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Hey guys,

So I was going through my bits box earlier and realized that it is terribly disorganized. I have bits from SM, IG, and Tau all mixed together, with parts from vehicles, infantry, AOBR, Battleforces, old metal bits, all sorts of things. So then I started thinking that I would organize my bits into categories like IG infantry weapons, heavy weapons, vehicle parts, etc. My question to Dakka is how do you guys sort and organize bits? All in one box? Or separate by army, unit, weapon type, head design etc?

honestly, my bits are all just in a ziplock bag at the moment.

i'd say sorting by army would be good enough for most

I have several boxes (10+) and I keep them army-specific.

I recently finished sorting my bits out!

My wife bought me a couple of screw/fastener organisers from a DIY store (basically 20 small plastic draws in a rack) and I set to work getting all my bits off sprues and out of various cardboard boxes. Its saved me a ton of space and all my bitz are now on a corner of my painting table so I don't need to hunt for stuff next time I want to convert something!

My stuff is now divided up into:
40k: heads/bodies; infantry weapons; vehicle weapons; vehicle parts; miscellaneous
Fantasy: heads/bodies; melee weapons; missile weapons; miscellaneous
Bases: round; square; flying
BFG/Epic bits
Banners (and spare fantasy instruments)
Chaos Spiky bits!
Building pieces

and the spare trays hold my sand, gravel, flock, static grass, clump foliage and things like modelling chain.

It took a good few hours of work to get everything sorted but I managed to throw out 4x boxes and 3 bags of rubbish and now all my tools, bits and paint fit onto one table! Well worth the effort...

My bits are by army and then by type.

So, my marine box has sections for:
marine body parts
marine weapons
scout parts
terminator parts
vehicle weapons
vehicle parts
grenades/pouches
etc

I'm considering dividing up the marine body parts as it's impossible to find anything in there.

BTW, if you're buying an organiser box, make sure the sections can be lifted out (i.e. each section is a little pot, not just a box with dividers) - these are much better for dealing with small parts.

I have a tool box full of absolutely random bits, and also a couple f cardboard boxes with sprues for current army projects. That way I know all the 'base' bits I need to add a new unit are easy to find and kept safe on the sprue, while for conversions I have all sorts of bits to look through for inspiration outside the standard army parts.

Life's too short for me to worry about it.

I sorted a friend's bits once.


First seperate them by army. Then into the following categories. Marines are used as an example here.

Pintle weapons
Sponson weapons
Turrets
Left arms
Right arms
Left Terminator arms
Right terminator arms
Heads
fronts of bodies
backs of bodies
pairs of legs
backpacks
weapons without attached hands
Icons and symbols
bases
Large vehicle pieces
small vehicle pieces
bike parts
seated or vehicle mounted marines (for bikes and vehicle hatches)
plastic stuff you can't identify
pewter stuff you can't identify

I have a drawer devided into compartments, with thing seperated by army and then by infantry and vehicles, with a couple of random boxes. I'd devide it down more but I use my bits box a lot, so it's never especially full.

Keep all my bitz organized, picked up a screw organizer case a while ago.

First by army (SM/IG/Tau/other)
then by guns/bodies/ heads/accesories/
pieces I don't know what to do with yet but don't want to throw away have a different space.

Tank bits have a separate multi-section box. again based on army.

You don't have fishing tackle boxes?

They have lots of compartments for organizing, and are translucent so you can see what's inside.

Plano makes nice ones.

JohnHwangDD wrote:You don't have fishing tackle boxes?

They have lots of compartments for organizing, and are translucent so you can see what's inside.

Plano makes nice ones.

I actually use one of Plano's tackle boxes to carry my army in... it's pretty nice.

I just use the Mordheim, Warhammer fantasy and Skull Pass boxes for my bits until I can find the motivation to sort it all.

I recently sorted all my bitz too, spring cleaning I guess lol. I use tackle box organizers for those. They come in a bunch of different sizes for cheap, and are clear. Works perfectly.
I also carry m,y army in a tackle box. Its great until your army outgrows the box of course

My desk and the box next to my desk are my bits box. I organize it by sweeping everything on my desk into the box whenever it gets too cluttered.

I have one of these http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100023878&N=10000003+90401+502400

But I need 2-3 more :( These things are great, cause you can see what stuff is in the drawer. OR you can label them with a bit of masking tape.

Neil

neiltj1 wrote:I have one of these http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100023878&N=10000003+90401+502400

But I need 2-3 more :( These things are great, cause you can see what stuff is in the drawer. OR you can label them with a bit of masking tape.

