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So I have to move soon and this means packing up the toys. I'm sure most of us have experience with this sort of thing, but this is the first time for me, so some advice would be great.

We're moving 9 hours away and I don't own an army case. To buy one now would mean buying a case that could fit all my toys. Since last year I've grown my collection to 50+ Marines and a handful of vehicles, so a case to fit all of them would be expensive, and that I don't like! So, I plan on packing them by hand.

Here is what I was thinking. Put every model in it's own ziploc baggy with a bit of tissue, enough so that it doesn't move easily. Then layer all the baggies in a lined box with more packing paper. This way if any pieces get broken hopefully they'll stay with their models. I don't think anything should break, but does anyone have any tips for me?

If you have chaos marines... prepare for broken spikes.
Otherwise do not expect much breakage.

Whatever you end up doing make sure the box with your models in is secure, you don't want it sliding or jiggling about as that may indeed break something. Do not keep metal with metal (more prone to chipping) although a spray varnish may help.

If you shop around you may be able to buy just the foam for a case and layer them in a box, or get some foam sheets and cut them to appropriate sizes.

The bags should work in the sense that if anything does break then you won't lose the parts. You could always try placing a few bags amongst some clothing items for some padding between bags.

They sell bubblewrap by the kilometer now, so buy yourself 3 km of bubblewrap and wrap everything up.

Bubble wrap, and carefully pad them out in layers with more bubble wrap inbetween.

All tanks in bubble wrap, take time but all that bubble wrap should keep your army safe and all packaged nice n intact.

Don't use tissues. I used them one and found they are just abrasive enough to take of a little paint.

Layers of foam or bubblewrap in boxes has always worked for me.

Here's some easy, cheap means:

-Use spare cloth articles such as towels, blankets, and t-shirts as "catch-alls". You can roll up models into pillow cases by lining them vertically and then "rolling". You can put several columns of models in one roll. Then place them into your desired box of choice.

-Use banker's boxes as these are great for carrying foam along with many other ways to protect minis:


-Use that magnetic personality! You have to transport all those kitchen goodies, so why not use brownie and cake pans (preferably with lids) as your new army transports? Purchase rare earth magents, like those found at K&J Magnetics, glue them to the base, and stick them in your pans. Obviously you need iron or steel bakeware to do this, aluminum is not a magnetic material.

-Lastly, egg cartons. I have done extremely well shipping models in egg cartons through ebay and have a stack sitting in a box should I ever wish to ship stuff out. These things protect extremely fragile produce across the country, so why not protect your minis with them? Just use a bit of bubble wrap or other soft material to reduce any wobble and enjoy!

-Still want foam? Buy mattress foam toppers from your local big box chain and cut them up to fit boxes. I still recommend banker's boxes as they are extremely resilient and great for transporting to your hobby store, too.

I hope these tips help!

Bubble wrap.
Sandwich boxes or shoe boxes.

So in the end, shopping bags, some bubble wrap, a big shoe box, and a ton of plastic wrap got the job done.

I had some packing material hidden away, and some foam peanuts, so I was able to make a pretty nice box.

I ended up using plastic wrap because I didn't have any baggies, but this worked better. I just wrapped the marines up 5 at a time, on a big sheet and made little plastic packets. I rolled them up in such a way that there was no paint on paint contact, and the packets seemed fluffy enough. I dropped one on the floor and no breaks, so all layered up in a box with bubble wrap, and peanuts, they should be fine. My tanks I just wrapped up in shopping bags like you would a piece of china. The whole army fits in a box the size of an average computer tower...

We'll bump this one once I unpack them and see what happened!

Good luck with the transit!

Get some double row card boxes, the kind for card games such as Magic or Pokemon, etc etc.. I have 4 of them, and in them I have 1 Baneblade, 1 for Heavy support batteries (manticore and 2 Bassys), 1 for Chimeras (8 inside), and 1 for my Lemans (6 inside). They are rather inepensive, and can be easily be modified to accomidate many vehicles. They are wide enough but snug enough to allow them to fit and not slide around.


Whoops. Looks as if you already packed!

Don't worry. There are others here who could use the info!

Is this the sort of thing you mean?
http://www.chaoscards.co.uk/accessories-c1/card-storage-boxes-c7/bcw-cardboard-storage-super-shoe-box-for-3-000-trading-cards-p25696/

One thing I will mention... Bubble wrap takes up a ton of space! I bubble wrapped my Dreadnought and that sucker became as large as a tank!