Help with vehicle counter organization, Plano 3701?

[von Marwitz]

But removing a single insert from the stack may be difficult; the whole system looks great and is nice to store and organize counters, but maybe not so nice to grab a counter during play.

Hm, good thought.

Maybe, another improvement to the printed inserts might be some fixture that allows one to pick it with two fingers. For example by sacrificing two slots in the middle somewhere. It would not look just as nice maybe, but it could be practical.

von Marwitz

 

[von Marwitz]

The standard 3D printers, even relatively fancy ones, can only print in one material at a time, and cannot print a model with a large overhang - they work by depositing layer after layer of material, first on the printing bed, then on previous layers.

So, a rectangular box with a flat bottom is a nice thing to print, but the same box with feet in the bottom corners is a nightmare, because they turn the flat bottom into a huge overhang that will not print.

Some even-fancier printers can use more than one material in a single print, and you can then use a special, water-soluble material to fill in the bottom below the overhang; but this is way more trouble than it's worth, IMHO (plus, my printer is a fancy one, but not that fancy). Better to just give up on the feet, or just glue some below the inserts after printing.

Thanks for the insight!

von Marwitz

 

[Bill Kohler]

I sort mine by Chapter H vehicle note number in 3D printed trays.

Tweezers are needed, and some way to fill the expandable gap at the rear of the rows: I use wooden disks (from Agricola) and extra dice for that. I have a plastic case for transporting/storing them. I do confess that a spill will be disastrous. The key is that I do all of the counter pulling (and replacing) myself, so I'm sure my system is being followed. And it takes a certain deftness to prevent the counters from tipping over--which is a pain to fix.

I find other people's storage systems of piling various vehicle types together into the same wells troublesome in its own way: I often have to pull out every counter and turn it face up to look at it, and then I often find I was in the wrong bin, or that the sixth vehicle that I needed was accidentally tossed into a neighboring bin. (Remember the old riddle about pulling socks from a drawer in the night: if there're five brown, three blue, seven black, and four green socks in the drawer, how many of the 19 socks do you need to pull out to guarantee you have at least two blue socks? The answer, sadly, is 18.)

Here is my picture that includes a full MMP OOB including several MMP HASLs, but sans KW.

 

[Philippe D.]

I sort mine by Chapter H vehicle note number in 3D printed trays.

Best (or worst?) of both worlds!

I find other people's storage systems of piling various vehicle types together into the same wells troublesome and time-consuming.

The whole point of trays like those shown in Fort's pictures is to avoid piling different vehicle types into the same slot. Takes a bit more space than your system because you can pack yours as tightly as you like, of course, but if you manage to make the trays the right height (6-counter deep works for the vast majority, but you will lose some space due to some counters being in fewer counts) you get a system that is efficient both for total space and finding a given counter.

What your system does provide is easy reference, because you use printed labels for vehicle names; but it's less visual than having the counters face up.

 

[von Marwitz]

Bill's "upright" storage provide the most "counter-compression", whereas Jim's "visual" storage has its advantages for finding/retrieving counters IMHO.

Personally, I favor a "visual" storage.

von Marwitz

 

[Bill Kohler]

I agree with others that one's storage approach is a personal preference kind of thing.

Another advantage of my system is that you immediately know what the Vehicle Note Number is. (Although that info could be included in a tray top listing.)

 

[Sparafucil3]

Bill's "upright" storage provide the most "counter-compression", whereas Jim's "visual" storage has its advantages for finding/retrieving counters IMHO.

Personally, I favor a "visual" storage.

What ever storage works for you is the right one. I have played with those tab-separated systems and I am not fond of them. If I had it to do all over again, I would use coin envelopes for 5/8" counters, complete with vehicle notes on the envelope. My 1/2" counters would be sorted into two boxes, one "axis", one "allies". Identify the squad type (Elite, "Circle" Elite, "Square" Elite, etc) and pull by counter color. -- jim

 

[Bill Kohler]

I too have used the coin envelope system, but I found it fiddly, and also clumsy because all of the counters tend to bulge in the middle of the envelope with the ends of the envelope being slim, so the whole long row of envelopes slithers like a snake when you add or remove envelopes from it, making the envelopes prone to turning sideways and shuffling the envelope order, which is a little fiddly to fix.

You also have to pull the envelopes up to see what's written on them, so there's a certain hunting around to find the vehicle you want. And when vehicles get put back into the wrong envelope, it takes forever to find them. And, although it's less of a nuisance, sometimes envelopes get put back in the wrong order, which can make finding it and the envelopes near it difficult until you correct the mistake.

I sorted my envelopes by vehicle number, so I had to first look up the vehicle number, which I had stickered onto the box.


I also had to look hard to find pH-neutral coin envelopes: didn't want acidic paper staining the counters. And you should find them without pre-gummed flaps, for if the humidity gets too high, suddenly you have 1000 glued-shut envelopes--a disaster on par with dropping a full tray of counters.

 

[Fort]

A full set of ASL minus Korean Module (that's coming soon). All this fits inside those two Raacos.

 

[Gordon]

Very impressive! What model of printer do you use?

 

[Sparafucil3]

Very impressive! What model of printer do you use?

Gary uses a Bambu Labs printer. They aren't cheap but the prints are beautiful. -- jim

 

[Ric of The LBC]

View attachment 27590View attachment 27589

A full set of ASL minus Korean Module (that's coming soon). All this fits inside those two Raacos.

 

[pensatl1962]

View attachment 27590View attachment 27589

A full set of ASL minus Korean Module (that's coming soon). All this fits inside those two Raacos.

Visually stunning, but god forbid if someone bumps that table, aren’t you are royally screwed? How secure are the counters in their slots?

 

[Sparafucil3]

Visually stunning, but god forbid if someone bumps that table, aren’t you are royally screwed? How secure are the counters in their slots?

If he doesn't clip them, you can turn the trays upside down and they won't spill. At least, that was my experience this past weekend. Of course, who wants unclipped counters? <SHUDDER> -- jim

 

[pensatl1962]

If he doesn't clip them, you can turn the trays upside down and they won't spill. At least, that was my experience this past weekend. Of course, who wants unclipped counters? <SHUDDER> -- jim

Unclipped counters in bespoke 3D printed storage racks - seems to epitomize opposite ends of the OCD spectrum.

 

[Zakopious]

Is Plano still making the 3701 box ?
Every place I Look, the 3701 Is "OUT OF STOCK".

 

[Blaze]

Amazon... Amazon.com: Plano 23701-00 Stowaway with Adjustable Dividers, Clear, Pack of 1 : Sports & Outdoors
OR
Scheels Plano 3701 Prolatch Stowaway | SCHEELS.com

I think they are discontinued, but you still can find them. I have so many and since most of my infantry/ SW / Guns are getting put into 3600's I am starting to have unused 3701's accumulating. They are still the best (Plano-wise) for the vehicles.

 

[kdalton]

Here is the scheme I came up with for my Germans. These go inside the lid. I will post a pic of the outside when I get a chance.

 

[kdalton]

Is Plano still making the 3701 box ?
Every place I Look, the 3701 Is "OUT OF STOCK".

Try Academy Sports. They tend to have them most of the time. I picked up six not too long ago at my local one.

I am currently experimenting with the 3601 - it's the same size as the 3600 but only a little over one inch high. My Festung Budapest "auxiliary troops"-- the Buda Volunteer Regiment, Arrow Cross Militia, as well as the campaign game specific marker and counters for that HASL - went into one nicely. These can be found at Cabelas/Bass Pro Shops.

 

[Hutch]

Also Bass Pro has their own brand which are identical, but have their logo.