It's no secret I think you should have a carrying case for your army. And by that, I don't mean a cardboard box you toss everything into. Whether you buy one or make your own, you owe it to yourself to protect your minis.
I will never understand it. I can't even pretend to. How you could spend hundreds of dollars on minis, hundreds of hours building and painting them and then throw them into a box for transporting them around. What!?!
And there is no Part 1 for those who might be looking for it, I'm just using the same title I did when I first posted about this.
I've always had something to put my models in. From the homemade to the professional stuff, I can't fathom not taking care of something I've invested all this time and effort into. And it's not like there aren't a ton of options out there. I may be beating a dead horse here since I've already posted about this before as a bit of a mini rant. This time though, I'm being constructive and offering some suggestions.
Battle Foam and KR Multicase.
Team Snake Eyes has a review of the Battle Foam PACK 1520 here.
Pit of the Oni has a review of the Battle Foam PACK 432 here.
From the Fang has a review of KR Multicase that can be found here. (His picture to the left)
Total Wargamer Blog has another review of the KR Multicase that can be found here as well.
And there are others out there as well. It's worth doing your research and looking into what is offered by various vendors. Make sure you're getting what you need for your army.
This is perhaps my favorite example of all time. A foam tray specifically made for Space
Pit of the Oni has a great review of the trays here.
But maybe it's just me. So I took a trip down to my FLGS (Game Vault) to see what folks were using to tote their armies around in. Here are some real life examples:
In this day and age, there really is no reason you shouldn't be sporting something to carry your army around in that protects all the time and effort you have invested in it.
If you're going to go the plastic bin/tray route, at least go the distance like Warpstone Pile and magnetise your models to get the most of it and protect your minis.
NOTE: While this may save you a little bit of money in the end, sometimes it costs just as much as buying a real case when you're done. It will depend on the price you have to pay for the foam. And while cutting the foam yourself is not hard, it destroys your X-Acto blades so make sure to have plenty on hand before starting.
You can make your own trays to fit what you need to carry. I've labeled the layers to show you what I mean. All of the layers are cut with the X-Acto blade and glued together with the white glue. Like layers on a cake.
A: Foamboard for the bottom to add stability.
This can help tremendously, but is not 100 percent needed. Depending on how much you cut away for model storage, you might want to consider adding this as a reinforcement only where you need it.
B: The bottom piece
This is what your minis will rest on. It doesn't have to be thick at all. I usually use half inch thick material for this.
C and D: The spacers
In this case, my models were just a bit too tall for just layer D alone so I went back and added another layer to give it that extra height (as seen in the top pic of the two here). This is one benefit of making your own case trays, you can truly customize them to exactly what you need and want.
So there you have, how to get started making your own case and a couple links to some online providers if you want to go that route.
Me, I'm lazy these days and buy my stuff already set to go. I used to cut my own, but found the time and effort to be so much that it was just as easy and about the same price to buy it off the shelf.
UPDATE: I got started on this topic again recently when I realized I was seeing more and more "larger" models on the battlefield. I wondered, what do people transport all those huge models in?
