Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Okay. I am new to this hobby, and I was wondering, when I store stuff in a bits box, do I take it off the sprue first, or do I bung the sprues in there too? The positives is that it would get me to keep the bitz together. The downside is the extra room needed.

I sort everything into tackle boxes, it keeps things sane, sprues are nice cut up into random chunks for rubble.

Depends on the part. If you've got a lot of little parts together and the sprue is fairly small then keep them on the sprue. Also some parts are very fragile and more prone to breaking on their own, the sprue supports and strengthens them.

Otherwise I cut all parts off the sprue. Sprue takes up a lot of space when large parts are spread out. There's also the problem that when a lot of sprues are in a box together you risk pulling or twisting a part off the sprue and damaging it.

The main question you should be asking is how to store bitz.

The answer is to go to a hardware store and get a screw box with lots of compartments, buy another one while you are at it.

Remove your bits from the sprue and compartmentalise them for easy storage and access.

Soon you will have a decent bitz box that you can find things in and wap from. Save all your bitz swap out stuff you dont need for other stuff, need it or not to diversify your bitz. Fantasy armies run up huge numbers of command bits, banner especially, keep the and swap some - not all - of them. Any of those bits could come in handy, and you will suprise yourself often when and where.

I get storage boxes (similar to tackle boxes) and the brand I get ranges from able to fit a rhino (clipped off sprue) easily in one of its 3 compartments down to narrower ones that can easily fit 10 sets of legs etc in one of its 32 compartments.

I clip off the parts and sort them according to unit and type of part.
However for the real fiddly bits (grenades, pouches, sights) I just leave them on a stick of cut down sprue and put them in the appropriate compartment.

Yeh, cut off sprue and put arms, legs, heads etc. and vehicle parts for example in one of the larger compartments.

Waaagh_Gonads wrote:However for the real fiddly bits (grenades, pouches, sights) I just leave them on a stick of cut down sprue and put them in the appropriate compartment.

I just keep them in a small sealable clear bag, but your idea sounds better.

I take them off the sprue and put them in a plano 3700 box with little compartments. I do have a box of sprues that I use for rubble once they are cut up.

One thing I have noticed is that Bitz tends to grow in the box.

Warrior 50

Haha yeah they do! "Hey where the hell did this come from?"

I have most of my bits organized into multiple "screw" storage containers/bins and even have the drawers labeled as to what is inside of them (no, really ). I also have a spare bin to hold the future projects I am working on with each drawing contain all the necessary parts to make a model/squad. I have enough ziplock bags stored near the boxes to contain each drawer separately in case I ever have to move the boxes more than a few feet (imagine the fun of someone dropping a bin or three with a few thousand tiny little bits each).

I never liked the screw storage things. I fell in love with some craft supply holders from Hobby Lobby. Oh, and as you can see, some of my stuff says on the sprues. Depends on how much is left on it or not.

I have many multitudes of old (very thoroughly washed and de-labelled) jam jars, sauce jars, coffee jars etc to keep all my bits in. Then all the jars go into a small chest of drawers in my room that's full of drawers. I clip absolutely everything off the sprue and rationalise it all into jars. I've got jars of legs, jars of right arms, jars of left arms, jars of torsos, jars of grenades, pouches, ammo clips etc etc, jars of heads, jars of armour plates... the list goes on...

It depends how much stuff you keep unassembled at any one time. I've got about 90 boyz and about 10 vehicles all in jars and boxes, all de-sprued. When I feel like building a new unit I just go through and pick out whatever bits I feel like. It's not the most efficient way I guess, but it gets away from the one unit from one box feel you see when you look at some armies.

I just threw all my stuff in system-based jars, and shoved 'em up my shelf. Allways makes for a lot of digging though, not very convenient. I advise to cut your sprues in small stillsprued pieces, makes it easy peasy .

I put my stuff into plastic bags and then place those bags wherever I have room for them. Seems to take up less room than dedicated storage bins.

I buy cheap candy tubs at a £1 a throw. I'm going to eat candy anyway and I get a free tub for my organized bits. Legs/Arms/arms with weapons/weapons etc.

i prefer to take them off the spure as i use them for basing and stuff and i have a massive takle box but i always think it needs more bits lol

My bits boxes are the plastic things that come in various squad boxes...Already divided into different sized areas.

I still have a lot of stuff on sprues, but I'd like to eventual get it off the sprues. It's too hard to find when it's on a sprue.

All my bitz, no matter how small, are all de-sprued.

I find it drives the creative juices when rooting around. I might be looking for a specific bit when I stumble across something even more suitable!

I also de-sprue everything with the exception of the plastic marine heavy weapons. It's annoying trying to work out which arms are which so I just cut the sprues enough to seperate the weapons and put them in a bag. That way I can biff the excess sprue I don't need and save space.
Things like seals, grenades, knives etc go into their own container with a lid, the rest of the stuff is divided up into type and stored in a screw/nail compartment box.

Another thing you can use are plastic coin bags from the bank. Store the bags in a box or hang them off nails.

De-spruing probably caused my personal worst hobby-related-injury. I was cutting down sprues, using a probably-should-have-been-replaced Xacto knife, and sliced deeply into the tip of a finger. Cut through nearly a quarter inch of finger nail and the flesh under it. Had to just hold it until it stopped bleeding, wash it, and let it grow out.

It healed OK, though.. I can't even remember or tell which finger it was.

I tend to just cut out pointless chunks of sprue, but I'd rather have small bits (which is what a lot of leftovers are) on a sprue than rattling around loose. I have a parts-box for stuff that is disconnected or still small, while larger chunks stay in boxes. I pretty much sort by manufacturer, although I will try to keep similar stuff together.

I got a big tackle box that's about 2 feet tall.. it has 3 removable & sealable trays full of little square inserts so you can make little pockets in each one any size you want, and the top of the box has a really big compartment that opens up and that's where I keep all my paints. Lately though I've been keeping stuff on the sprue and keeping a big box from a tank or large model and keeping sprues in there.. and my baneblade box is full of random guard sprues that I have yet to clip off. One day when I'm bored enough.......

anyway the tackle box cost me like $8 at k-mart and comes in real handy since I can pack almost all of my modeling tools and stuff in it too, makes it easier to move