Storing your Armies
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- čas přidán 9. 03. 2024
- How do you store your Armies? Do your Little Metal Men live in cardboard box files, RUB Boxes or metal cabinets? This week I revisit the subject of storage and organisation in your own Operations Room.
- Hry
Order!? Structure? Efficiency!? From chaos comes beauty! 😘
Lol. There's truth in that...but I suddenly develop OCD in a messy environment!
Got a bit frustrated trying to get Bisley where I am, so decided to build my own figure storage trays. Bought wood from hardware store and made simple trays that stack. Not as handy as drawers but work for me. Probably about £10 a tray.
I have a mixture of RUBs and other see through plastic boxes, suitably labelled, and one 10 drawer metal cabinet (full!). In the process of downsizing to fit available storage. I have acknowledged my SABLE situation and striving to become organised.
Mostly RUB and Ikea plastic boxes. Used to use box files but most have gone now. No metal cabinets, some motor industry parts boxes.
I've used the metal tool tray units before. (Back when my collection was much more modest 😆). The bigger ones can be really really expensive.
Thanks for a really interesting and professionally delivered video Lee. Your delivery is so clear and fluid that it’s both easy and enjoyable to follow.. it’s as though you’re using an autocue mate. I can’t think why I haven’t found and subscribed to your channel before now. Just corrected that😁.
I agree entirely with you about a tidy and organised workplace and storage of minis etc.
Before I retired, my colleagues always used to poke fun at how tidy my desk and office were 😁
I’m a fan it the RUB with each being lined with magnetic sheets and the underside on my mini bases similarly lined with magnetic patches so that they are all securely held in position. They then all fit into two Bisley type steel cupboards.
My painting room is similarly organised with paint in racks on the walls and my lead/plastic mountain stored away in two more Bisley type cabinets along with bulkier items of glues, basing materials etc.
Having downsized our house and moved up to NE Scotland it’s been all change on the hobby front, with collections being sold and new projects started. I found the reorganisation both challenging and enjoyable. I think the biggest challenge is that I’ll now be wargaming solo, but I see you have some videos on that too. Very convenient timing.
Like you, I find tidying up very cathartic and organisation rather reassuring. Do you think maybe there’s something a bit odd with us and like minded souls? 🤣😂
Thanks again for the vid and I’ll be making my way through your back catalogue.
Cheers
Keith
Welcome to the channel I hope you find some on my other videos interesting. I do use an Autocue of sorts... I have a promoter playing on my phone which I mount just below the camera for filming. I usually have a written script but I'll often deviate from it a little if I think of something while filming. Having a script helps me to avoid the inevitable umm's, ahhh's and repetitions when talking on camera.
I fully agree mate, I like to have a clean up regularly on my workbench, I like to clean my brushes and pack away, plus I use a handy vac on the floor to clean up off cuts and filings etc.
I am still not completely sorted my army storage though, they are mostly in display cabinets, all keeping to our 18th century home, however only a third is on display. I have wooden shutter filing cabinets for project storage, my other 28mm is in useful boxes and 20mm is in useful boxes. Then terrain is matter, it is spread all over the place.
I must pick up some Bisley units
Cheers
Matt
Mayenne
France
Hey Big Lee! As a very young wargamer, Lo these many years ago, the only option I had was to stuff my beloved collection in Cardboard Boxes in the basement or garage of my parents, when not in use. They were stored there for far longer than I intended. (College, Married Life, & Small Apartments... sigh!) But now... I have some room... and I have taken advantage of it! As we have discussed before, I have "borrowed" an idea from Museums. I have a limited amount of "Display Space" glass shelves available... and from time to time... I rotate through the various times & scales that I have latched on to over the years!
Blenheim Palace was a real eyeopener! Thanks for sharing your experience with us! I can't help but wonder if it would be worthwhile to get Caliver Books in touch with the Blenheim Palace Gift Shop, and see if the shortcomings can be corrected... to the benefit of all involved!
I'm running out of space once again. I'm down to the last cpuple of empty draws. It'll soon be time for a reorganise.
THAT is a GOOD problem to have! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Please keep us updated on how you go about reorganizing your collection! All The Best!@@MiniatureAdventuresTV
Living on a narrow-boat storage is an essential part of daily life. Add to that a collection of war games armies, boards and terrain and you can imagine that I have to be pretty tidy and mindful of how I manage the space available.
