Storage Solutions

[jnewell68]

Hi Guys,

I was quick to post back in December 'How the hell do we store and travel with these ships?!" Many of you kindly replied with links to 4 companies that make storage foam. I didn't want to break the bank and really didn't know what would be best, but I am happy with my choice.

I ordered 'APC's' due to their price from Portable Warfare. Their blue foam looked REALLY cool, along with their carrying cases. But in a first for me, I decided NOT to go with the most expensive option.

I have my ship data cards and matts in a traditional baseball card box, and each fleet (until they get bigger) in an APC. I'm pretty pleased:



Hope this gives you an idea or two on how it can be done.

Jeff

[Nightmoss]

Thanks Jeff, for the information and photos. Nicely done.

[Cool Breeze]

I'd ditch the rubber bands in favor of dividers (grew up in Hawaii where humidity ruined several card sets by rotting rubber bands), but otherwise very cool.

[7eat51]

Very nice. Does the foam come pre-cut - you pull out the ones desired?

[DeRuyter]

Very nice. Does the foam come pre-cut - you pull out the ones desired?

I think these generally come complete and you pull out what you need. I have a camera case with the same system, i.e.; the little square blocks you pull out.

[7eat51]

I think these generally come complete and you pull out what you need. I have a camera case with the same system, i.e.; the little square blocks you pull out.

Thanks, Eric.

I just looked at the company's website. Currently out of stock, but I will pick one up sometime to play around with.

[Gunner]

Just a note on Portable warfare, their Sergeant cases hold two, 2 1/2" and two, 3" trays with enough room to hold 4 Frigates and 4 SOL's with their bases, cards and ships logs ( so each bag holds two complete waves with pouches on the sides to hold chit bags, rule book etc.)

I don't care much for the Blu Foam Trays, their lines aren't cut straight and the glue spills out to adjoining squares making what ever you put in it stick to the bottom. On the other hand the sabol foam trays have straight cuts and rarely any glue seepage.

http://sailsofglory.org/attachment.p...0&d=1389931386
http://sailsofglory.org/attachment.p...9&d=1389931386

Having said that, I'll probably switch to Keith's trays which looks the sturdiest of the lot. But you can't beat the Portable warfare Sergeant cases.
Just my three cents worth.

[jnewell68]

Thanks Ed. that's a great option too.

[7eat51]

Ed, are those pictures what you have set up? The case with the ship on it is quite nice.

What Keith is looking at producing does seem to be sturdy. The pictures of foam he showed were impressive regarding holding minis.

[Gunner]

Ed, are those pictures what you have set up? The case with the ship on it is quite nice.

What Keith is looking at producing does seem to be sturdy. The pictures of foam he showed were impressive regarding holding minis.

Yes, that's one of four cases that I have filled so far. 1 stock English, 1 stock French, 1 for customizing in progress and one for game and equipment.

[Jack Tar]

Hey Everyone,
Since I will be adding some new ships to my fleet and growing out of the starting core set, I was wondering what others on the forum use to store their fleets. If there are any good suggestions of a good tackle box type set up or anything else anyone has been creative with I'd be very interested to hear about it.

Thanks!

[7eat51]

Funny you should ask. I was working on my storage today after another trip to the dollar store.

This thread will give you an idea, but I will update it with new pictures: http://sailsofglory.org/showthread.p...hlight=storage

[Jack Tar]

Thanks for the heads up Eric! I am pretty OCD with my board games and getting plano type bits and pieces boxes for all the parts. This is pretty much the route I had planned on going down. I would have never thought to go to JoAnn's or the dollar tree (I didn't know they carried this stuff) for these container thought. I usually just hit up the Bass Pro Shops that is near me, or my local hobby store. Speaking of Bass Pro Shops, I was looking online for super thin thread for rigging and fly fishing line came up. I have not really looked into it yet, but it seems like it could be a good option for getting a nice thin rigging line that may look more in scale to the size of the mini's.

Anyway...

[7eat51]

We recently received our order of magnets. We will put one on the bottom of each section in the carry case/bin, one under each ship base, and a smaller on on the bottom of each ship. This should secure everything nicely for travel.

[Jack Tar]

I am already in the process of researching the magnets I am going to get for outfitting my fleet. I like the idea of everything secured in its place for light travel and game play.

[Diamondback]

A little late, but...

