Tutorial: Miniature mounting system for transport boxes

Hello everyone, 

 

it's Andy, again. The “Bembel Miniature Cup” is in sight and so that your projects arrive safely, I will show you today my concept for new inserts/trays in my transport box.

Before our recent trip to the Monte San Savino Show I thought a lot about how to transport my miniatures to Italy by plane. Security checks, hand luggage, and a wooden box with metal parts kept me awake. I needed a solution that could be presented during an security inspection without much effort and, ideally, required no tools for assembly and disassembly.

Just using Bluetac/Pattafix was too unstable for me and gluing it would have risked leaving residue. That's why I decided on fixing the miniatures (or better: their bases/plinths) to the carrier trays with screws. In order not to have to carry a screwdriver with me, I decided on a combination of screw-in sleeves, M4 set screws and knurled nuts (links as example). This means that the bases/plinths can be easily attached without tools.

Since time was running short before the trip, I simply used a wooden board and drilled holes (as you can see in the picture below). However, for going to the Bembel Miniature Cup, I will upgrade that to a wooden pegboard (hole diameter 5mm, spacing 15mm). One screw per base/plinth is sufficient for 28mm projects and busts. Multiple screws are only necessary for larger or heavier projects. 

A note on drilling

The fact that I had to drill holes into the plinths of finished projects for the trip to Monte made me a little uneasy. To avoid dust on the miniatures, I drilled very carefully and vacuumed while drilling, which worked very well.

For future projects, in preparation for screw-in sleeves, I will make sure to drill a hole in the base in advance if there is any chance that the miniature is to be transported. 

Conclusion

The security check at the airport was a breeze with very nice officials, the miniatures survived the journey perfectly and fixing and releasing them was very easy - all in all, the effort was worth it.

Thanks for reading and your interest. Feel invited to comment in the section below. 

Andy 

A Happy New Year from the Massive Voodoo Crew

Dear all,

the Massive Voodoo family wishes all of you and your loved ones a happy, healthy and colorful new year! May 2024 be full of positive energies, inspiration and projects that bring you happiness and satisfaction!

With the start of the new year, we thought to reflect a bit on what we would wish 2024 to be, hobby-wise. So, in the following, we outline our goals they relate to our beloved miniature-painting and modeling hobby.

Andy

New year, new opportunities ;)

I stopped making nonsensical New Year's resolutions years ago. Plans make more sense ;)

I'm still in my non-creative post-Monte blues when it comes to miniatures. I had finished a lot of things by then and the drive to start something new wasn't there until the end of the year. The creative energies will definitely come back soon and when the time comes, there will be a rough plan of things I want to tackle this year. Among other things, the following points are included:

1. Start and finish 1-2 scale models (a diorama and a civilian vehicle)
2. Painting a hipster head that brought me a proud bronze in sculpting standard in Monte
3. Tackle a small-large secret project with my MV brother David

In addition, three shows are already firmly planned for this year:

• the new Bembel Cup near Frankfurt in March
• Kulmbach in August, and the
• Scale Model challenge in Eindhoven in October

... maybe we'll see each other there, I'd be happy ;)

Hansrainer

Last year was busy with life and not so much Hobby - this year might be busier with hobby, but before any ambitious painting project, we have a lot of work ahead of us to get our new, German miniature show off the ground: The Bembel Miniature Cup will take place on the weekend of March 9th and 10th in Rodgau near Frankfurt (you can find some Info already here https://bembelminiaturecup.com/, more after the relaunch that will happen soon, alternatively find us on Instagram or Facebook (https://www.instagram.com/bembel_miniature_cup and https://www.facebook.com/bembelcup). 

After the show is over, I really hope to find more time for my painting table and the energy to recover skill lost during the last 2 years of barely touching a brush. I am mostly looking forward to a number of studies in material, texture and lighting and maybe a class or two in the second half of the year!

Josua

Reflecting on the bustling year of 2023, my focus primarily centered around tabletop-related projects easily storable and effortlessly resumed due to long workdays. In 2024, I aim to shift towards more intentional painting with the following goals:

• Artistic Expression: Explore diverse styles and mediums while concentrating on painting more animals.
• Storytelling Through Art: Inject emotions and narratives into my pieces, placing a strong emphasis on crafting compelling stories.
• Community Engagement and Teaching: Stay committed to attending local paint meetings, sharing my passion, and exploring the possibility of hosting workshops.

My artistic aspirations for the upcoming year involve a return to focused painting with a renewed commitment to experimentation, storytelling, and community engagement.

