Your painted miniatures represent dozens, sometimes hundreds of hours of work. A transport or storage accident — arms snapping off, paint chipping, models cracking against each other — is one of the most demoralising things that can happen to a hobbyist. A proper storage case prevents all of it. This guide covers the best miniature storage cases for Warhammer and tabletop gaming, from hard cases to foam-lined solutions to the community favourite budget picks.
Quick Pick: Best Miniature Storage Cases
| Pick | Case | Best For | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best Overall | CASEMATIX Hard Shell Case | Transport + display | Check price → |
| Premium Foam | Battle Foam P.A.C.K. 352 | Full army transport | Check price → |
| Best Value | ENHANCE Miniature Case | Smaller collections | Check price → |
| Budget Storage | Really Useful Box 4L | Shelf storage at home | Check price → |
| Community Favourite | Plano 3600 Tackle Box | Infantry & small models | Check price → |
Storage vs Transport: What You Actually Need
There is an important distinction between storage and transport that most guides blur together. Storage is keeping miniatures safely at home — on a shelf, in a cupboard, or in a dedicated hobby cabinet. For home storage, you prioritise space efficiency, easy access, and protecting models from dust and accidental knocking. Transport is moving painted models to a game store, a friend’s house, or a tournament. For transport, you need physical protection against impact, padding around fragile parts, and a case you can carry. The best solution for each use case looks quite different.
Most serious hobbyists end up with both: a practical storage system at home and a dedicated transport case for taking armies out. This guide covers products suitable for both.
What to Look For
Hard Case vs Foam Bag
A hard case (like the CASEMATIX) has a rigid outer shell that provides structural protection even if the case takes a knock or gets dropped. A foam bag or soft case provides foam-slot protection for the models but relies on the foam absorbing impact rather than a hard shell. Hard cases are better for air travel, busy gaming venues, or anyone who tends to be rough on their gear. Foam bags are often more flexible in what they can fit and take up less space. For most hobby gamers using public transport or driving to game stores, a quality foam bag is sufficient.
Foam Type: Pluck Foam vs Pre-Cut Slots
Pluck foam (also called pick-and-pluck or custom foam) comes as a solid piece of foam with a grid of perforations that you pop out to create custom-shaped cavities for your specific models. The result is a perfectly fitted slot for every model in your collection. The downside is time — setting up a pluck foam tray for a full army takes an afternoon. Pre-cut slots are ready-made foam trays with standard round or square holes that fit most standard infantry figures, vehicles, and cavalry without any customisation. Pre-cut is faster but may not fit unusual model shapes (large monsters, models with wide-swept cloaks, cavalry on unusual bases).
Magnetic Storage
An increasingly popular alternative to foam is magnetised storage — where models are mounted on magnetic bases and stored on magnetic steel sheets inside a case. This works best for standard infantry models on round bases, gives you very high storage density, and makes accessing individual models fast. The downside: it requires magnetising your entire collection (either adding magnets to base bottoms or using pre-magnetised bases), which is a significant time investment. Some painters find it worthwhile; others prefer the safety guarantee of foam slots. This guide focuses on foam and hard-case options, but magnetic storage is worth researching if you paint large numbers of infantry.
Best Miniature Storage Cases — Reviews
1. CASEMATIX Hard Shell Miniature Case — Best Overall
The CASEMATIX is a hard-shell case with a customisable foam interior that holds up to 80 standard 28mm infantry figures. The outer shell is injection-moulded hard plastic with a reinforced frame — it will survive being dropped, stuffed in a bag, or stacked under other gear without passing the impact on to the models inside. The foam interior uses a pluck system that you can customise to fit models of any shape. The case is sized to fit comfortably in most backpacks and bags. One consistently praised feature is the lid foam — there is foam on both sides of the interior, so models are clamped between layers rather than just sitting in slots. This bilateral clamping prevents models from moving inside slots even if the case is flipped. The CASEMATIX is available in several sizes; the 80-slot version is the recommendation for a standard army in most game systems.
