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| My long, neglected display cabinet. It is beginning to burst at the seams!! |
Only one challenge remains. The physical operation of packing up and moving every object from our home of seven years and transporting the lot miles down the road. Of course, the hardest parts will be carried out by the removals men. We have opted for a full house pack up ( basically, big burly men will be wrapping and packing all of our possession) and move - with the same big, burly men loading everything into a lorry.
But letting them loose on my miniature collection is just not going to happen. And there lies my problem. How do you safely and easily wrap, protect and transport over three hundred vintage Citadel miniatures?
Have any of you dear readers ever carried out such an operation? If so, how did you accomplish the task? As you will have seen from my photographs, most of my collection comprises of single cast models with a few larger pieces thrown in.
Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated!!!
Thanks,
Orlygg
When I moved from my apartment to my house, I used some wide drawers, put down bubblewrap and some of the foam they use in miniature carrying cases and laid the minis down on their side, inside. Only one layer of minis pr. drawer and then get someone to hold the drawer, while driving with the payload... I could have about 150 miniatures in a drawer, about 30x12 inches...
ReplyDeleteI like your drawer idea - but I am not sure I shall have enough empty ones to warrant in. The Big Burly Blokes in Beige (removals men) plan to lift every item of furniture with the contents still inside. But your suggestion certainly provides food for thought. Thanks.
DeleteI moved a couple of weeks ago, I have close to 1000 painted models of all size (from chaos familiars up to things like Reaper's Cthulhu. In the main I used figure cases and storage boxes. I found some excellent cardboard storage boxes from KR Mulicase, which had space for 4 trays of standard sized models and then 2 trays of 40mm or larger (its semi-pluck so you can choose how large a compartment you want). I bought 2 of these and manage to transport 2 warhammer armies in them. Once I ran out of figure cases (largely for unpainted but constructed figures at this point) I switched over to tissue paper and/or bubble wrap depending on the size. To ensure they were safe I put the models in plastic boxes (Really Useful Boxes) are ideal so the removal men wouldn't have any problems understanding which way up they were supposed to be and to minimise any sideways crushing they might get from being in a shoebox or equivalent. For the really, really rare or sentimental stuff I treated myself to one of the new GW cases with the moving zig zag foam and had that on my lap in the car ride to the new house!
ReplyDeleteHa! I am glad that I don't have that many painted models!! I think I would have a heart attack over moving them. I think I will have plenty of access to plastic boxes though, as my classroom is full of them, and I am keen to test out how effective the kid's trays will be for transporting models. Thank you for your advice Neil.
DeleteI didn't find it that challenging, but then most of my models were already stored rather than on display. I already owned seven or eight figure carrying cases and I just loaded them up. For the irregularly-shaped ones, I used shoeboxes (or similar; printer paper boxes are also good) lined with foam into which I carved little slots. The foam that is used for camera accessories is particularly good here; it has lots of little cells, and you just poke out the cells to get the desired shape.
ReplyDeleteThe most frustrating thing about the move was that, because my custom Kev Adams sculpt from BOYL 2015 doesn't fall into a logical figure category, I have no idea where it is. It's definitely in here somewhere, but I cannot seem to find it. Oh well.
I hope you find your Kev Adams original! The thought of losing track of where models are is a worrying thought that had, up until now, not registered in my mind. Some kind of careful packing strategy is no doubt going to be necessary. Hmmm.
DeleteA4 paper boxes and purpose made cardboard trays that stack into them. I'll put some details on my blog. It's also my standard scenery storage system.
ReplyDeleteYour suggestions have made me think beyond the move and about long term storage of my models. Their ultimate fate will, of course, lie with what the 'Non-Leadhead' (wife) decrees acceptable. Hopefully a spanking display in the palour of our new house. In the perfect world I'd love a permanent gaming table set up. But I expect that that is but a pipe dream.
DeleteMagnets glued to the bases and stackable jewelry trays with glued steel sheets are the solution.good luck ;)
ReplyDeleteI won't have the opportunity to use magnets but blu-tak springs to mind. Thank you for your suggestion, Ruben.
DeleteFile boxes and quilting batting (or wadding). I have american sized file boxes as I also have Battlefoam trays the same size for more permanent storage.
ReplyDeleteSome other grognards have mentioned Battlefoam trays to me. After the move I think I will invest in some for long term storage of whatever I cannot display.
DeleteHi, I can't help with the miniature moving, though I do recommend KR Multicase, the cheapest card storage boxes are excellent, may I recommend these brackets, (of my design) for adding extra shelves to IKEA Detolf cabinets. The IKEA Detolf Cabinet is perfect for collection display, but you can't add extra shelves, my brackets do just that, check them on eBay or contact me directly :)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201611858734?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649
Are you the Richard Helliwell from White Dwarf yore, oft mistook more Richard Halliwell? I love your little invention and will certainly invest in some soon. I just need to track down some decent Perspex to cut my shelves from first! Thanks!
DeleteI also moved house in May moving over 2000 painted and unpainted models and it was not to traumatic. Mine are lmost all stored in A4 box files so I had 15 of them to move as well as some low flat tray with lids for other models (5 of them) The bigger or more awkwardly shaped models I packed in boxes with bubble chips and wrap.(4 more boxes) Unpainted models were bagged in zip bags in shoe boxes. (3 of them) I got a mate to come round with his car and loaded them all in that, (keeping the box files as horizontal as possible), rather than leave them to the tender mercies of the removal men. All in all I had minor damage to just two models with a further couple with shields that had fallen off. I can be done! Best of luck!
ReplyDeleteHello Jerome. Thank you for your advice. Like you, I intend to shift the entire collection first and keep it well away from the removal men's thuggish hands! Not to suggest that our removal men are indeed thugs or in any way thuggish. Always best to be prepared for all eventualities! They may even be Age of Sigmar players!!
