Yes, you did read that correctly! To be honest, I can't quite decide whether this post demonstrates my tendencies towards OCD, or an uncanny ability to make good use of existing space. I'll let you decide that one for yourself. I'm just delighted to have my Yorkist force assembled, based and in one box!
As you can see in the above photograph, I've gone for quite a different way of storing my Burgundian pikemen. it wasn't my original intention, I must say. But it works. This may well be down to the fact that they are plastic rather than metal miniatures. But who cares? It works!
My standard go-to Really Useful Box size is 4 litres for troops. You can actually get cavalry in this size of box too. Unless they have lances in a vertical position. You'd probably struggle in those circumstances. I have purchased 9-litre boxes as well for my ECW pikemen. These are great as they stack perfectly with my 4L boxes. Unfortunately, you do have a lot of wasted space at the top of the box.
And that was the cause of my procrastination. At the risk of revealing my OCD nature, I really like the idea of having an army in a box. Or two if needed. but definitely not half a dozen units from as many armies and periods in the same box. When I discovered my pikes were too large for my Wars of the Roses Yorkist force, I considered going out and buying a small box that would take the 12 Pikemen on their own. But that would have played merry havoc with the footprint of the other boxes. And then I realised I had a very useful empty space in my box as you can see from this aerial view...
Perhaps it would be helpful to explain how I base my models for anyone who's come to my blog for the first time. For the past couple of years or so now I've been individually basing my models on 25mm diameter bases. I used to stick sheet steel to the underside of these. This was a real pain. Cutting circles out of the steel sheet is a real nightmare. I used to add strips of magnetic tape to the bottom of my Really Useful Boxes so my little men would stay in place. Very helpful if you keep them in the loft as I do. The trouble with that, possibly caused by the cold temperatures here in the north-east of Scotland, is that the tape can tend to lift up.
So I reversed the process and have never looked back since. I stick the sheet steel or adhesive-backed Ferro steel sheet to my boxes. I get both from
Magnetic Displays. I then purchase pre-cut self-adhesive magnets from
The Magnet Shop on eBay. I heartily recommend both sellers to you. Here's a shot of my Lancastrian box with the Ferro Sheet Steel in place. As I've currently got so few of them made, you can clearly see how I space out my pieces. These are 20mm squares. Doing this takes very little time and makes the sheet last a lot longer.
The results keep your models safe. I choose the 0.85mm depth magnets which is great if you don't want your bases too high. They do a thicker version which may be useful if you game with metal miniatures and are worried about their safety. My metals have never had a problem, but it's good to know the option is there.
So now, I have a unit of pike defying gravity. I left them like this overnight just to make sure that it would work, and I can confirm that they are still in the exact same position I left them in.
The more observant of you will note that there are only 11 of the 12 models defying gravity. The twelfth man is the musician. I was able to fit him in a space alongside the rest of the men. The others are perfectly safe on their sides as you can see here:
of course, the only problem I have s with my lovely 80mm display base containing Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, the Kingmaker. Sadly The Magnet Shop doesn't cut magnets in 80mm diameter. Which means they are currently loose. That's my next conundrum!
As always, thanks for stopping by!
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