2. Battle Foam P.A.C.K. 352 — Premium Foam Transport
Battle Foam is one of the most respected names in wargaming transport, used extensively by competitive players and tournament-goers. The P.A.C.K. 352 is their mid-size bag system: a padded soft exterior with internal foam trays holding 352 standard infantry slots across multiple layers. The foam quality is noticeably higher than generic alternatives — firmer, with cleaner cut slots that hold models securely without crushing fragile detail work. The system is modular: you can add or swap foam layers for different model types (infantry trays, vehicle trays, large monster trays). It is also available with pre-cut trays for specific game systems, so models fit without any pluck-foam work. The P.A.C.K. 352 is more expensive than most alternatives, but for a serious player with a painted army they want to protect properly, the quality jump over budget foam cases is real and significant.
3. ENHANCE Miniature Carrying Case — Best Value
The ENHANCE case is a mid-range foam case aimed at hobbyists who want proper foam protection without the premium price of Battle Foam. It holds standard 28mm miniatures in pre-cut foam slots across two foam layers, with a handle and adjustable shoulder strap. The foam density and slot precision are better than the cheapest alternatives and perfectly adequate for regular game nights. The ENHANCE is sized for a typical 1,000–1,500 point army in most systems — not suitable for massive 2,000+ point hordes, but ideal for Combat Patrol, Kill Team, or a focused army core. For a hobbyist who has just completed their first painted army and needs to start transporting it safely, the ENHANCE is the right balance of protection and cost.
4. Really Useful Box 4L — Best Budget Home Storage
The Really Useful Box is a staple of hobbyist home storage — a clear, stackable, locking plastic container that is used widely throughout the miniature painting community. At 4 litres, one box holds approximately 20–30 standard infantry models (depending on base size) or a smaller number of larger models, vehicles, or terrain. The key advantages are clarity (you can see contents without opening), stackability, airtight lids (protects from dust), and price — these are extremely affordable and widely available in hardware and office supply stores. The downside is they provide no padding — models are not protected from impact, only from dust and accidental knocking. These are a storage solution, not a transport solution. For keeping assembled and painted models safely on a shelf at home, Really Useful Boxes are the community standard budget option.
5. Plano 3600 Tackle Box — Community Favourite for Infantry
The Plano 3600 is a fishing tackle box that became a miniature painting community favourite through word of mouth. Its adjustable divider compartments create customisable sections that fit infantry models, character models, and small cavalry neatly. The locking latches are secure, the clear lid lets you see contents, and the price is extremely low for what you get. The limitation is obvious: it is designed for tackle, not miniatures, so the foam is minimal and larger models or anything with extensive conversion work may not fit cleanly in the compartments. But for a collection of 30–50 standard infantry models that need inexpensive, accessible home storage, the Plano 3600 is hard to beat on value. Available in hardware stores and online in a range of sizes.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I store Warhammer miniatures safely?
For home storage: stackable clear containers (Really Useful Boxes) or foam-lined cases protect models from dust and accidental knocking. For transport: a foam slot case or hard case is essential to prevent models touching each other and to protect against impact. The single biggest mistake new hobbyists make is transporting unpainted or painted models in open boxes where they can slide around freely. Even a short car journey can break off arms and antennae if models are not properly secured.
How many miniatures fit in a standard storage case?
It depends on the case and the model size. A typical mid-size foam case like the ENHANCE holds 60–80 standard 25mm/32mm based infantry models. Larger models (cavalry, monsters, vehicles) take proportionally more space and reduce the total count. Most manufacturers give a slot count based on standard infantry — check whether that count fits your specific army composition before buying.
Should I magnetise my miniatures for storage?
Magnetic storage is excellent for infantry-heavy armies where you need high density and fast access. It requires adding a small rare-earth magnet to the base of each model and storing on magnetic steel sheets. The setup cost (time and magnets) is significant, but maintenance and access afterwards is very convenient. If you paint a lot of standard infantry — Necron Warriors, Skaven Clanrats, Space Marine Tactical Squads — magnetic storage is worth researching seriously. For armies with larger, unusual-shaped models, foam remains the easier solution.
Can I travel with miniatures in hand luggage on a plane?
Yes — unpainted plastic and metal miniatures, paints (within liquid limits), and foam cases all pass airport security without issue in most countries. Sprays and aerosols (primers, varnishes) cannot go in hand luggage. Painted models in foam cases travel safely in cabin bags. If you are attending a tournament by air, a hard-shell case like the CASEMATIX in checked luggage provides better protection than a foam bag for that use case.
For more painting guides, see our best glue for miniatures and spray primer guide.