Moving Miniatures

[terp47]

Folks,

We are going to be moving in the future and will have to spend some time in a temporary apartment with the bulk of our belongings going into storage. I am not going to entrust my 38 miniatures and two diramas to the movers for storage. What would you suggest as a good, safe means to transport and store the miniatures while in temporary quarters? Trying to conserve space. Thank you for your help in advance.

Brian

 

[Blind Pew]

That's a tough cookie Brian. As long as whoever is handling them is aware of their fragility there shouldn't be too much of a problem. I, like many modellers transport figures in toolboxes, which I swear by myself. Although diormas, by their size / complexity alone could present a whole new problem.
Or you could fall back on an old saying I seem to use on a daily basis "If you want a job doing properly - do it yourself!"
Best of luck.

 

[PJ Deluhery]

Hey Brian,

Having gone through the same thing recently my heart goes out to you!

I'm not sure how big your pieces are; and I assume you can't lay them down flat, right? Nothing's simple.

What I did is just a larger scale version of how I pack for a figure show. I got some of those big plastic containers, deep as possible, with the sealable lid (find them at WalMart or other similar store); then I got a sheet of pegboard. I cut the pegboard to fit the bottom of each plastic container, and then screwed each figure to the pegboard. As each pegboard piece got full, I set it (and its precious cargo) into the bottom of a plastic container and put the lid on. I was able to get anywhere from 7 - 12 pieces in one large container. In some cases. I had to fill the plastic container with "packing peanuts" to prevent movement of the piece (even though the base was secure). It worked great! The plastic containers are stackable and water proof. Not one thing broken, though I did move them myself and did not give them to the movers. Don't know where you are storing them, but DO be sensitive to temperature extremes and humidity. One more thing: run a piece of wire (at least as long as the depth of the container) through each side of the pegboard before you insert it into the plastic container. That way, when it's time to unpack, you just pull on the wire on each side and the pegboard will raise enought to get your fingers under it without risking damage to any of your figures. Good luck.

 

[flart1943]

Hi Brian
The best way I have found for transporting models is to set a nut from a smallish bolt (about 3/8 or 5mm) in the bottom of the base, then make a box to to fit the model, I make mine out of cardbord with a wooden base that has a hole so the model can be securley bolted inside the box. I hope this makes sense as it is easer to make then explain.
Pete

 

[Robert Dominick]

I like to use a foam/ sponge type material. It is the same material usually used for gun cases. I cut the foam to the demension box and then the demension of the base making the opening for the base a little smaller. The material is flexable so it will secure the base strongly and also act as a shock absorber. Unless the box is thrown around and is carefully handled, there should be no breakage. I have also used this for bases with glass domes and it works great.