Just Lasered transport foam - Really Useful stuff

How to transport Blood Red Skies models?

My BRS collection is steadily growing. This is causing me a couple of problems with storage and transport. Initially I was just putting the models on their bases and keeping them in a 4 litre really useful box. This was ok as long as they all had bases and were plastic, or resin, but due to my growing collection I was running into a number of unforeseen issues.

Some issues here I fear :-)

 Firstly I was running out of bases. I'm a big fan of Armaments in Miniature models, and they don't come with bases. Converting them to take BRS bases is easy, but that meant to store them I needed to buy bases or leave them rattling around with the possibility of damage. Warlord will sell bases of course, but at £8 a pack it was adding to the overall costs.

Secondly, I wanted some models that were going to be metal, and at that point leaving them loose in a box is not going to work.

Thirdly, me and my mate Paul just bought a resin 3d printer. The implications are pretty massive here as it means we can print our own models - assuming we can either find or create the files. The world is very much our mollusc, but we will have to be careful with the resin miniatures which can be a bit brittle, so again, loose was not looking like a good option.

Enter JustLasered. I first saw their products at the Warlord Open Day last year, when Warlord had a prototype of some foam inserts they had cut for the BRS base set. Making enquiries I discovered they could do custom cut trays to fit Really Useful Boxes, so after a few emails I decided to give it a try with my Battle of Britain Luftwaffe collection. As my models were not standard Warlord ones I send some samples so they could get the dimensions correct. I ended up with a set of custom cut foam trays that hold 9 Me109s. 6 Me110s, 3 Do17s, 3 Ju88s, and 6 Ju87s, plus a tray of bases, and a tray topper. All that fits neatly into a 9 litre Really Useful Box. All the cut outs include recesses to take my "widgets". All in all pretty damn good product.

I also asked for a top layer to hold it in place. I chose the Luftwaffe Eagle clutching a Swastika symbol. With hindsight this may have been something to think about - Mel at JL suggested replacing the Swastika but on balance I decided to stick with the history, but I understand how some people may not like it.

These were so good in fact I've just taken delivery of another set to carry my Japanese.

So what are the downsides? Volume is certainly an issue - my original "chuck them in" system meant they fit a 4 litre RUB, where the new foam needs a 9 litre - I should say both boxes are the same footprint but the 9 litre is taller. If you only had 1 layer of planes and 1 of bases they would fit in a 4 litre, which does leave you with plenty of options if you just want to haul one or 2 squadrons around.

Secondly,  planning. These are bespoke cases, so you have to know what you want to put in there. With my Japanese I have had them cut slots for my Ki43 I that I one day will be buying. I'm ordering a Soviet set and have asked to have slots cut for Il2s even though I don't own any yet.

Lastly cost. As these are individually cut there is no standard price - you need to check with JustLasered, but the sets I have were very reasonably priced. On the other hand having the ability to store planes without bases, and the need for less bases means I'm saving £££ on not having to have every plane on a base, which is nice. 

So all in all very happy with these, and I would happily recommend them. Cheers

Just Lasered https://justlasered.co.uk/