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Made in jp
Crushing Black Templar Crusader Pilot






Hey guys! Hope you're all having a decent-to-good Friday.

We've had two reasonably big (4.5 Magnitude) earthquakes here in the last week. I live in a bit of Japan where earthquakes are remarkably rare, so two in pretty short succession (we've had more in the last 6 months, too) is... troubling. Geologists have been saying for a while that we're due a "big one" sometime this decade, so it stands to reason that it just might come.

I was reviewing my emergency supplies tonight, when a thought occurred to me. A pretty infantile one, considering that there's a chance (a small one, these quakes shouldn't be too monumental, the main cause for concern in this region is really more that because we don't get them so often, buildings aren't regularly built to be quake-proof, and certain precautions like turning off the gas etc. aren't regular behaviors out here, unlike in more quake-prone parts of Japan.) Plus my town specifically is reasonably far from the sea, but also not among the mountains) that I'm talking about a life-ending natural disaster.

How do I keep my little plastic space men safe?

I keep my unpainted stuff in a pretty sturdy (to my shame, chest of) drawers, that I think stands little risk of falling over. And, as everything is only primed, it'd be a bummer, but most likely not unfixable if that tumbled.
My painted minis are in little clear display cases, on top of my TV stand. Being in cases, I reckon they're probably okay, but might slide about and get damaged in there if the cases were to come off the stand.

Anyone got any hints or tricks for protecting stuff like this, esp. in an earthquake? Any experiences? I know there's a fair number of Americans here, so some of you must live in earthquake-y places. Anything you've done that's surprisingly saved your lil dudes? Alternately, anything that you did that (rest in eternal war) unwittingly led to your boyos getting squished?

Thanks for dropping by!

As a side-note...

...much stronger than a 5 magnitude... will probably just flatten my apartment. The building is a bit flimsy, and the walls etc really aren't that thick, or that insulated at all. If the building comes down, I know, realistically there's very little hope for my intrepid crusaders. In that case, I'll be counting my blessings, not my bolter shots.

It's less of a bummer than dying, man.
   
Made in gb
Storm Trooper with Maglight





United Kingdom

Have you thought about magnetising the bases and attaching them to trays inside a magnetic carry case? Something like this might be a bit more sturdy?
https://miniaturestorage.com/magnetic-miniature-case/
   
Made in gb
Been Around the Block





Your local Tokyu Hands store (Kanazawa?) Should have some sort of earthquake proofing supplies, I imagine some kind of adhesive putty like blutac that you can use under your bases. Or magnets.
   
Made in fi
Locked in the Tower of Amareo





 trephines wrote:
Have you thought about magnetising the bases and attaching them to trays inside a magnetic carry case? Something like this might be a bit more sturdy?
https://miniaturestorage.com/magnetic-miniature-case/


Not sure how strong earthquake that helps. I have been in simulation in Japan. Strongest one I tried we 4 adults were being dragged around as we were trying to hold the table that was flipping back and forth. Kids were having fun seeing us adults being thrown around

Though if he is worried apartment won't survive big one guess magnets not holding on big one is least of worry.

Though midwrite rethink. I tried box with bunch of models magnetized and only model I was able to shake out of it's place(and I shook pretty damn hard) was metal ranger of north. So if you are dealin with plastic/finecast infantry models indeed magnetized solution could work. Metal models are likely going to just fly off as are bigger models(tanks etc) but better than nothing.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2020/09/04 20:26:37


2024 painted/bought: 109/109 
   
Made in us
Ancient Venerable Dreadnought




San Jose, CA

The Loma Prieta quake in 89 was gnarly. We were in Los Gatos (10mi away from epicenter) at my grandparents.
I was doing social studies homework while watching the world series and all of the sudden it looked like the street was rolling like water. I slid under the kitchen table and went for a ride. I can still remember the look on my 4yo sister and grandmas faces like it was yesterday. I was having fun & they were TERRIFIED.

But my grandparents collectables didnt fall since they were all stuck w blue tac.
so I'm a big believer in the power of earthquake putty.

   
Made in us
Infiltrating Broodlord





United States

"How do I keep my little plastic space men safe?"

Put them in a suitcase or some other sturdy container.

Honestly, if an earthquake hits, your minis should be the least of your worries. Take care of yourself, have plans, etc...

Stay safe.