I've found an Iris KP-XLPHO photo case works very nicely for frigates-and-smaller; each of the sixteen small boxes inside will take two ships complete with bases, decks and logs. (Note, this will not work for superfrigates like Humphreys 44's; the spars are too wide.) For my SOL's, I've found the Really Useful Box 0.3-liter business-card box just right for a single 74, again including base, deck and log--it'll probably be the choice for superfrigates too.

Still don't know what to do for First Rates, not having ordered any... I'll try to get pictures next weekend; so far they seem to work even without any foam.

[7eat51]

I've found an Iris KP-XLPHO photo case works very nicely for frigates-and-smaller; each of the sixteen small boxes inside will take two ships complete with bases, decks and logs.

How do you keep the ships from moving around inside the cases?

[Diamondback]

Right now they're loose, but having the bases staggered means they only have a small area to move around in.

I'm a little less worried about the SOL's, which the combination of base, deck and log kind of form a "tent" around the ship leaving it unprotected only on the box's bottom and ends.

[7eat51]

Have you transported the ships in these, or have they basically been used as storage?

I picked up such a photo case recently, but haven't found a configuration with which I am comfortable.

[Diamondback]

So far storage only... just put it together this weekend.

[Diamondback]

Well, they survived their first Road Test today... photos tomorrow since I can't upload from this crappy wifi hotspot. Won't even let me use IM or Thunderbird... ugh, I hate web-mail.

[7eat51]

I am curious to see. I like the photo case with all of the smaller cases. It seems ideal to transport and organize gaming items. My only concern after I tried one with WoG planes was the inability to secure the planes inside the smaller cases - too much movement for my comfort.

[Diamondback]

First post, I'm attaching photos of the Really Useful 0.3L as I've loaded it with a Temeraire.


Sorry, PITA camera autorotated these first two. Top view buttoned up and ready for rack...


...and with the lid and log removed--note, the hollow side of the base is in and the mast tip rests in that. My eventual plan is to get some spray-foam, use thin plastic to protect the ship, base and decks and shoot the box full of that for cushioning.


Bottom view.


End, showing angle--I bet things will work better once I move to the "cut pin, ream hole, and attach with nut and screw" method. Since I have to keep a screwdriver set in the First Aid Kit that goes everywhere with me anyway... LOL (Seriously, every few days I have to tighten one or another screw in my glasses, and the nice little Stanley set I found is everything I need for those, my laptop and my sidearm all in one bundle.)

[Diamondback]

And on to the Photo Cases...



I started with the Hebes, as our largest frigates so far--anything the size of Constitution is gonna need to be stored like an SOL. Logs do overlap the spars and sails slightly--here again, I'm thinking spray-foam with some "fingers" between the masts much like the original Wave 1 blisters. I suspect part of the problem in Wave 2 was the absence of those "fingers" holding onto the hull and preventing it from rocking...



And the Swans--pretty sturdy little guys, since they have much less mass per square mm of mast than the bigger kids. Major worry is keeping anything heavy from impacting the hull or mast... you could probably just find a box just big enough to hold the mini, let it float loose in the box then drop the box into the photo case.

[Nightmoss]

Looks pretty cool, DB.

Your descriptions reminded me that the only Wave 2 ship I bought at Gen Con has the new secure packaging (not the 1st Rate btw, the medium frigates). Insertion on top of fingers really locks the ship in place.

[Diamondback]

If only the 0.3 was a tad wider or cards a skosh narrower... then you could stick the Capt/Crew Deck 10-card set on one end, and the ship's card across the other to tell what's in there.

[7eat51]

Nice, DB.

I am going to play around the photo cases. Since I am using laminated logs/mats, I need to figure out how to fill the space sufficiently to prevent a lot of moving around. I like the current bins I am using, but it would be nice to have something smaller for light travel - e.g. to a friend's home for a smaller game.

[Diamondback]

Eric, like I said, you might look at various spray-in foams--they're kinda like the stuff spray-in truck bedliners are made from, but more "craft grade" and in somewhat less than industrial container sizes.

[ChyronDave]

Personally, I went with a few different options for my ships.

Everything is stored in boxes from Snapware. These particular boxes attach to each other for greater ease of transport.

The ships themselves are in pluck foam bricks, which allowed me to make compartments the right shape and size for the ships. These bricks take up two of the Snapware boxes with extra space. In that extra space, I have the maneuver decks and the ship logs stored in custom tuck boxes for each of the ships. I also have the damage tokens stored in their respective bags.