Basically I have a number of multi-compartment tool organiser plastic boxes and other plastic containers that fit under the seating in the saloon. Most used armies at the top, least used at the bottom.
Wow, a Narrow Boat. Thats what I call a tight space.
For models - Ikea Billy display shelves, Ikea kitchen wall units on casters on the floor (for buildings and dungeon floors), and a small Bisley cabinet. I have run out of space so books are being relocated to make more shelf space (glass doors to be added).
I did look at the Billy bookshelves when I was putting this room together. In the end I went with the floating shelves that I have now. Part of my problem is that half of the room is an outside wall and prone to damp because it's cold. If I put anything up against that wall it never gets damp and can get mouldy. I have a dehumidifier in the room which helps enormously but I do have to have an annual clean of the walls to stop mould. Inevitable outcome of living in an 90 year old building.
Yes, outside walls are a problem in London - our house is 1905. I am fortunate to have an attic room for my den so there's loft space on the other side of the walls.
When I had a large shed I bought some old display cabinets and had them in there. Moving, and losing that, I fell back to box files, but I only had 25mm armies back then. With progress, and the megalomania that afflicts wargamers, I enlarged my collection to 6mm ancients, renaissance and Napoleonics. Falling deeper into megalomania, I progressed to F&IW, Vietnam, Fantasy and Sci-FI skirmish games and finally, 6mm Bolt Action. I have progressed to plastic filing cabinets, plastic boxes, and small metal and plastic filing drawers. Definitely too many different types of storage systems.
Lol. You definitely have the collecting bug 😆. Is inevitable that we all end up with different types of storage sometimes not even consistent. I know different I just happened to have been able to buy some metal cabinets when I set up this room. I'd love to get more but I've no idea where I'd put them.... I suspect the wife would not be happy if I moved new cabinets into the bedroom 🤣
Assume that may have been on the shout out Zen master, so great to see a revisit. For an out of hand collection, folks might want to look into you can get plastic sheds for under £500 and with 32L under bed storage boxes your old collection/pile of shame you can stash until ready to use or rehome. Obviously you'll need a garage or Garden to make use of, but may help some of us. Your next mission should you choose to accept it is any hints and tips for magazine collections that may have accumulated over time.
I cut down my magazine subscriptions but their still overflowing into other areas of the house. I'll occasionally do a purge and take old copies for the local GP surgery or community centre. And cheekily I'll put a sticker on the back with my website/channel details on 🤣. You never know, it may bring a lost gamer back into the fold??
@@MiniatureAdventuresTVI'm reaching the same point on curtailling hardcopy magazine subs with WSS as an exception but prob signing up as a Wargames Illustarted Virtual Premium as can access all issues from the last 35ish+ years to date. Probably an interesting point though once magazines go virtual and only 1 widespread wargamming store what will the long term influence of this be...
My collection is still fairly small, but I have recently built a custom rolling shelf which fits perfectly under my dining table between the wall and the legs at the far end. It fits my 14 terrain boards on rails, my box with Black Seas models and 4 sorting boxes in which I store some of my tiny men armies, and still has an open end which I can modify as needed. I am very pleased with it.
That sounds like you're very practical solution. Until your collection grows... as it inevitably will 😆.
@@MiniatureAdventuresTV 😂 You bet. I already don't know where to but my boardgames anymore. 🙈
I purchased three Bisley cabinets soon after watching your previous video. I play in 1/72 scale and can fit a WW2 reinforced platoon in each drawer. Infantry only.
I use plastic drawers for vehicles and planes.
I have also spent time and money regarding travel cases and storage. I tried the foam storage that comes with the travel case and it has a tendency to trap firearms and break them. I am going to use a hard container for soldiers and put a magnet sheet in the bottom.
Traveling with minis is important and I currently plan my hobby around taking stuff to shows.
I mount my figures onto steel washers so a self adhesive magnet sheet works great for holding them in place. All my storage drawers have a magnet sheet.
Thank you for sharing!
Cool, I hope you like your Bisley's as much as I do. I'd love to have more but I'll have tp wait for Daughter number 2 to leave home so I can have her larger room.
Have half of my Napoleonic 1/72 troops in a large metal tool box: they’re on magnetic bases which stop them bouncing around even when strapped to the back of a motorbike. The other half are in box files fitted with magnetic sheets. Aesthetically, not the best system perhaps, but it’s portable.