DeleteGrats on sorting the house move. I've moved 4 times in 6 years and each time I have always strugled to pack my minis and get them to their new location without damages. I've also lost minis in each move which is a bugger. anyway for the last house move I just put everything ranked up tight in bubble wrap lined boxes, this time not as much damage or repaint :D
ReplyDeleteStill trying to keep one step ahead of Simon Cowell eh? I am sure he will track you down eventually no matter how many times you move and force you to 'perform' again. I like your ranking idea and it is an idea that I would never have thought of myself. I shall experiment with it to see how it works for me.
DeleteThank you Chico-Chops. xxx
When I moved a month or so ago, all my miniatures that are in drawer units were stuffed with enough bubble wrap and tissue that they weren't able to move around, and survived the move unscathed (even when I found one of my friends carrying a drawer unit at a 90 degree angle!)
ReplyDeleteWell there is an image of horror. The 90 degree armageddon. I am sure that my wife has committed such an atrocity in the past! (: Not this time though (I hope!) I am glad your models lived to fight another day!
DeleteClothes drawers and old soft t-shirts. All that stuff has to go anyway, and moving is expensive as it is. The figs displace some shirts, so it is also a good chance to thin the clothes herd a bit as well.
ReplyDeleteI would put at least a double layer of shirts covering the entire bottom, then just start layering figs-shirt-figs until you are full. Spacing out the individual pieces on a layer so the layer above can fit a figure between can help pin everything in place and keep things from shifting. Larger pieces like dragons and the like would get individually wrapped in a shirt. All in all, everything is usually fine, and the few breakages that happened probably would have happened in any sort of figure foam I put them in.
I like your clothing idea. They will provide suitable protection without the need to spend any money, leaving a few quid to spend on yet more models!!!! Thanks for your suggestion Mr. Fiend.
DeleteLast time I moved I had to pack approximately 5000 miniatures. I keep them all in drawers. They stand upright, but I didn't bother to lay them all down in special boxes or anything. I just put 1 or 2 layers of bubblewrap on top, and that was it.
ReplyDeleteMost of my collection is also from the eighties and nineties, and the advantage is those are one-piece miniatures, without too many pointing bits or glued on stuff, so they can take some rough handling.
Neverheless, I didn't allow the movers to touch them. All drawers went into my car and a wargaming-friend's car, so we knew how to handle them.
And if a miniature gets damaged, well, that's life.
Btw, it strongly depends on your collection. I found that people with less than 100 miniatures are for more worried about moving them than people who have to move a few 1000.
DeleteOne thing I forgot to mention: for the really large models such as dragons etc, I put them in cardboard boxes and then filled them up with packing peanuts.
"I didn't allow the movers to touch them. All drawers went into my car and a wargaming-friend's car, so we knew how to handle them."
DeleteA very important point there, Phil. Only a fellow grognard is going to know how to move a precious cargo like a collection of vintage Citadel. As a wise man once said: 'moving exquisite wargaming figures is like making love to a beautiful woman...'
Oh, and I am one of those gamers in your first category (being nearer to 100 than I am to a few 1000) and are therefore rather trepidicious about shifting my collection. (:
I moved from Okinawa Japan to North Carolina, about 12,000+ KM, and had no more than a few bent swords/spears and had to re-attach a few knights to their mounts. Cup boxes and bubble wrap. You have a number of cardboard cells that you can put them to keep unit together also. Larger models, wrapped and put in boxes with packing peanuts and then in a larger box to keep them all together.
ReplyDeleteWow! That is quite a feat - did you send them via air or sea? I am glad that you didn't suffer too much damage and hope that the dice gods are as kind to me on my much, much shorter trip (twenty minutes up the road).
DeleteIKEA cardboard boxes by the tens and plastic storage boxes - plus loads of bubble wrap......carry them gently to the car.....cotton wool is good for short term storage.
ReplyDeleteThanks David. Looks like I am off to Tesco to stock up on packing materials.
Deleteit's actually pretty easy. I moved about four years ago. I have been collecting and painting since the late 80's, so my collection is also filled with "oldhammer" models that I've had far longer than I've known my wife, etc. If you don't have miniature cases, you can move a hell of a lot of them safely simply by carefully putting them in small-med cardboard boxes, wrapped in lots and lots of tissues. 1-2 tissues for a "normal" model, and as many as needed for more complex/multipart/larger models. Larger/heavier towards the bottom, obviously as well as careful placement. Also, move them in your own car.
ReplyDeleteI have used tissue many times in the past but the thought of wrapping over three hundred models fills me with despair. Then there is the disposal of the used tissue afterwards at the tip. With my recent 'Kama Sutra' experience I dread to think what the workmen there will think I have been up to! (;
DeleteI use upholstery foam from the local market (Norwich). Same stuff they make expensive figure trays from but I think I paid about £2 per metre last time I bought some, 10mm thick and easy to cut to size/shape with scissors and glue with UHU from Poundland. That's for permanent cases though, the t-shirt/figure layering system sounds a great way just for moving house!
ReplyDeleteHey mate, I know tissues have already been mentioned, but I recently moved two if those Ikea displays worth of painted lead and plastic using... toilet paper :) it's cheap, so you can use heaps. Can't damage models so you can wrap quickly and can basically just drop them roughly into boxes without damage. I would wrap a model and drop it as I reached for the next one :) bigger awkward models like dragons, I would wind paper around into the wing/arm pits. I packed cardboard boxes to the top with remaining toilet paper and you could transport them upside down for all the models cared. Just label the boxes better than I did!
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, and I have been chucking odd amounts of loo roll into my recycle bin ever since!
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