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Hey guys, I’m just starting to get into playing Warhammer 40K at my local game store, just trying to find a convenient way to safely transport my army, while still looking aesthetic. I’m open to buying a case or building my own, feel free to share photos of what you use as well! Thanks!

I’m a fan of KR Multicase. When buying cases they were a nice mix of quality and cost, and I like the modularity.

Old pic, buy you can get the idea of a mix of custom trays and basic ones, mix and match foam into the cardboard boxes, slap them in a bag and good to go.

For my Tyranids, the claws sticking out in every direction seemed a bad fit for the soft foam trays. I went with a magnetic build your own option:



A little tricky to set up, but a good answer for certain armies.

I semi- recently went through this and here are my thoughts

1) Foam
a) Protects the most, but if models are not varnished well after painting it can cause some rubbing of paint over time.

b) Will pack the least number of models for a given space, because around the models you have to have foam. For modern GW armies which are often both numerous and have big models this can mean that you fast end up needing a lot of foam and thus a lot of bags.

For regular car/walk/transport to local game sessions its a bit overkill on protection for most people for larger forces, but can be idea for smaller ones.

Both KR Multicase and Battlefoam are popular here. KR is more affordable of the two and both are quality products.

2) Magnet trays in Really Right Struff boxes (as shown above)

a) Magnets are great because they let you pack the most number of models in a given space. RRS boxes can be stacked and easily carried and let you transport a good number of models.
Of course powerful jolts/bumps can cause magnets to detatch (either from the sheet or from the glue).

For regular "home to hobbystore" this is fine; for things like air travel you'd likely want foam.

3) Magnetic rack bags/carrycases

This combines the bonus of magnets with cases.

Battlefoam makes a whole range, with one downside that right now their mangetic racks have fixed height spacers between them. You can swap the spacers out but it takes time and is fiddly.

A few other parties have been making racks that use slide-in trays which are much better for being able to change up your configuration on the fly as you just slide the rack into a different slot.




Personally I went with Battlefoam and magnetic racks with sliders that they make. It was not the cheap option, but I greatly value the fact that the bags are basically a "one bag holds it all" in terms of having pouches and pockets for books, gaming accessories and other things.
For my Tyranids foam wasn't an option; its too bulky in storage space and I'm not flying or bashing the case around to need the added protection.

Many of the slider rack magnetic cases on the market only do model holding and have no slots/pouches to carry anything else; though they can be more affordable an the sliding racks are great at fast changing your configuration.

For me being able to have one bag that just does it all was a big boon





And don't be afraid to mix and match. Eg a regular backpack can do all the carying of "other things" and then you've got your boxes with magnet sheets or such for the models. Or a Battlefoam 720 tp carry mostly everything and then a separate carry case or such for more stuff.

Thank you for the replies, both very insightful and will help me make a decision. I am leaning towards the magnetic option, I will likely build my own for it.

For magnets keep in mind for models you want the magnet under not the middle of the base, but ideally where the model contacts the base as that's the strongest point for the model. IF this end up being on the edge, esp of a larger model then a weaker one on the opposite side can help just stop the model spinning around its magnet.

I ended up buying something similar to those “really useful boxes” from Staples, and magnetic sheets for my first attempt at a box. I’m waiting for my minis to cure after supergluing magnets to the base now and I will test it out. I actually bought a couple pieces of thin sheet metal from a hardware store near me to have a stronger magnetic attraction and I will test and compare that as well. I cut the sheet metal with tin snips, and will round the sharp edges off with a grinder and file.
I’ll post photos and my opinion on each option on Friday. Right now I’m thinking the sheet metal inside the box is the way to go, just more likely for the minis to stay put where you want them, and it’s not so heavy that it is cumbersome.

I found that just the sheet magnets were not grippy enough, but the thin sheet metal worked a lot better. I used little balls of green stuff on top of the magnets and pressed them down under the base on my cutting mat to fet them as flush to the bottom of the base as I could. The magnets are thinner then the base is deep, so you loose some grip with the distance. I have had a few pop of the bottom of the bases, and superglued them back on. I should go back and put some extra glue on all of them to help the bond..

 Nevelon wrote:
I found that just the sheet magnets were not grippy enough, but the thin sheet metal worked a lot better. I used little balls of green stuff on top of the magnets and pressed them down under the base on my cutting mat to fet them as flush to the bottom of the base as I could. The magnets are thinner then the base is deep, so you loose some grip with the distance. I have had a few pop of the bottom of the bases, and superglued them back on. I should go back and put some extra glue on all of them to help the bond..

Keep in mind adding more glue doesn't increase the bond; it just adds more layers of glue holding glue.

What helps is

1) Scoring the underside of the base with the tip of a blade in the spot that you are going to apply the glue and magnet. Scoring increases the surface area and the angles on the surface and makes for a much stronger bond

2) Scoring the magnet (make sure you check the polarity first so you score the correct side). Same as above.

3) As you've already done applying some greenstuff to give the magnet support on the sides helps a lot

A word to the wise, if you take those through a stateside TSA checkpoint, they are nor the most careful of federal agents (and that bar is pretty low).

Take them with you, through security checkpoints and explain what you have before you go through, as resin residues can trigger some of their equipment.

I have first hand experience with this.

To be fair if I were flying or going anywhere where things were out of my hands I'd recommend and use foam over magnets.


Foam can take a knock and a bounce; magnets are at a much greater risk of the join breaking and now the model is a flying bullet in your case.

I used to carry miniatures in old boxes with paper towels and bubble wrap. Never suffered any chipping, rarely breaking.

I got a foam filled miniature carrying box as a Christmas gift from my wife. It has its pros, but also, for the first time in more than 20 years I started to notice chipping.

I don't recommend foam, especially if you have a lot of metal models. Boxes with bubble wrap/paper towels all the way !

Can't use them myself now, though, unfortunately ;P

Metal and foam do not mix as well as plastic does. Paint gets rubbed off my metal models, yet the plastics have no issues.

Also, having resin models (Finecast, I mean you) in contact with other items can cause bending. None of my Finecast models have faired well in foam. Bendy weapons and poles are a big problem there. Just laying them down causes warping.