What do you use to store your ships?

By Mud Turkey 13, in X-Wing

Any stores sell the kind of foam used by battlefoam or something similair? I want something for my transport and corvette and I can do a good job cutting it myself I believe.

Battle Foam already has a tray for the transport: http://us.battlefoam.com/star-wars-rebel-transport-foam-tray-bf-2/

I wouldn't be surprised if they're already working on one for the Tantive IV and the Wave 4 ships.

Any stores sell the kind of foam used by battlefoam or something similair? I want something for my transport and corvette and I can do a good job cutting it myself I believe.

I got mine from here. Believe I got the charcoal variety. Only problem is you have to buy a lot to make the shipping worth it.

Any stores sell the kind of foam used by battlefoam or something similair? I want something for my transport and corvette and I can do a good job cutting it myself I believe.

This is what I'm doing. I have a PACK 720 and now am buying and cutting foam to fill it, using this general process:

http://www.afewmaneuvers.com/topic/963-how-to-make-professional-looking-foam-for-your-minis/

You want to get Charcoal Firm foam. Standard charcoal foam is less dense and compresses easier. I'm buying Charcoal Firm quarter sheets from this company:

http://www.foamforyou.com/custom_foam_packaging.htm

I choose this company because they sell 1/4" thick sheets in Charcoal Firm, which I can use as the base for each layer. They are also slightly cheaper than the company listed in the above link. The sheets are 24" x 72" so I can make eight 12"x15.5" trays out of each sheet. I'll need to cut the sheets in half to make them 12" wide. I bought this hot wire cutter which has a wide enough throat that it can cut 24" wide sheets in half. The only trick is I'll need to set up my own guide so I'm not cutting freehand. The unit comes with a guide but it can't accommodate 12", even though the throat can.

41SlTIVv2SL.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017NS8H6/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Remember that each layer needs an extra 1/4" glued on the bottom for the base, so 1.5" deep foam is really 1.75". I'm planning on using a 0.5" thick foam base for my 3" foam that will fit my (2) CR-90s.

Pros:

  • I can make a more optimal layout than BattleFoam's templates or custom options. I'll be using 6 layers of foam for 12" of vertical storage: 1x 3", 1x 2", 2x1.5", 2x1". I have a lot of ships, this will also fit through wave 4 and aces.
  • Long term, it is cheaper than BattleFoam, which is around $30 per layer.
  • I'll have enough raw foam that I can fill 2 more PACK 720's without needing to order more foam.

Cons:

  • Labor intensive.
  • Initial cost of supplies, especially hot wire cutter and the foam itself, is expensive, around the same or more than I would pay for BattleFoam.

Also: I use the Plano 1374 for storing my tokens, dials, etc. The foam will only be used for the ships. I'm actually going to run out of Plano storage room storing all the bases once wave 4 + rebel aces comes out, but I'll probably just put the extras in storage and pull them out in the very unlikely event that we run every ship I have in a 1000+ point battle per side.

Edited by MajorJuggler

I am personally partial to the KR Multicase. This is mostly because I like to store fighters on bases when I can. It is a fairly soft foam which has its pros and cons. Unfortunately, KR does not yet have casing for the big ships.

Laser touch looks awesome, but the shipping from Australia puts them out of my reach. My foam is supplimented with a craft/tackle box, the little red thing on Amazon. When the new foam arrives, the tacklebox will be tokens only until I run out of foam.

I use a Plano tackle box. This one to be exact:

http://www.amazon.com/Plano-Double-Cover-Tackle-Organizer/dp/B001ECQPVQ/ref=sr_1_26?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1400874799&sr=1-26&keywords=plano+tackle+box

While I don't own as many ships as a lot of people on this board, I do own quite a few, and I easily have enough room for the Wave 4 ships I want, as well as the ships from previous waves that I still want to buy. I'll still have some room left once I've bought those as well. Here are some pictures of the storage:

The tackle box:

http://i.imgur.com/D0velGC.jpg

The top and bottom storage covers:

http://i.imgur.com/ImFlIFl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/yBmbUkD.jpg

The Rebels:

http://i.imgur.com/KtsRoXT.jpg

The Empire:

http://i.imgur.com/0Fhbab5.jpg

As you can see, there's plenty of room for ships in here. I want to get some foam to use for holding the ships, but right now I am using folded paper. Previously I used the blister packs that the ships came in, which I cut down to size and placed in the box, but the paper works well and takes up less space.

Just watched the plano product video on amazon (don't ask), obviously it was all about fishing but couldn't help thinking how funny it would be if someone did an X-wing version :lol:

I know I only have 2 big ships and 8 small ones on the Imperial side but am I crazy for storing them loose in the bottom of the Slave One packaging? Hasn't been a problem so far but how fragile are they really?

Invest in a case soon. The paint jobs will suffer terribly after a while. Find a small tackle box to fit the small ships at least.

:(

Alright figured that'd be the response but wasn't sure how necessary all these cases everyone suggests are. Thanks!

Shop around the hardware stores, k-mart sports department, etc. There are smaller and cheaper alternatives to the Plano cases everyone likes, and if you don't have too many ships, or aren't planning on getting too many, a small case will do for a while. Nothing makes me cringe more than seeing a lot of models chucked into a box/carton together without any protection.

Except maybe a paintjob that's been applied with a spatula. <cringe>