Making custom containers for Ancient miniatures

In my previous post, I mentioned that I was planning on expanding my Carthaginian Gauls so that I could field a full Gaul army, and that once painted and based I would need to find some additional storage space. My current storage system for my Carthaginian and Roman armies consists of nine stackable containers, each one is capable of holding up to nine bases. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any more containers of the same type, and even if I could, a stack of four does not fit in the available shelving space.

After a bit of thought, I decided to have a go at making some custom containers using MDF sheets and my  schoolboy-level woodworking skills.

The current storage situation for my Ancient armies.

Each container holds 9 bases. The bases are 3x4 inches.

The plan was to build eight custom containers, each measuring 3 inches high, 16 inches wide, and 15 inches deep. The shelf space dictated the width and depth, while the height was determined by the 20mm miniatures (the elephants being the tallest). Each container would hold 18 bases, all my bases measure 4 x 3 inches. 

The finished containers.

The new containers hold 18 bases.

After thinking through a few ideas, I decided on the design shown below. This allows the containers to stack securely without sliding and toppling while still be easy to slid in and out.

A drawing of the design. Forgive the combination of imperial measurements and metric. With all my bases being in inches (the traditional wargaming measurement) it was easier to use inches for the construction while the purchased MDF sheets come in metric.

All the MDF pieces cut out for one container. The darker pieces are the side 12mm MDF.

The 12mm MDF is used for the sides.

3mm MDF is used for the front and back.

The thin 1 inch strips of MDF are glued to the bottom so the containers do not slide and topple in on each other.

A close up of how the containers are stacked.

A few quick notes on construction. The 3mm MDF sheets were attached to the 12mm MDF sides using PVA glue and 25mm (1”) panel pins. Five pins were used along each side to secure the base, and one pin per side was used when fixing the front and back 3mm MDF pieces. I did not glue or pin the front and back panels to the base. This simplifies construction and the containers are sufficiently strong without being fixed to the base. The thin MDF strips used to prevent the containers from sliding when stacked were simply glued to the base. 

One word of warning, avoid hammering panel pins too close to the ends of the 12mm MDF, as it will likely split.

PVA glue and 1 panel pins is used on each side to attach the front and back.

PVA glue and 5 panel pins secured the base to the sides.

25mm or 1 inch panel pins were used.

The base with the strips attached near the sides.

The end result is that I can now store 144 bases of ancients in the same shelving space that used to hold 81 bases. With each container holding 18 bases, eight containers will provide more than enough room for the planned expansion of the Gaul army. Best of all, this was a cheap solution which I completed over 2 days.