Custom Case Solutions

To me, an important part of starting a new army is determining how you will store and transport your miniatures. Why spend literally hundreds of dollars and hours purchasing, assembling and painting your models if they're going to get scratched up the first time you take them to a game? I've seen lots of people who toss their minis in a shoe box or a plastic bag then have to sort them out when they show up for a game. It frustrates me to no end.

In my miniature gaming career I've gone though several different case solutions and have come to rely on custom cases for most of my models. I still own the occasional GW figure case for regular sized infantry but find that they are rarely ideal.

My first foray into custom cases came with my first 40K army. I needed a way to store and transport the tanks I bought for my Tau army. I was in college at the time so I didn't have that much free cash nor a lot of room to devote to the hobby. This case is a tackle-box that has been lined with foam to help secure everything.

Foam is key in protecting your paint jobs. This particular foam came from inserts used to secure a window air conditioning unit. They are simply hot glued into the case. The Devilfish chassis are stacked on top of each other with a layer of foam placed between them. There are also spots for Crisis Suits and Broadsides. The top part of the case holds models on 25mm bases. I stored Drones and Kroot there.





I made my next custom case for Eldar Wave Serpents. Again, this is a tacklebox that has been lined with foam. This time I used electrostatic-safe foam that came from a computer motherboard box. There are also some GW foam squares from blister packaging. For this case I had to use my Dremel tool to cut some of the plastic away from the case to make room for the tanks. The foam was hot glued into place.




Next case! Necrons and another tacklebox. This is a large case designed to hold three Monoliths. I spent a lot of time measuring tackleboxes in the store before I found the right one. The Monoliths nest into the case and small pieces of foam slip between them to prevent the paint from rubbing. The foam used for this case came from a pick-and-pluck tool box insert.




Up until this point I have been using a custom case and a GW figure case in tandem. With my Guard army I decided to go custom foam all the way. I picked up many more layers of the pick-and-pluck tool box foam and went to town making figure trays. The models go in head first to maximize storage space. This has the added benefit of allowing me to write notes on the bases. The best part about this system is that all my layers fit into a standard cardboard box for easy transport. This is by far my favorite system and the most cost effective. It's easy to add a layer or completely re-work a layer as the army grows and expands.







What do you guys use for cases?