Storage / Display Solutions

[Michael Stockin]

Inspired by THIS, I thought maybe people may want to share less obvious storage solutions?

I keep my paints on nail varnish displays. I bought 2 and needed a third but they stopped selling them so the bottom one is made of wood from scraps I cobbled together and painted black to match.
But nail varnish racks are a good idea I think.





Antique shops and car boot sales can yield some bargains.

This box whilst as it is, is not perfect but you could stick a shelf or two in it and that will store things.
£5.00 car boot.




This box looks very fancy and is my army carry case, not that I have used it, but it sure looks nicer than nylon box/bag or really useful box.
£15.00 antique shop.










These chests are very nice and are great little bits boxes.
Though not cheap.





Really Useful Box inserts are great as intended but also in drawers:




I do have more, but they are in RUB's in the loft.


My painted models are in Ikea display cabinets, pretty standard I guess.




My gaming table is a canvas with a static grass matt attached to it, the canvas is padded between the beams with foam so it does not sag, the underneath covered with a bit of old sheet stapled on.
Being light I suspend it from the ceiling:





Please post your storage methods!

 

[Eric]

Very neat. I used nail varnish shelves for quite a while in my first office for paints, but then switched back to keeping the paint in Vallejo cases. That said essential oil storage cases make excellent storage for dropper bottle type paints (this kind of thing) and nail varnish ones for larger diameter paints like GW bottles. There seems to be quite a lot of useful "kit" we miniature model makers a pilfer from the wacky world of makeup! For instance stamping.

Love the suspended gaming table, I've often thought that would be a good idea, so it's cool to see it.

The wooden drawers certainly look the part, I think if I did have a collection of proper old lead I might worry a little about enhancing lead rot risk. It's something I retrospectively worry about with the storage unit I built for miniatures many years ago and my brother has - the bases in those drawers were hardboard and the rest pine and I do wonder about the resins and acids in the woods. Idly thought the same with the MDF trays I have in some of my Really Useful Boxes.

Ikea does seem like one of the easiest options case wise, I've one myself that I keep some large terrain pieces in. My main display cabinets (mostly terrain and large monsters) were from another company, but not that different from what's available from the likes of Ikea. I can't find the brand right now, I got them because you could fit extra shelves into them.

Interested to see what everyone else is using, both for static storage and miniature transport.

 

[Deadestdai]

Very nice second hand finds in those pics. Not sure those kind of lucky affordable deals would be around where I live. Seems the charity stores here are full of awful discarded fashions, non-functioning dated electronics and more mis-matched cutlery than a bloke could shake a stick at.

Before I moved in with my current wife, my bachelor pad utilized an Ikea glass case and some random (Though nice) display case I managed to come across in a furniture close-out sale. Other than that, I have a REALLY hard time storing my minis these days. Everything not commonly used for the very few Bolt Action events I attend is now kept in Costco black/yellow storage tubs wrapped in bubble wrap in my in-laws' barn. Very sad. LOL

One day I'll have a space of my own again to hobby and a nice set up to display them. Here's hoping more folks share their display options, it's cool to see how people tackle this aspect of the hobby and also what their SO's will be happy with!

 

[Michael Stockin]

I am lucky as my SO has similar hobbies but also enjoys gaming.
I play with her as much as with the local gaming dudes.

Charity shops here tend to be full of crud too, but in another stroke of luck I live near one of Europe's largest antique centres. They have some proper mad stuff you would need a castle or stately home to fit it into.

 

[ManicMan]

"Non-functioning dated Electronics' sounds way more fun then it probably should. Reminds me, I got an old Blu-ray player I want to get working.. It did work when I got it, but then a few things blew (mostly the caps) I replaced what appeared to blow but still doesn't work. Not that it's important, I got another one cause I wanted one which was 1) cheap, and 2 ) region-free ^_^;

 

[The Serene Badger]

I definitely need ideas. I've a very small room, approx 2.5m by 2.5m, that's full of too much stuff. For paints I've got some MDF small racks from Amazon, and 3d printed myself this rack, which works well. I'm already out of paint storage space. I'll check out IKEA for display and storage, and it's given me a reason to check out some nearby(ish) second hand places. Slightly constrained by making do with things given to me by family, but at least they're free. I think I'll make a stand so that I can stack the 3d printer over the normal printer, to free up other surface space.

 

[dieselmonkey]

I'm a sucker for antique desks and Bisley filing cabinets:



The desk is a Victorian rolltop one that I restored from basically junk many years ago, it's got loads of drawers, and little slots for hiding stuff away in, and there's a display cabinet on top of it that I keep my undead army in.

Since that photo was taken, I've also recently 3d printed a few paint and tool holders:





But the vast majority of my figure collection gets stored in Bisley cabinets, I've got half a dozen or so of them now:









They're solid steel so can hold a lot of weight, and these ones are tall enough to be able to hold most painted models standing up.

Other than that I have a lot of large plastic crates. I have an 8x4 gaming table in my room and there are about 40 of them under it with all my terrain, and other assorted junk in them. Then there are about the same again in the attic.

 

[Michael Stockin]

That is a lovely desk, I have a small antique desk for writing/reading at but when my current ikea workbench desk bites the dust I will replace it with an old desk, unless my wife buys the one I like first..

She loves a good desk too.

 

[symphonicpoet]

Dieselmonkey. I think yours might be the desk I've most envied over the years, and yours is the workspace I'm most actively trying to imitate now with the antique teacher's desk I came into. But I'm missing the pullout shelves, and a teacher's desk doesn't have the back section for filing, so I just have a load of coffee mugs, storage dividers, and a growing number of the sorts of plastic and metal multi drawer storage cases people usually put nuts and washers in. (On an array of mismatched shelves.) For display, I have nothing so elegant as all that, just an old white bookcase. I keep thinking I ought to put some glass doors onto the top. Here's a corner of it. It's old, stained, and not terribly attractive, but refinished and with doors it could maybe look all right.

 

[dieselmonkey]

That is a lovely desk, I have a small antique desk for writing/reading at but when my current ikea workbench desk bites the dust I will replace it with an old desk, unless my wife buys the one I like first..

She loves a good desk too.

They're surprisingly cheap if you look around, this one was sold as a basketcase in many parts and I got it for under £100 at auction, but even a complete one will only usually go for a £200-300 and it'll last the rest of your life if it's in decent condition. The big problem is moving it, but it they usually come into three large parts so will go in an estate car or small van.

I painstakingly rebuilt and restored this one, including the tambour rolltop mechanism, which in hindsight was a bit pointless as I've not closed it since I installed it as the desk is always full of crap and the lamps get in the way, lol.

 

[Michael Stockin]

Oh for sure, there are plenty at our local antique centre, but whilst my Ikea desk lasts I will not be purchasing.
But one day...

Plus the antique centre delivers and their main driver lives in our village so all good.