Storage

Like many wargamers, I have a challenge with storage. How to keep all those somewhat delicate models safe yet available for browsing and selection. Putting them out on shelves is very convenient, but it takes a lot of space (unless you have huge walls) and the models tend to gather dust, especially if they're not used for a while. Boxes such as those margarine comes in (the 1kg size) can be stored conveniently, but you really need to protect the models and it's very hard to browse - this is really a long-term storage solution for the models you have "archived" (i.e. you don't expect to use them again but you can't quite put them into the Bring and Buy). Little cabinets with drawers, the kind you keep screws and bolts in, work for some items - but either you have to pile the models in on top of each other, or you can only have one layer in each drawer, which isn't very efficient.



Since I have started basing my 6mm stuff on 1" square steel bases, the problem has increased. They take up more "floor space" than the models alone, and they are also unsuitable for piling up in a drawer.  My current solution is a series of trays, designed to go in the "Really Useful Box" crates (I get them from Staples, I don't know if they are an own-brand). They are quite shallow, and they stack well on their own, so I don't need the crates they are designed for. I can get 4-5 bases in each section, and there are fifteen sections per tray. I label them and then subdivide as my collection expands - so I started out with one tray labelled German, then split it into German Tanks and German Infantry, and so on until I am now up to about nine trays for the Germans alone. I just keep them in a stack, and when I want to extract troops I pull out the tray I want and pick them out. Only the top tray is exposed to dust at all, and they tend to shuffle around as I use them so that's not a problem. They're not very cheap, about £5 per tray I think, but as I may be holding £100 worth of models in each tray, the cost is fairly unimportant. So far, it works for me.