Kilian

Hello jungle,

you haven’t heard a lot from my side and I am afraid this will not change in 2024. There are a lot of private changes and challenges coming to me and my family this year. So my Hobby goal for 2024 is really simple: just find time to paint once a week. Even if it is just for an hour, paint a bit, relax a bit and try to escape everything that is daily life and struggle.

Petra

New year, new me?

Nah, I'll be the same nagging person I was when the old year left the house (and it did for good!). But: I still want to try out new things and change things - because we all know: the only constant is change!

So, I actually want to get back to a topic that I followed for a bit a long time ago: I started reading self care books (yeah, I am now in "that age"), because I wanted to understand my brain better and why for the sake of it, am not able to work through a project start to finish, but get side tracked all the time. This always results in a huge pile of WIP miniatures (or WIP-any-other-project), which I then only finish when a new Show is around. But I finally also want to be able to have something finished *before* the week prior of a show. And this is mildly driving me nuts - as I know I can create decent art when I have time and enjoy; I also know I can cut it short when time presses and I sometimes work better this way.

However - a couple of years ago, I stumbled over the book "Refuse to choose" by Barbara Sher, which kind of described me in a nutshell: a multipurpose dilletante who gets too easily interested and invested in a ton of hobbies for a bit, but never really deep (or in her words: a "Scanner"). I really liked the first chapters, but when it then came to the practical part, I was super hyped but couldnt just get into the flow of following her advice on a regular routine. Back when I followed the first couple of chapters of that book, I even went all the way to creating and designing my daybook for her tips, my ideas and the follow up examples; even filled a couple of pages, and then put it away again - even though it helped!

So, this is my new years resolution: doing all the things, everywhere, all at once (and finally finishing stuff - a lot of it); but with more organisation in my brain. ;-)

Petrelka

Roman

2023 was a good painting year for me. I was busy teaching, painting and helping others to grow. I really enjoyed that. I also enjoyed to tackle some bigger projects, like framed dioramas that I was able to finish. Creativity and the muse was with me the last year with ups and downs of course, but I am grateful. I am never able to call these resolutions "Hobby goals" as my work is connected to my passion.

My plans for 2024 are:

• Finish some WIPs that I am really eager to finish as I think they can turn out really cool
• Less subconscious stress from social media. Working against it with clear social media time and meditation.
• Finishing the work on my homepage to have a smoother workflow, FAQs and enrollment options for all my workshops, courses and coachings.
• Enjoying and living happy painting while becoming a dad for the first time!

David

Looking back, I was really happy with my hobby-year 2023. While I did not touch brushes or colors for much of the first half of the year, I was productive in the second half and the hours spent on my projects were filled with joy, calm and relaxation. In the new year, I mainly plan to continue on that trajectory - but also have a few concrete goals. So, in 2024, I plan to:

1. continue enjoying my hobby-time in the same relaxed way I did in (the second half of) 2023
2. work on setting up a new Massive Voodoo website
3. make sure to meet my MV brothers and sisters at least once in person
4. finish at least one scale modeling project

How about you?

What are your hobby goals for this year? Did you make any New Year's resolutions? Let us know via the comments.

Best from the whole MV Team!

FIN: Deep One Pinup - 1/72

Hey all,

welcome back to another look at a recently finished mini. This is a special project for me - a slight diversion from my usual historical stuff. I painted it for a little miniature exchange with Maartje "MaGie" Giesbers. I have always been a great fan and admirer of Maartje's wonderfully lively, colorful and clean paintjobs, so I was super-happy when she agreed to do a little mini swap with me.

At first, it took me a little to find the perfect miniature for the swap, but since her preference for painting strong female miniatures is well established (well, she even wrote a book chapter on that...), it was clear to me that it needed to look for a nice - and ideally playful - female sculpt. Add in that Maartje is a PhD-carrying marine biologist, and voilá: the idea to build a little scene of a female Deep One (Lovecraftian humanoid dwellers of the seas) taking a leisurely walk at the beach was born. And, of course, it had to be done in my favorite small scale of 1/72nd!

The original miniature is from the Fantasy Pin-up line by Artizan Guild and was slightly resculpted and printed by my jungle brother Andy (THANKS, man!). During painting I aimed to recreate the color scheme of white sharks and also emulate scaly, irregular skin. Pics were taken by Maartje - who, I am very happy to report - really liked the mini! :-)

The project is also on Putty&Paint, if you feel like leaving a vote.

Talk to you soon. All the best,

D.