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Recently my army has expanded to the point where it no longer fits in a box lid. I now need other means of transportation. I saw some stuff at my local game stop but ill be damned if im going to pay $60 for a glorified lunchbox and some foam. does anyone know of a tutorial to build one. or have any idea how i could go about doing it. im having all kinds of trouble even finding foam.

aderdere wrote:Recently my army has expanded to the point where it no longer fits in a box lid. I now need other means of transportation. I saw some stuff at my local game stop but ill be damned if im going to pay $60 for a glorified lunchbox and some foam. does anyone know of a tutorial to build one. or have any idea how i could go about doing it. im having all kinds of trouble even finding foam.

Having tried this same approach, I can assure you that buying foam trays is VASTLY preferable to trying to make your own. You don't have to buy the bag if you don't want to; I recently obtained some plastic bins intended for under-bed storage that are ideal for holding Sabol-size foam trays (4 rows @ 5" deep); I think they cost me about $6/box from Costco. They're useful for storage, while my single Army Transport get armies swapped in and out as needed.

That said, your other option (that actually keeps models semi-secure) is rare earth magnets and a metal-shelved toolbox.

Or, go buy foam from your local fabric-supply store, such as JoAnn Fabrics (they sell it in widths from 1/2" through 4"), and repeat my mistakes.

There are two ways to get this done cheap and without effort:
1. Order foam trays from geedubs. Use the box that the foam trays came in to carry the foam trays.
2. Buy a Plano pistol case

Alternatively cheap with some work:
1. Buy magnets, find a metal box or lay sheet metal in a card board box.
2. Buy Sabol or battlefoam, find some sort of sturdy box that it'll fit in without too much sliding.
3. Buy a tacklebox or toolbox, beg for scrap foam from people with Sabol foam or buy some. Line the box.

i thought of using some plastic tubs like y'all mentioned. as for the foam, the only thing i can find at hobby lobby and such are small squares, say 2'x3' and either too thick, or too thin. And, the stuff is expensive. Foam trays were mentioned, where can you order those?



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aderdere wrote:i thought of using some plastic tubs like y'all mentioned. as for the foam, the only thing i can find at hobby lobby and such are small squares, say 2'x3' and either too thick, or too thin. And, the stuff is expensive. Foam trays were mentioned, where can you order those?

ok i checked battlefoam and GW but that stuff is expensive. where can i buy like packing foam or something. 20 bucks for a set of 3 trays is too expensive, imo.

aderdere wrote:i thought of using some plastic tubs like y'all mentioned. as for the foam, the only thing i can find at hobby lobby and such are small squares, say 2'x3' and either too thick, or too thin. And, the stuff is expensive. Foam trays were mentioned, where can you order those?

i thought of using some plastic tubs like y'all mentioned. as for the foam, the only thing i can find at hobby lobby and such are small squares, say 2'x3' and either too thick, or too thin. And, the stuff is expensive. Foam trays were mentioned, where can you order those?
ok i checked battlefoam and GW but that stuff is expensive. where can i buy like packing foam or something. 20 bucks for a set of 3 trays is too expensive, imo.

Think of the value of the minis you're packing into them, even without considering the time/effort involved in painting them. A single 2" tray will hold 25-40 infantry models, each of which costs $3-$10.

If you're that cost-sensitive, buy the foam and DON'T buy the minis.

What I found to work decently enough was taking a plastic tacklebox and lining the slots with these 1" foam adhesive squares. I found the squares at JoAnn's fabric store. They are only $1.99 for 44 of the squares. It doesn't work so well on excessively spiky models, like Dark Eldar (they rip holes in it), but worked great on Space Wolves.
Before that, I tried to carve holes in blocks of foam, but it didn't work so well. It might just be that I am rather clumsy, but w/e.

TheDiffidentOne wrote:What I found to work decently enough was taking a plastic tacklebox and lining the slots with these 1" foam adhesive squares. I found the squares at JoAnn's fabric store. They are only $1.99 for 44 of the squares. It doesn't work so well on excessively spiky models, like Dark Eldar (they rip holes in it), but worked great on Space Wolves.
Before that, I tried to carve holes in blocks of foam, but it didn't work so well. It might just be that I am rather clumsy, but w/e.

lol actually my units are in a tackle box right now, my main problem is my bulky stuff like my soul grinder for my daemons, or land raider and defiler on my CSMs

My marines are kept in a tackle box.
The trays are lined with the foam sheets that blister packs have in them.
The floor of the box has a sheet of galvanised iron riveted and to it and my rhinos and dreads have magnets that allow them to stay still.

chromedog wrote:My marines are kept in a tackle box.
The trays are lined with the foam sheets that blister packs have in them.
The floor of the box has a sheet of galvanised iron riveted and to it and my rhinos and dreads have magnets that allow them to stay still.

well i found the solution for my infantry units. cheap pistol cases work extremely well ( just picked a few up) i think for my vehicles magnetizing them and making a box for them will work best.

OP - you're in the US! Buy a pistol or rifle case from wallmart for peanuts.

Everything smaller than a landraider or drop pod will fit in those just fine.

I have 15 rhino variants in a cheap rifle case.

Personally, the "foam tray or cardboard box" question comes down to whether the models being packed around are big vehicles or small infantry. For infantry, the foam trays are convenient and cost effective. But for vehicles? How is it cost effective to pay by volume for a foam tray which is going to be mostly huge empty spaces? At a certain point, buying foam trays for everything becomes as silly as buying Monster cables for the sound quality.

I have one soul grinder which gets carried around in a padded shoe box because that was the best shaped container that I could find. My defilers are packed in a spearhead box with dividers made out of spare foam because I made sure that the tops could pivot and come off. My rhinos and land raiders are packed in the nice GW boxes they came in with some foam separators to make sure nothing gets banged up. But the little guys on round bases with their hands inside the magic cylinder, all of those guys are riding in foam trays.

solkan wrote:Personally, the "foam tray or cardboard box" question comes down to whether the models being packed around are big vehicles or small infantry. For infantry, the foam trays are convenient and cost effective. But for vehicles? How is it cost effective to pay by volume for a foam tray which is going to be mostly huge empty spaces? At a certain point, buying foam trays for everything becomes as silly as buying Monster cables for the sound quality.

One word: airplanes.

A few more words: my soulgrinders are in foam trays, with the hole shaped around their legs - they don't move much, which is crucial to long-distance transportation.

What sized sabol trays do you guys use for infantry? The smallest ones seem to shallow for space marines, and when I pack them on top of each other, it presses the mini's into the rubber and they end up all broken.

Do people stand their mini's up straight in them or on their sides?

I use a rifle case and a pistol case, it comes with the foam, I think both cost me under 20 bones!

I've got 4 armies and I'm starting to paint them so I need a case.

I'm definitely considering a battlefoam case, same for their trays, but I'm wondering if I could just get a better case and use their trays in it. I'd prefer not to use a pistol or rifle case since those would be a hassle in the airport.

Can anyone here recommend some good hard cases?

As for the trays, the 1" trays should be fine for most SM, you should consider 1.5 or 2" trays and yes, just stand them upright. Any extra space above the mini makes a nice buffer zone, at the cost of carrying capacity.

I use a metal toolbox I found for $30 and magnets. I can line the bottom and sides of the box with models and have a tray for paints, dice, etc.

$150 Worth of Leather and Tools at Tandy Leather...