What's the best way to transport epic models to minimise damage? I'm saddened by my painstaking converted and painted Raven Guard getting bounced around, chipped and coming apart in my normal GW carry case, despite my efforts to pack in some extra model foam in each square opening of the layered foam with the models I have a lot of Forge World and/or fragile models now, which are mostly irreplaceable - in particular Tau and Eldar Exodite armies that I really want to take care of.

I want to try and get away from foam ideally and am musing on attempting some kind of magnetic system - not where the models are magnetised (I have bad images of them flying off and attaching themselves to nearby or passing metal objects!) - but where the models have some kind of (ideally very very thin) piece of metal securely glued to their underside (possibly scraping/cutting out some of the plastic for this to fit into if I can't get any thin enough to go underneath unobtrusively).

Some kind of sturdy carrying box then, probably with draws, could be used, with layers of thin magnetic material stuck to the bottom. In my imagination then you would be able to place the models on there and have them stay perfectly still during transport, or at worst move around a little horizontally but stay stuck to the magnetic sheet.

Is such a thing possible? Can you get cut-up-able very thin magnetic metal and thin layer magnets that would be strong enough, but not too strong, for this?

Emperor's Shadow has his siege masters magnetised, and thinking about it I'm sure nearly all of Tiny Tim's armies are. I'm sure Tim will be along to explain how any time soon  

I find magnatising has to be though about in advance, then its off to a workshop to get some 2mm/3mm steel cut to shape and hole punched. Slap in the magnetic sheets in the box and you are away.

Now some people like to have magnatised bases and tool boxes. However I think this is madness ( ) as I've seen models in base to base get overly repeled or excited to see each other!

Personally I have a stock of the old GW carry cases (the 2nd ones they made) which open up to reveal two trays, one in each lid, with covers. Not so hot for vehicles but great for infantry.

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I've had dates like that...

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Out of moderately-related curiosity, what do most of you guys use for conventional storage transportation, and what would you suggest for basic transportation?

Currently I'm using an eldar legion cardboard box insulated with some of my girlfriend's scarves (seriously) to carry infantry and a plastic bag and the hope of good luck to carry vehicles. I mean it's not the hugest of deals because nothing's painted yet, but clearly this isn't a long term solution.

My limitations are:
-My budget is small.
-No car, only motorcycle.

Magnetizing your bases is a great idea as well as being very easy and cheap to do. Some items i have wont allow it, so they go in a foam tray. Metal figs are separated, but plastic vehicles can be stored together, especially if you seal the paint.



I am currently using a metal air duct blocker ($5), but any sheet of ferrous metal will work (just cut it to size or glue it into a tray).



I use adhesive sheet magnet on the bases of all my based minis. It is really surprising how much it will hold. Vehicles (as long as they are based) can have the same treatment. The stuff doesnt move, let alone fall off the metal tray. It isnt too strong either, so your minis wont break when pulling them off. I got this 1' x 2' sheet for $10. More than I will ever need.



You can either just put a small amount of the magnet on the base (dreadnought) or, for heavier items, have the magnet cover the whole base (titan objective).

Tackle boxes and pieces of foam have always worked for me.

Plastics like infantry don't weigh enough to cause each other damage, so I put them in compartments together.  Just don't make the compartments too large.

Metals go in with layers of foam (mostly from old blister pack packing) in between.  In the boxes I use, 2 tanks, a layer of foam and 2 more tanks on top is usually in tight enough to keep them from banging around.  If you really wanted to lock them down, you just put another piece of foam on top so they are sandwiched between layers of foam and held in place.

The Plano 3700 boxes are perfect for my use.  Their standard 1.5" deep box will hold about 8,000 points of marines or about 5,000 points of orks.  They have a large variety of box configurations as well.  My Gargants are in a 3" deep box with no dividers.  I just carved holders into a block of foam and set it in the box.

Also, I recently discovered (and by "recently" I mean literally just this past weekend) that the Army Transport foam inserts are almost the same size as the Plano 3700.  They are a bit tight on the length and leave about a half inch open on the width.  So, if you want custom foam trays and a hard box with only a few layers of foam instead of the 6 or 8 high in their transport, for about half the price, you could get the customizable trays and stick them into the Plano boxes.

Another trick I found that I like is using pipe insulation for aircraft.  It's just foam tubing with a slit up one side.  Buy the diameter to fit around the aircraft, cut it to length and you're done.  The insulation costs something like $2 for 4 feet of tubing.  Your aircraft are all now in cylinders of foam, so you can just pack them in a box like cordwood.

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Neal

My plan is to glue steel sheeting (from these guys) to the plastic GW bases, then use self-adhesive plastic sheet magnets (available at most large hobby stores) on wooden or hard board racks.

By the way, I contacted the people in the above link, and got then to make me 12x40mm steel bases, even though they don't have them listed on their site. I did have to buy a bunch of them to make it woroth their while, but as I needed 300+ bases, it wasn't a problem.

i like these guys, http://www.krmulticase.co.uk/mainuk.html they have 6mm trays and customisable solid foam trays for big stuff, thats there uk page but i think there are in the usa too.

the metal cases are very cool

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You intending to punch holes in them yourself? Or stick the models on top?

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'Abolish red trousers?! Never! Red trousers are France!' – Eugene Etienne, War Minister, 1913
"Gentlemen, we may not make history tomorrow, but we shall certainly change the geography."
General Plumer, 191x

Ah, heres what I mean GW case wise.

Also if you want a giggle before being paranoid every time you list something check out completed auction 330337294173 on ebay.

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If using E-Bay use this link to support Tac Com!
'Abolish red trousers?! Never! Red trousers are France!' – Eugene Etienne, War Minister, 1913
"Gentlemen, we may not make history tomorrow, but we shall certainly change the geography."
General Plumer, 191x

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Unless the seller *REALLY* wanted to get rid of it all quickly...

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"EPIC: Total War" Lead Developer

Now living in Boston... any EPIC players want to meet up?

No, more simple than that. Take the standard GW epic base (12.5x40mm OR 20x20mm) and then glue the steel sheet to the bottom of it. The steel sheet is very thin (maybe 0.25mm thick) so it doesn't make the base appreciably taller. This also has the positive benefit of lowering the center of gravity of the models, which is especially useful for metal infantry. Going this route also means you don't have to cut any sheet magnet or worry about competing magnetic fields.

Ah, wise.
One problem I can imagine but never seen reported is rusting. Anyone encountered it?

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If using E-Bay use this link to support Tac Com!
'Abolish red trousers?! Never! Red trousers are France!' – Eugene Etienne, War Minister, 1913
"Gentlemen, we may not make history tomorrow, but we shall certainly change the geography."
General Plumer, 191x