Building a modelling "strip & profile" storage/assorter box

[0121modeller]

Well, I finally got motivated to build myself another storage box for my modelling projects
The old box was'nt big enough to store all of my plastikard & Evergreen styrene sheets, so designed & built like the old box the design is tiered to vertically store & gain easy visual access for various sizes of any sheet material (styrene, metal, 1mm plywood sheet etc) that has been cut down (off-cuts up to 6"x5" upwards to 12" wide x 14" high)

Method of construction was fairly easy & a similar method of contruction to my strip styrene assortment box as seen in my posts above.
Choosing straight & unwarped plywood was essential for ease & tidyness of construction.
The main "box construction" is seen above screwed & glued together,


The divider inserts slot into place, but not glued in..., reason being it'll be easier to remove those dividers as & when it needs the vacuum nozzle inside to remove dust etc every now & again.
It'll also be easier to replace any of the plywood dividers if any of them should dramatically warp too much, as plywood sometimes does.

Now all painted over with spray primer, & ready for loading up,

The old box next to new box loaded up with mostly styrene sheet. As the new box is larger, its capable of holding much more modelling sheet of any material that I use for modelling.

Cheers,
Dave.

[Lofty]

Very good Dave,

I could do with getting some organisation into my modelling world

[b308]

And me! All my plasticard is in a drawer at the moment!

[0121modeller]

Cheers guys,

All my plasticard is in a drawer at the moment!

If you have an old drawer salvaged from an old piece of furniture (ideally 12"x9"x4" approx) from something like a bedside cabinnette drawer)) , then thats something "half ready made" & so ideally suited for storing all your sheet card of any material.

Use 3 of 10" high cut to size pieces of 6mm or 9mm thick plywood to fit the internal draw area (inner sides & inner rear), jigsaw both sides so the 10" high taper down at an angle from halfway down to 4" or 5" depending on the size of smallest offcut you wish to store.

Before permanantly glueing to innerside draw, space out & attatch 6mm x 10mm** stripwood pieces cut down to varius height requirements for insertion of plywood divisions (**available from B&Q in 3ft lengths) , then cut your plywood dividers down to the various heights needed.

Then permanantly fix sides & back to the 3 innerfaces of draw & slot in your plywood size dividers.
You're now better organized as you can see all the sheet materials you have stacked vertically at a glance.


Next, I'll also soon need to build myself yet another assorter box for all the "postcard size" Wills & Ratio sheets & similar materials I have, from full postcard sheets down to offcuts that are no less than half size.
It makes the storage of your materials so much easier & comprehensively organized in the long term, so saving space on the workbench.

Cheers,
Dave.

[glencairn]

Some excellent handiwork chaps. I have something similar in that the office I used to work for were throwing away some old pigeon hole boxes. They are now perfect storage boxes under my model railway.

Glencairn

[0121modeller]

I had forgot to update this thread with my most recent creation.

This one I built 6 months ago especially for a place on my workbench and/or to fit in the tool tray that I sometimes take to a railway modelling club I sometimes attend.
Here's the basics of how I built;

Components of box cut from 1.5mm thick styrene sheet,


Start the assembly of the internal divisions,


I made my box to fit nicely into a tool tray I sometimes take to a modelling club.


Primed & sprayed up.
The painting of box will help 'preserve' the life of styrene & help prevent age fatigue making styrene brittle & liable to crack over time.


Strips from the black holder...,

...into the newly built strip container;


I use mostly 'Evergreen' styrene strip, there are approximately 70 size combinations of Evergreen strip that I use; 0.25, 0.4, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.2, 4.0, 4.5, 4.8, 6.3 mm , and around 50 of various profiles, rods, tubes, so for ease of offcut reference to use I will pen mark each & every item, often I'll need to weld on a tab as shown below;

I also sometimes use various profiles of 'Plastruct' styrene, and the box also is ideally suited to store offcuts of strip wood , copper & brass tube / profile etc.

[0121modeller]

Here's something else I built as to help keep my modelling tools organized & easier to hand;

I made this from wood.
I took plenty of time to think about the modelling tools I have & how best to have them arranged in a tiered formation based on height & type of tool.

Here it is loaded up, I really could've done with building it an inch wider as to fit more mini G-clamps ... but isn't that's nearly ALWAYS the case after we've built something ... , but I'm generally happy with the result, as now a lot less clutter on my workbench and my tools easily found.
.

[0121modeller]

Having just completed my latest scratchbuild project of a 1/76 scale Sulzer engine, I decided as that & other models I've also scratchbuilt required a multitude / variation of sizes of styrene strips & profiles - I'd under-estimated the capacity of the above storage box to comprehensively hold EVERY full size variant of strip & profile I needed...

I've decided to build myself an improved design assortment container than my current box (above) , for placement on my workbench.

Here are the requirements.
1 - 5 or 6x Tier'd levels, much the same as the box I made in photo above, I need to design the box so it doesn't take up too much space on the 'shelf' area on my bench
2. I need to store one 'standby / sample' item of every Evergreen strip & profile ; (as before, making sure I label every item up with their number code for easier reference).

Consisting of -
* Approximately 70 sizes of EVERGREEN strip,
* Approximately 70 sizes of EVERGREEN profile (or as many variations I commonly use as possible, as I used the strip range more-so)
Area for a small variation of 'PLASTRUCT' profile/tube/rod that I commonly use, one area for plastruct of a bulkier profile, and another section for the slimmer profile, this way the bulkier profiles don't obscure my visibility of selecting thin rodding or other thin profiles. The same rule for Evergreen strips & profiles.