The third and fourth box hold the rest of the components stored in token trays that I picked up at my FLGS, one tray for the marker tokens, and another for the ship tokens. They also contain the range rulers, a Really Useful box for the attuitude indicators, islands, shoals and firing markers, and a 3 foot by 3 foot blue felt mat used as a play area.

[Diamondback]

Question: can anyone get me overall lengths and heights on the First Rates? If they're less than 90mm overall spar-to-spar and can be tipped to fit in a 90x65x55mm space, they might fit in an 0.3l box after all...

[Arakus]

Question: can anyone get me overall lengths and heights on the First Rates? If they're less than 90mm overall spar-to-spar and can be tipped to fit in a 90x65x55mm space, they might fit in an 0.3l box after all...

They are about 95 mm in lenght ( base has only 75 mm, but the bow mast... ), 75 mm height ( with Base ) and the base has a side dimension of 50 mm.
So the 0,3l box you will use won't fit.

I use for display atm this boxes:

http://www.ebay.de/itm/10-Pro-Mold-P...item53fa107e4a

They are wonderful for display and have enough space for even the biggest ships.

[Diamondback]

Thanks, that's a big help. Still might work if I can tip them enough to make up the 5mm difference "on the slant" like I do on the Third Rates for their height.

75mm from pin to masthead... that's our "C" for a right triangle, c^2=a^2+b^2, a=box width and b=box depth, so... tipping it so the flat from pin-tip to masthead is 60mm across gives a height of 45mm. Tilting the long axis for a "flat length" of 85mm makes an elevation of ~42.5mm jib to spanker (NO COMMENTS, FRENCH, or I go get the Cat o' Nine!)... question becomes how hull and spar/sail width affect that geometry. I can test one once I get my First Rates ordered, but I'm smart enough not to hold my breath or go All In.

[csadn]

Tilting the long axis for a "flat length" of 85mm makes an elevation of ~42.5mm jib to spanker (NO COMMENTS, FRENCH, or I go get the Cat o' Nine!

But that's for Flogging, not Spanking....

>;)

[Diamondback]

But that's for Flogging, not Spanking....
>;)

Did I just hear a volunteer to be KEELHAULED?

[csadn]

Did I just hear a volunteer to be KEELHAULED?

Nope -- and that's not Spanking either.

;)

[Arakus]

Here are some pictures from a ship in one of my boxes:








To fix the ship in the box i use magnets:





The picture was made bofore i added a second magnet to the box and at the buttom of the base.
The magnets are strong enough that i can turn the box around with no ship movement at all.

But of course i didn't try if it holds when the box fall on the floor.

The boxes looks good when put on the shelf and i think they will also be good in transportation of the ships.

[7eat51]

That's a nice looking display, Jörg.

[Diamondback]

FRENCH! Are you gonna do this to EVERY single bloody thread on the whole bloody forum?

:P

[Coog]

[Diamondback]

More like...

[Coog]

More like...

Don't think any of it is working though.

[Diamondback]

No, I think the only thing approaching the density of that skull is the core of a black hole... LOL A million comedians out there starving in the streets and here's Frenchy trying to join 'em.

[Coog]

Maybe other methods should be tried?

[Diamondback]

Excellent suggestion... now where'd I put my Taser?

[csadn]

"Cooler -- six weeks."

[Diamondback]

Update: As of last Tuesday, the Iris KP-XLPHO has been riding around in the back of my aunt's car for one week with no observed damage. Will report more Tuesday--it's only still in there because I ASKED her to carry it back into my storage spot at her house, and even BRIBED her, and still she dropped the ball.

Same with the RUB 0.3L and its SOL...

[csadn]

Update: As of last Tuesday, the Iris KP-XLPHO has been riding around in the back of my aunt's car for one week with no observed damage. Will report more Tuesday--it's only still in there because I ASKED her to carry it back into my storage spot at her house, and even BRIBED her, and still she dropped the ball.

Same with the RUB 0.3L and its SOL...

Well, that's *one* way to perform a maximum-stress test.... :)

[Diamondback]

Anything breaks 'cuz she dropped the ball, SHE's buying the replacements. Good thing my KS Exclusives are all WELL protected in their vault...

I SHOULD make her refund my expediting fee too. Or at least make her buy the pizza, since I bought last time...

[csadn]

Good thing my KS Exclusives are all WELL protected in their vault...

I have cats; I should probably be doing the same.... :)

[Diamondback]

Do YOU have cats, or does SWMBO? More importantly, do YOU have them, or do THEY have you?

"Dogs have masters, cats have STAFF."