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Armor/AFV
For discussions on tanks, artillery, jeeps, etc.
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CellarDweller21516
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Massachusetts, United States
Joined: March 15, 2016
KitMaker: 84 posts
Armorama: 72 posts
Posted: Tuesday, February 20, 2018 - 05:31 AM UTC
People seem to love this idea I came up with for organizing sprues. I have 26 stackable letter trays (13 on each side of me as I have a large workspace) and I assign each tray a letter of the alphabet. I then place all sprues into their respective trays. An A sprue goes in the letter tray marked A and so on. Not many people have the space i do for 26 trays but you can still get say 10 and use them to organize your sprues so you know what sprue is where...no more fumbling through and breaking parts the sprues trying to find which one you are looking for...they're stackable so they have a small footprint on your bench...makes things so much easier
obg153
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Texas, United States
Joined: April 07, 2009
KitMaker: 1,063 posts
Armorama: 1,049 posts
Posted: Tuesday, February 20, 2018 - 05:44 AM UTC
Nice idea, Mike! At a yard sale many moons ago, I picked up one of those old metal LP record racks and did the same thing. Works great!
ivanhoe6
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Wisconsin, United States
Joined: April 05, 2007
KitMaker: 2,023 posts
Armorama: 1,234 posts
Posted: Tuesday, February 20, 2018 - 04:47 PM UTC
Mike, that's a nice system you have there. A couple of years ago I found a 7 slot letter holder at Goodwill for a buck. Combined with the 2 kit boxes it works out pretty well. Dragon... well some kits you get 2A sprues, 4 D sprues, no F's and so on.
On most kits I'll use a Magic Marker and write on both sides of the sprue ID tag what Letter the sprue is.
Tiger Models Nagmachon kit included stickers with letters that wrap around the sprue, nice idea. So much so that I'm going to start cutting Avery labels into strips and copy TM's idea.
But having 26 slots that's the way to fly !
Thanks for sharing the tip !
Namabiiru
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MODEL SHIPWRIGHTS
#399
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Rhode Island, United States
Joined: March 05, 2014
KitMaker: 2,888 posts
Armorama: 1,920 posts
Posted: Tuesday, February 20, 2018 - 05:17 PM UTC

Quoted Text

People seem to love this idea I came up with for organizing sprues. I have 26 stackable letter trays (13 on each side of me as I have a large workspace) and I assign each tray a letter of the alphabet. I then place all sprues into their respective trays. An A sprue goes in the letter tray marked A and so on. Not many people have the space i do for 26 trays but you can still get say 10 and use them to organize your sprues so you know what sprue is where...no more fumbling through and breaking parts the sprues trying to find which one you are looking for...they're stackable so they have a small footprint on your bench...makes things so much easier


Great idea! Would love to see a photo!

CellarDweller21516
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Massachusetts, United States
Joined: March 15, 2016
KitMaker: 84 posts
Armorama: 72 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 21, 2018 - 05:26 AM UTC
These are trays A - F in the first column and trays G - L in the second column...I don't actually label the trays because I know which tray is which. The remaining 14 trays not pictured are on the other side of me.
vettejack
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Florida, United States
Joined: November 23, 2012
KitMaker: 1,277 posts
Armorama: 1,254 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 21, 2018 - 05:39 AM UTC
Absolutely great idea...now all I have to do is find the space for stackable trays!
deerstalker36
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Queensland, Australia
Joined: May 16, 2010
KitMaker: 232 posts
Armorama: 218 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 21, 2018 - 06:09 AM UTC
Knocked this up for mine



joepanzer
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North Carolina, United States
Joined: January 21, 2004
KitMaker: 803 posts
Armorama: 740 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 21, 2018 - 06:15 AM UTC
That is a cool idea!!

I would be unable to adhere to it as I am a "Schizophrenic Modeller". I have 8-10 kits going at one stage or another.

Or would baking trays on a bakers rack be a possible solution?
Namabiiru
Staff MemberAssociate Editor
MODEL SHIPWRIGHTS
#399
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Rhode Island, United States
Joined: March 05, 2014
KitMaker: 2,888 posts
Armorama: 1,920 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 22, 2018 - 12:10 AM UTC
The thing that has me concerned about the wire mesh trays is the likelihood of snagging parts on them all the time, but I'll bet some cheap plastic letter trays would resolve that, and would also do better at capturing any small bits that did come loose. But your idea is spot on, Mike!

Now what to do about those Dragon kits with more than on H sprue in them.....


j76lr
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New Jersey, United States
Joined: September 22, 2006
KitMaker: 1,081 posts
Armorama: 1,066 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 22, 2018 - 12:29 AM UTC
Ihave a big area to work too ,( 4ft by 8 ft sheet of plywood )and use the same system mike . I dont permanently mark the trays , because some kits like Dragon have odd ball letters ( p, l,H ect ) I put masking tape on them and mark the tape accordingly. this way you can change with each kit !
j76lr
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New Jersey, United States
Joined: September 22, 2006
KitMaker: 1,081 posts
Armorama: 1,066 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 22, 2018 - 12:30 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Nice idea, Mike! At a yard sale many moons ago, I picked up one of those old metal LP record racks and did the same thing. Works great!

thats a great idea too !!
JSSVIII
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Massachusetts, United States
Joined: March 28, 2007
KitMaker: 1,169 posts
Armorama: 1,067 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 22, 2018 - 05:09 AM UTC
Great ideas guys, thanks for posting!
lightningdon
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West Virginia, United States
Joined: May 06, 2002
KitMaker: 79 posts
Armorama: 50 posts
Posted: Friday, February 23, 2018 - 11:50 PM UTC
I like the letter tray idea. Won't work for my though. My little furry 4 legged friend would grab a sprue and take off with it! Darn cats!
Scarred
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Washington, United States
Joined: March 11, 2016
KitMaker: 1,792 posts
Armorama: 1,186 posts
Posted: Saturday, February 24, 2018 - 06:49 AM UTC

Quoted Text

I like the letter tray idea. Won't work for my though. My little furry 4 legged friend would grab a sprue and take off with it! Darn cats!


Yeah I got one of those. Some days I wish he would go back to chewing on power cords.

I do have a question, what kits are you building that have 26 sprues?
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