Moving! But what about my precious ones?

[Craftergoddess]

I just realized that I will have a small problem ahead, in a week or two: I\'m moving. And my miniature cabinet will be one of the first things to move (because its location will dictate so much of the layout in the room). Okay. The cabinet is a piece of cake.

But what about my precious ones? My wee miniatures on the shelves? I already have two tackleboxes full of *un*painted miniatures, and I don\'t think I could, should buy more of them (since my expenses are going to be high, anyway).

The question is: how do I make this move without damaging my little ones? Any useful hints beyond \'cushion them well\'? Practical advice? Ideas?

It\'s just a five mile drive to the new place, but the road from the current place to the new place is a bit crummy and full of holes at times.

I have a notable collection of dragons and other winged things, and tips for keeping *those* safe are very welcome. I\'m sure that most of those \'simply human\' miniatures can be dealt with some basic wrapping, but the spread wings of the drakes are going to be a problem.

 

[Bent Brush]

I am moving over a thousand miles next week.

This is what I have done. Invest in a roll of Bubble wrap. 30 foot roll about $10 American or so.

This is in 1 foot by 1 foot squares. Each foot can be cut in 1/2.

Wrap each individual foot soldier in a 6 inch by 12 inch strip. Tape the strip closed. This guarantees that the model will be well protected.

Now put them in a medium size plastic tote that will not collapse. Be certain that a layer of Bubble Wrap is lining the tote.

This is how I have packed my basic troops, for larger models individual boxes and lots of bubble wrap.

 

[Lowrianne]

*looks up from her packing*
I took all my winged beauties to work until I have moved. Actually, everyone there likes them so much, they may stay there.

To move them to work, i wrapped each one in bubble wrap, put it in a hard plastic box with crinkled newspaper to cushion more.

It worked really well.

1 week to move... I feel like I am lost. No painting for 2 weeks now and probably 2 more to go.

 

[Bent Brush]

The Move is done

Well all things concidered I only had 6 mishaps.

All due to a box getting crunched on the way.

The rest of the models made it just fine.

I hope yours goes as well o better Craftergoddes.

The day after I arrived I HAD to get my models and do some painting. 10 Koralon and 14 Old School Necrons Later I feel much better.

 

[Craftergoddess]

Wheee!

Well, 95% of my junk has been hauled to the new place, and I moved the most fragile miniatures yesterday, and I *think* that most of them made it without a mishap.

I can\'t unload my collection until the lower bottom of the cabinet is fixed (it\'s a bit broken, always been, but this time it really broke down).

Of course, now I have a terrible temptation of acquiring a brand new cabinet -- saw some really great ones during my shopping spree. The old one could then wait and I could put my pretty ones to the new cabinet and... *aaargh*. Nice glass shelves... light brown wood... 187€... it\'d be very, very nice... *sigh*

And I\'m anxious about painting. I want to paint. A lot. Right away. The fact that I bought some 100 (not joking here) new Reaper miniatures is making it *tough* to resist the urges of painting before the apartment is completely in order.

Let me say it again: AAAARGH!

(Perhaps I should wait until I get my load of Vallejo paints...)

 

[Wolf Raider]

Moving woes

I\'m moving next month, 1500 miles. I have over 6000 (yes, thousand) miniatures. Last time we moved, my wife and I individually wrapped about 3000 in tissue paper. This time, no hope. I packed them in boxes sandwiched between layers of egg crate foam. We\'ll see....

 

[Lowrianne]

I am going through withdrawl... no time to paint... no time!!!!!!!!!!!

I have packed the paints and only a few of the more fragile minis are left to go. I think my work table may be unpacked right after the kitchen.

 

[Lowrianne]

The move is over! My worktable is unpacked and I was able to paint again last night!

Only one mini was damaged in the move and it was a piece I had not finished assembling. My dragon lost an arm. Soon I can have more pics up of my mediocre work!

And now I can go to the local painting group on Sunday too! Life is good

 

[Pookie]

well, as a college student who lives in a dorm for half the year, i think i\'m somewhat qualified to post on this topic.

when i first moved my minis to school, i bought a plastic sewing box which had about 24 little cubic spaces. it was meant to hold stuff like embroidery floss and needles and stuff. but it fits 25-30mm minis perfectly. so i just wrapped each mini in tissue to keep it from getting chipped, and i was cool.

then i got more minis. eek.

well, the chainmail minis came with their own solution. i took the box my ravilla faction set came in, and cut spaces out for each mini. 15 minis later, and there\'s still more room.

my other minis (about 20 that didn\'t fit in the first two boxes) were a little more of a problem. but then a friend of mine gave me a box with a lid, about 1.5\"x4\"x6\". i put all the minis standing up in the box, then stuffed tissue in between all of the minis, so they wouldn\'t jostle and bang into each other.

now, i don\'t have any dragons or other large minis, but i can tell you what my gallery management teacher told our class. now, my teacher, tim, has this very interesting demonstration where he shows his class how to ship fragile 3-dimensional objects. ok, first thing you must know - shipping companies can be trusted... until you have to ship something fragile. (this is no offense to anyone who works for a shipping company, just a general observation). first, take your fragile object and pad any \'loops\' or indentations. for example, on a coffee mug, you would take wadded up newspaper and put it between the mug and the handle, and inside the cup. then wrap it in bubble wrap. put the wrapped object in a box half-full of packing peanuts and tape it up. now, this should suffice for just moving a mini to a new house, but tim\'s demonstration goes on. he puts the box in a bigger box with packing peanuts. he then demonstrates his idea of what happens when you hand something over to the shippers. he drops the box, kicks it, sits on it, stands on it and generally beats the stuffing out of it. sometimes literally... the packing peanuts from the outside box will start coming out. but no matter how messed up the outside box is (and i\'ve seen him do this many times), the fragile object inside is always untouched.

so, hope i helped you out there...

 

[Coyote]

Do like I did in highschool for the egg drop.

You know, where you get a box and an egg, and are told to make something that will allow the box and egg to be dropped off the top of the school without breaking the egg.

The correct solution is to suspend the egg in pantyhose, so that it has give and will cushion the egg.

Of course, that would be very labour intensive.

If you have a lot of fairly robust 25mm figures, I would get a bunch of thick yet soft foam sheets. Layer the miniatures between these sheets, pack them in boxes, and take them with me (Ie, don\'t leave it for the movers to handle)

Anything really delicate would depend on what it is. Some I might carry on my lap while someone else drives (if the move is within the same city)

It appears this response is late, but hey, someone else may read this thread later.