during transport so often.

Feel very secure with them, and equally feel no need to go back to magnetized bases etc.

Hi John,

It depends upon close order foot the density of the basing. I usually reckon to get:

25 light horse or
45 heavy cavalry or
120 loose order foot

in each 4L box.

Regarding pikemen, they are densely packed and I can fit as many as 216 of them in each of the taller 7L really useful boxes (which I also use for elephants and lancer cavalry).

Working on it.

Thanks Simon,
My figures are generally on 40mm square bases,I will send you an order, looking at you photo I can see the 7 liter box.

Super! You'll get a lot of them in a RUB.

I use same system as Extra Crispy and thers who use metal bases for fugures attached to magna sheets in boxes. I use "photo" boxes which keep light/uv away from figures and are acid-free. I invert box and place figurs in lid, making it easy to remove/insert figures.

Tip: Use a paint pen and mark where each base goes. I never leave a base with this system. :- )

Steel lined file boxes. And I keep them in them for storage. Just pull them out as needed.

Magnetised bases, everything stored and transported in metal tool boxes and/or biscuit tins.

I'm lucky in having a wargame's room and collect opposing armies for the conflicts I game so I don't travel with my armies that much.

A couple of times a year I'll go to a show to do a demo, the furthest being about two hours drive away, and when I do I transport my figures in vegetable boxes (free to collect from the supermarket, and disposable afterwards). They stack in the back of the car and I've never had a problem with stuff 'shifting about'.

This was some of the stuff for Zorndorf packed and ready to go.

I use the 8.1 L Really useful boxes for 28mm troops:

link

With color coded Shelf liner cut to fit the bottoms:

link

and then topped with cheap craft felt that happens to exactly fit the boxes, and again is color coded. the felty helps to further reduce slippage and can also be bunched up to cover any bare shelf liner (you do not want the shelf liner to contact your figures on a hot day!)

link

A4 plastic box files,they're about 20mm deep.
Got them from the Poundshop. Lined with steel paper.

A4 plastic box files,they're about 20mm deep.
Got them from the Poundshop. Lined with steel paper.

With the greatest care manageable. Foam, in rows, with bases held in a groove, with a layer of foam above to keep mild pressure on the bases and therefore keep them from moving about. Don't try this on an airplane! I wouldn't even try to pack figurines onto an airplane unless it was my carry-on. Small briefcase-like cases work best. Anything deeper than two layers is an increasing problem….

I'm basically the same as Gonsalvo!

Just chuck 'em in a bucket and off they goes!

I give them their marching orders.

Seriously, KR cases for all my figures and The Figures in Comfort ones for all my vehicles.

Interesting thread. I have to fly to play most times and have had mixed success with metal and magnets. I messed up about 25 figures on my last trip. If you care to read the gory details they are here: link

seanswgcorner,

That takes dedication to fly to game,
we need to think of you when we bleat about a 200 miles round trip to a show.

I have never had to put my figures in the hands of baggage handlers, the worst I have had to deal with is forgetting I had figures in the back of the car and going over a series of speed bumps, a bit messy but my own fault.

For my tuppence worth smaller boxes with highish wall 20mm to 25mm with only 6 to 8 figures in each easily made out of cardboard, most of the damage is caused by the figures banging into each other.

Have you looked at specialist boxing/transporting boxes like Figures in Comfort Ltd ?

Steel bases and magnetic lined boxes, though for very big bases I use magnetic bases and steel-paper lined boxes. Boxes are mostly RUB or Tuff boxes.

Thanks Mac1638 I'll take a look at figures in comfort. Battle Foam is from here in Arizona. The real issue with flying is the lack of things that work as carry on luggage. I suppose it may be worth it to think about spending extra on large foam cases and checking bags if I don't want to risk more damage. Right now I only fly with an army about once per year. That may increase in the coming year. All of my figures are individually based.

KR cases.