Interlude
“A pause between the acts of a play.”
Or in this case, between posts!
Okay, it was getting to the point where I needed to get myself another storage box for my finished miniatures. I do possess one Feldherr storage box that contains three foam trays, but this is already full of D&D miniatures, and I thought I’d just get more of these, but it wasn’t as easy as it sounded.
Looking at the minis I’d already finished (not too many) and what I’d still got to do (lots), I could see an issue, scale!
From the largest, such as Joan of Arc’s ‘Beast’ (around 200mm tall), down to the smallest, also Joan of Arc, as in the main they’re 15mm scale, and everything in-between (Star Wars: Legion troopers, Speederbikes, and so on; Shadespire; Marvel: Crisis Protocol; etc…) meant that to buy enough trays to fit them all would cost a small fortune – another solution was required.
Well, here it is… magnets and tins!
Looking around my garage for something suitable, I came across a pile of tins that I’d squirrelled away, as they always come in handy for something… eventually. Obviously, I didn’t just want to throw my finished minis into a tin, so I needed a way to keep them nice and safe.
A quick look on Amazon provided the answer – neodymium magnets. These little blighters are amazing. Coming in at 5mm x 1.5mm, they each have a vertical pull of nearly half a kilo, see, amazing!
£7.20 got me a packet of 50, and all I had to do was glue one to the underside of the base (for safety I glued two on the larger figures, such as the AT-RTs), which was nice and straightforward, as the majority of them had hollow bases.
Then I popped them in a tin, labelled it up, and Bob’s your Uncle – instant storage to keep those minis safe.
And safe they are. These magnets are strong. I can hold the tin on its side, upside down, even give it a fair shake, and the minis don’t budge. Admittedly, they will start to slide if given a good, firm shake, but for simple shelf storage, and maybe the odd trip in the car, they’ll hold up just fine.
For those figures on a solid base, though, a little more work is required. I’ve just ordered some smaller magnets, 4mm x 1mm, and to fit them I’ll simply (he says!) ream a small hole into the bottom of the base – I’ll post some pics as, and when I get around to it.
After writing this I did find that Feldherr do a storage box set for Joan of Arc. The cheapest I could find it for was £385, and I still wouldn’t be able to fit all the expansion in!
The Solo Meeple 
There’s the added advantage that when you need more storage – and who doesn’t? – well you’ll just have to buy some more choc biccies to get the necessary tins.
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That in itself is an incentive to paint more miniatures!
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Nice and tidy! I’ve used magnetic rubber and steel paper for years, the former stuck to the bottom of figure bases and the latter stuck into plastic storage boxes. All my 1:600/700th ships are the same, but stored in . . . biscuit tins! 🙂
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Thanks John.
I did consider the steel paper, but then I thought, ‘hang on, I’ve got all these tins doing nothing, are they magnetic?’ Bingo, and, as has already been pointed out by Hexeres, it has its advantages, lol!
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I’ve done the steel paper too, and also had the same thought; Why not just use old tins? I also used the Gale Force 9 magnetic sheets, where they pre-cut the bases to size for you, and while they were somewhat adequate, I have also tried the way you did it and I’ve found your method works better for things like transport because the magnets are stronger.
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Yeah, those tiny magnets are incredibly strong – 10mm x 2mm ones will hold over a kg!
Buying storage solutions can be an expensive game to play, and as I only want something to keep them safe and sound in the garage, then I might as well use what’s available – though there does seem to be Christmas theme going on with the tins!
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