Ayn Rand "We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality" 
   
Made in jp
Crushing Black Templar Crusader Pilot






Juxtimon wrote:Your local Tokyu Hands store (Kanazawa?) Should have some sort of earthquake proofing supplies, I imagine some kind of adhesive putty like blutac that you can use under your bases. Or magnets.


Damn, this is a really specific bit of advice. What doesn't Tokyu Hands do?
Already got some blutac (I'm a teacher), so I'll deffo think about that, considering Racerguy's post.

Racerguy180 wrote:The Loma Prieta quake in 89 was gnarly. We were in Los Gatos (10mi away from epicenter) at my grandparents.
I was doing social studies homework while watching the world series and all of the sudden it looked like the street was rolling like water. I slid under the kitchen table and went for a ride. I can still remember the look on my 4yo sister and grandmas faces like it was yesterday. I was having fun & they were TERRIFIED.

But my grandparents collectables didnt fall since they were all stuck w blue tac.
so I'm a big believer in the power of earthquake putty.



Just checked out the Loma Prieta quake. That's for real a really huge quake. If it gets above 6 magnitude, like, I think I'm writing off all of my earthly possessions out here
Very glad that you were okay, though. The biggest quake I've ever been in was in Tokyo. It was over 5, and everything went a bit wobbly, and then back to normal. But most buildings out there are reasonably earthquake proof.
I can't imagine what 6.9 must have been like. BUT - sounds like blutac worked like a charm.

BuFFo wrote:"How do I keep my little plastic space men safe?"

Put them in a suitcase or some other sturdy container.

Honestly, if an earthquake hits, your minis should be the least of your worries. Take care of yourself, have plans, etc...

Stay safe.


That's the plan. The suitcase thing is an interesting shout - there's a part of my house that I reckon is really really sturdy, and provided a) the downstairs neighbor's apartment doesn't collapse funny and b) the neighboring apartments don't collapse funny. It's also where I keep my emergency supplies, and coincidentally, my suitcase. Will give that a very real consider.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2020/09/05 09:24:07


 
   
Made in us
The Marine Standing Behind Marneus Calgar





Upstate, New York

Foam trays in hard cases might be good for cold storage. You don’t get to have them on display, but they should be pretty safe. KR Multicase, Battlefoam, etc.

Or foam in boxes on sturdy shelves. Hopefully she shelf is stong enough to keep the boxes from being crushed if a bit of ceiling comes down.

But most mini cases are designed to take a little rough handling and bouncing around. Drop a house on it, not so much. But up to that point it should keep damage to a minimum.

   
Made in us
Ancient Venerable Dreadnought




San Jose, CA

After having gone thru the 89 quake, I have ZERO interest in anything higher, like San Francisco in 1906. which makes 89 seem like a mild tremor.
   
Made in us
Inspiring SDF-1 Bridge Officer





Mississippi

Used to live in California, but left before a big one hit (I think it was a 6. something).

Besides the mentions of the magnetic bases, you probably also want to secure the cabinet/bookshelf. I've seen cloth straps used in that case - secure one end to the the bookshelf frame and the other to a wall stud. A lip on the shelf side would be a good idea as well so trays or boxes don't get "walked" off the edge.

Wasn't the last really big earthquake in Japan/Tokyo sometime during WW2?

It never ends well 
   
Made in gb
Been Around the Block





 Stormonu wrote:

Wasn't the last really big earthquake in Japan/Tokyo sometime during WW2?


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_T%C5%8Dhoku_earthquake_and_tsunami

The fourth biggest quake in recorded world history was less than ten years ago in Japan, people mostly remember the tsunami it created and the three nuclear meltdowns it caused though.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2020/09/09 06:56:16


 
   
Made in us
Inspiring SDF-1 Bridge Officer





Mississippi

Yikes! I had remembered that earthquake/tsunami (and the Fukishima disaster), but hadn't realized it was that powerful. I was actually attempting to remember if there had been one directly centered in Tokyo.

(looks like the one I was thinking of happened in 1923, before WW2, striking primarily Yokohama - https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-great-japan-earthquake-of-1923-1764539/)

It never ends well 
   
Made in gb
Stalwart Veteran Guard Sergeant





England

I’ll second what’s already been said- blutack them into a small sturdy container. Make sure that your safety’s assured though!

See that stuff above? Completely true. All of it, every single word. Stands to reason. 
   
 
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