Neil

I had one of those and it sucked. There is no backing on them and if you knock it over the bitz go everywhere. I just use craft boxes with dividers, sorted by army. I got it at "The Container Store", but if you can find a container store you ought to be able to sort out an organizational system that works with their containers.

Elnicko5 wrote:

neiltj1 wrote:I have one of these http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100023878&N=10000003+90401+502400

But I need 2-3 more :( These things are great, cause you can see what stuff is in the drawer. OR you can label them with a bit of masking tape.

Neil

I had one of those and it sucked. There is no backing on them and if you knock it over the bitz go everywhere. I just use craft boxes with dividers, sorted by army. I got it at "The Container Store", but if you can find a container store you ought to be able to sort out an organizational system that works with their containers.

Mine is mounted on the wall above my workspace in my gameroom. Which is why I like it. I have no more room in my closets.


Neil

I use the plastic insert cases for fishing boxes

http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&q=fishing+boxes&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=atsuSo_rFojUNIDhsPsJ&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title

Small lidded boxes which are compartmentalized! I then sort by ranged weapons, CC weapons, arms, shoulder pads, wargear, backpacks, legs, torsos, and vehichle assessories. I do the same for my nids.

I have all the bits from Marines, Dark Angels, Tau, Chaos Marines, Grey Knights and Tyranids all shoved into the same Leman Russ box.

I can't find exactly what I want, but I'll find something that will work.

Bits organiser.
Like for electronics or stuff.
Multi-drawer compartmentalised thingy.

One drawer for each bit. SM left arms, R arms, legs, torsos, backpacks, heads, guns, accessories.
Likewise for the eldar and guard bits.

I use the Plano tackleboxes. I bought a bunch of used stuff when a guy was saving up to visit his mail order bride..that's a tale to tell one day..

He had organized his bits just like I do.

One tray for Space Marines and/or IG body parts and weapons, one tray for Space Marine and/or vehicle bits, one tray for Ork body parts, one tray for Ork vehicle bits, one tray for various.

No matter how hard I try, I'm still short left handed fists...

Plano containers... they work pretty good.

I use cigar boxes, A diff 4 ea. army ( Wolf's Bro's cigar 4 my space wolfs)

I have a little box for holding screws, bolts and whatnot. I just organize it by bit type - heavy weapons, bolters, etc.
Can pick up similar containers anywhere.

Plano storage boxes.

The compartments are pretty specific.

For Orks, I divide up like this:

heads
bodies
legs (usually don't have many of these)
left shoota arm
right shoota arm
left slugga arm
right slugga arm
empty left arm (for holding shootas)
empty right arm
special weapon arms (big shoota, power klaws, rokkits, etc)
Also have some spaces for Nob arms/bodies
Other orky bits (glyphs, ammo piles, boss poles, etc)
Space marines are divided similarly.

I don't have a lot of vehicle bitz, so one large spot works for that.

I usually organize my bits by intended project (or their leavings). My marine bits are in ziplock bags, by body type,weapon category or other decorative use. This also includes any no-Marine bit that I intend on using on my marines. Those 15 or so bags are in one of those big GW bags. Also, any full SM tank sprues are in a box. Eldar, O&G and random stuff I have aqcuired for no reason each are just thrown into their own boxes right now. Having moved a lot (and not always packing my own stuff) I havn't even tackled those jobs.

For my current project, Chaos Dwarfs, I have lots of bits to chaos up the little guys. I got a 22" Black and Decker tool box at Wal-Mart for $10. I also got 5 little screw organizers for $3 each, plus an old bead organizer that my niece didn't need anymore. They are set up very specifically (right arms with swords, right arms with other weapons, bare right arms...) So for around $25, was able to to get a new home for my modeling supplies and bits system I really like. I think that its important to be able to find and keep track of the stuff you will be using in the near future. For everything else keeping everything clean and damage free is probably more important than super sorting.

I use the plastic containers that GW puts in some of the boxes to keep the metal minis seperated. They are small have 5 compartments in them, stack well and are clear so you can see whats in them. Put each armies bits in their own box or boxes as needed. Just reusing what I already have and over time you accumulate alot of them.

Each time I buy a new army, I buy a big plastic organizer with compartments. You can get them in the fishing section of Wal-mart or you can get them cheeper over in the tools section. They are used there to keep screws, nails and etc seperate. Then as I build the army any spare bits go into the organizer. This keeps your army bits seperate from each other, and makes it generally pretty easy to locate whatever bit you need!

Lots of my stuff is still on the sprue (bad habit of changing projects halfway through), so I have big plastic storage boxes 16"x12"x7" for each of my armies - I'm currently on 11 of them and a big box of anything that doesn't fit into one of those catagories