The shameful part is my pile of shame, which indeed is a disorderly assortment of shoeboxes, plastic containers and whatever else is at hand. Which reminds me: I really should pull out all terrain-related items and store them separately. Might encourage me to work on them! 😊
We all have piles of shame stored all over the place...it is nothing unusual. Having them close to hand is useful way of making you get on with painting them though.
Hi Lee; as usual you are still 'right on the money'. There is no substitute for a well organised (dry) storage system. I have a mix of old Govt. metal drawer units, & any variety of other drawers & boxes (incl carboard ones) which live in a dry environment in my games room; these hold everything from armies to terrain & modelling materials. I was fortunate to pick up some glass display cabinets when a local chemist shop closed, which are perfect for displaying models etc.
Display cabinets are the one thing I lack. I haven't really got space for any. I have a couple of display boxes (the sort normally used for scale model ships) but thats about it.
I'm planning a trip to Blenheim Palace with the wife as well as my (adult) kid and their partner but I am somewhat put off by the price. £38 a ticket and a lot of negative reviews on TA concerning value for money. I'm glad you enjoyed it and I probably will go but it's a lot of money when it's only really me that is interested and the others would be happy going elsewhere.
It is expensive to get in but it is an annual ticket so you can go back. The ticket also gets you free entry to the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum in the nearby village (walking distance from the car park so you can do it on the same day).
For those not necessarily interested in the military history side there are quite extensive grounds and a really nice walk to be had. There's also a walled kitchen garden in an area away from the house but within the grounds.
And if you're an English heritage member the new can get a discount off the entry price (I think it was 15 or 20% not sure?).
@@MiniatureAdventuresTV entry to the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum tips the balance for me. Thanks for the tip!
Describing Blenheim Palace as "an arse" made me chuckle. Interesting this as I'm about to tackle my hobby room- any ideas on displaying figures? I'm looking at perspex homemade shelves.
I don't have much room for display, but I use model storgae boxes (the sort used for scale models rather than mini's). Its not a lot on display, but at least its sopmething.
Storage...one of the two tertiary reasons to game in 6mm (No 1 being the ability to do Battles rather than skirmishes, 2 being the spectacle of literally thousands of miniatures in action.) cost and storage are two important bonuses of the scale. So, my 6mm brigades live in 4l RUBs, snug in the Warbases trays that lock them in place. This means I can transport both protagonists for the forthcoming club game of the Battle of Seven Pines in one small box. Much easier, especially as I have an hours train journey to get there. Having used the 'transport RUB' they will, after the return journey, go back to the 'depot RUBs' that each side has. As the collection grows to Fredericksburg size I will simply add more RUBs to the depot and transport 'detachments'. Terrain lives mainly at the club, we have a large lockable store on the Farm Road Social Club premises, and getting large terrain pieces moved on the train is not something I enjoy. The 'fun' I had shifting a four and a half foot long by a foot wide section of a flooded river, down to Sheffield was something else! 😂 It's good to have somewhere to store it 'on site'. So, as you can see, storage, for me, goes hand in hand with transport.
And before you complement my organisational skills in solving the logistic puzzle...I very much 'cut the Gordion knot' and improvise ad hoc solutions rather than plan carefully. Any look at my painting/scratchbuilding areas in mid task would tell you all you need to know about the 'order/chaos balance in my approach...stuff goes everywhere and anywhere.... and the sight of ten or so pizza boxes with homemade flock drying on any flat surface is not uncommon. 😂
Indeed. Most of my units are filled with 6mm miniatures.
I thought I was a genius when I thought of using metal filing cabinets 😒
I have 4, 15 drawer and2, 9 drawer cabinets. Also a couple of smaller cabinets.
They fit 15mm armies perfectly and most 28mm armies too, not too good for spear armed unit, standards or cavalry but that's what the deeper drawers are for.
I paid an average of £45 for them and didn't travel more than half an hour or so to collect. So, when you do the maths, they're quite cost effective, even compared to really useful boxes.
I bought plastic boxes in A4 sizes but sadly I didn't noticed that the buttom wasn't flat, so now I need to find a solution for this.
The struggle is real!
Always 🤣
I started down the RUB road but then the price skyrocketed on this side of the pond
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They are pricey compared to cheaver versions...but they last longer.
@@MiniatureAdventuresTVThis day and age there's no getting away from you get what you pay for. Sure you can get something from poundland and it'll last a year or spend a tenner on a better version and it'll last 10 years.