Evergreen's item/code ref number system is fairly easy to understand once you get familiar , in this case I'm using the 3rd number of each pack Evergreen's use for their strip range, I decided best as follows;
Line / Area slot 1 - for items with 3rd numbers being; 1, 2 , & 3.
Line / Area slot 2 - for items with 3rd numbers being; 4, 5, & 6
Line / Area slot 3 - for items with 3rd numbers being; 7, 8 , & 9

So for example; Evergreens widest strip profile #199 (6.3mm x 6.3mm) will go into slot area 3 , stored along with #109 (0.25mm x 6.3mm) , #119 , 129, 139, etc , the 2nd number indicates the variation of thickness.
So slot 3 also allocated for every Evergreen profile with its 3rd number being 7 & 8 .

So, in theory & according to my evergreen size reference chart , I could have around 25x variants strips in each allocated slot. , with the offcuts of those strips being stored appropriately within the same line as area 3 . = better than my current strip storage box.

Confused ?
It'll all become clearer as I progress with building.

Maybe, just maybe either Plastruct , Slaters Plastikard or Evergreen will notice this thread & see the advantage of something like I've decided to build, and put into production something similar for modellers ? .., For the following reasons;
1. Space is limited for most modellers, even those modellers without a model railway, modellers need space for storage, assembly of models, spray/painting & whatever else the modelling may involve.
2. The variation of sizes of Evergreens 14" length packs, surely better to be organized & find that item needed quickly & comprehensivly store away any decent size offcuts for future use.
3. Better organization = faster modelling / less down time, = happier modeller - improved confidence, improved ability & recognition of sizes, = happier modellers buy more materials that they need , more sales of strip / styrene, EVERGREEN - PLASTRUCT - SLATERS , take note

Anyway , here's how I'm making my new box...

Dimensions shown in green, -
For the base I've used two pieces of 1.0mm (0.40") thickness plasticard, that sandwiches a partial filling of #199 strip, as to add weight & rigidness that's especially necessary for early stages of building.
Rear panel is a 1.5mm (0.60") thick plasticard sheet welded on to the rear of #199 / plasticard sandwich.


6 tiered heights, from approximately 32cm - 8cm , = easy location & storage of whatever size strip profile offcut.


I decided the rear height to be at least 13" to store uncut items of Plastruct & Evergreen. At a later stage I might decide to add on to this height, half inch clear above the level of tallest items an area of written info / basic summerization of what's stored in which ' area / line' tier'd in front.


I decided to use a slide-blade-rule card cutting device for making duplicates of 35mm wide 0.75mm (0.30" thou) plasticard.
I wouldn't risk cutting thicker plasticard as risk of blade strain / wandering .

These will be the main dividing sections, I need to make several of these at 35mm, of course cutting some of them down in height for the tiered sections, some of the sections will be sub-divided as to store & support the thinnest of profiles & strips.

To be continued in a day or so ....

[Dad-1]

Far too tidy for me ......
I'd miss the 'fun' of spending all evening looking for that piece of plastic I know I have somewhere !!
I like these searches as then you find the forgotten job, or small kits you'd forgetten ever buying.

Great work though.

Geoff T.

[b308]

Has anyone done one for Humbrol tinlets? I looked at the commercial ones but they are far too pricey and in many cases don't have enough spaces...

[0121modeller]

Thanks Geoff

Has anyone done one for Humbrol tinlets? I looked at the commercial ones but they are far too pricey and in many cases don't have enough spaces...

Hi b308, When I first began modelling I made myself something similar (or modified, I forget) a wooden storage rack for jars of herbs & spices.
My problem with that storage method was me having different sizes of jars & tinlets varied slightly so wouldn't fit, Also, I wanted to store paint related items such as a tin of thinners, empty jars for mixing, a jar with a selection of small brushes, weathering powder sachets, textured paint compounds, & a masking tape.
So I came across this storage rack which suits my requirements to fit everything *paint related , (*excluding spray cans that I store in a separate box).

Aldi do something similar, but the Aldi version I refer to doesn't have a large open area on top or a carry handle. Like the aldi version, this rack can be screwed to a wall, however the rack I have can also be free standing.


My main workbench, designed & built by myself from pine & plywood. The yellow area is 18mm plywood, its bolted on so can be replaced when it wears out.
The blue shelf area is also removable for modification as & when needed or easier moving of desk to another room or location.

A close-up of my workbench main area, needing some serious tidying after I'd built my Sulzer model !, lots of styrene strips, rods & tools, but each will have their placement in racks before I start another model.


I recently attatched a drywipe/magnetic board to my workbench. Ideal for reference photo's & to scribble reminder notes;


Here's a scan of that Evergreen reference chart I compiled for my workbench (appologies if I already mentioned in a previous post). Feel free to copy image as ideal reference for scratchbuilding .

[b308]

Not a bad idea, I'll take a look! Thanks!!

[Bufferstop]

Glad to see your workbench gets as messy as mine! Somewhere I have a photo of it cleared as a reminder of when to stop sanding.

[flying scotsman123]

My workbench is a complete mess, thing is, it's not just mess from one or two models, looking now I can count bits from about half a dozen models, instructions I'm attempting to translate from another two plus all the general modelling detritus. then there's the graveyards of "on top of the wardrobe" currently hosting 5 models in varying states of completeness and "under my bed" which has a nearly finished diorama, detailed (and I mean DETAILED - made up by my Grandad who was a professional draftsman, including sketches, scale drawings of buildings and NSR locos and interviews with former employees) large amounts of paint, controllers, locos in store platforms and other such bits and bobs that kicked under when I'm told to "tidy my room." Apparently finishing a model off so it can be put on display does not count as tidying And that isn't even mentioning the railway shed...

[b308]

If your workbench isn't a mess then you're not doing any modelling... Simples...