original post at:
http://gravengames.co.uk/mini-and-mini-plus-cases-review/
Welcome to today’s review in which we will be looking at two cases and a selection of foam trays from the Feldherr brand by GWINDI GmbH, a miniatures case manufacturer based in Germany. GWINDI GmbH produce a variety of miniature storage solutions ranging from their Mini and Mini Plus cases which we will be looking at today, to their much larger Back Packs and Hard Cases.
As you can see in the images below we’ve got two Feldherr cases, The Mini and the Mini Plus in addition to a whole pile of foam options including custom cutFlames Of War trays to show you. The Mini and the Mini Plus cases are both at the smaller end of the Feldherr range and so are most suitable for skirmish scale wargames where only a few models are required. Alternatively, we think they are also a great option for transporting hobby projects on the move, as you can easily store a couple of models, plus paints and tools in one of these cases to take with you.
Here you can see some pictures of the outside of the Feldherr Mini case. The case is made of a durable, black material with a Feldherr shield shaped logo sewn to the front, we think it looks quite stylish. The Feldherr Mini is designed to hold around 32 miniatures, or a few larger models depending on the combination of foam trays you fill it with. The Mini is available for €13.99 ($22.99 for US customers) as an empty case, or €19.99 ($29.99) including foam trays direct fromFeldherr.
Feldherr Mini dimensions: 30x 9x 20cm
One feature we really like is the addition of a clear plastic pocket on the bottom so that you can slide in a credit card sized note into it, making it easy to identify whats in the case and/or who it belongs to. Here you can see we slid in a piece of paper with our logo on it.
Another nice touch which shows attention to detail on these cases are the zips which are customised with a stylised Letter “F”.
The Mini Plus is the big brother to the Mini and is designed to hold twice as much (up to 64 miniatures). Externally the Mini Plus is very similar to the Mini, with the addition of a handle on the top to make it easier to carry around with you. The Mini Plus is available for €16.99 ($27.99) as an empty case or €24.99 ($39.99) including foam trays direct from Feldherr.
Feldherr Mini Plus dimensions: 30x 16x 20cm
The stylish look continues inside the cases. Each one is lined with a red patterned material and the lid of each case includes a zipped pocket which could be useful for storing rules, counters, paint brushes or similar accessories.
Now that we’ve seen the cases, lets take a look at some of the Feldherr foam trays and how they can be used. The first thing to note with these foam trays is that the tray and tray base come separately As shown below.
Each of the trays are self adhesive, if we flip over the foam tray you can see that it has a yellow covering sheet which we will need to peel away to expose the adhesive underneath.
Once the adhesive is exposed, we can then take the foam bottom and stick it to the tray. We pulled it around a bit and it seems like quite a strong adhesive, although we’ve not done any long term tests.
Our tray is now ready, and we can start to remove the internal foam as needed, and replace it with our own minis. The Feldherr foam feels very soft, so it should protect miniatures well without damaging them.
The tray we’ve just assembled happens to be the 25 mm (1 Inch) Figure Foam Tray half-size Regular self-adhesive and is great for storing 25-28mm miniatures. In this picture you can see we’ve removed the extra foam from 6 of the 16 slots and placed a 28mm Space Marine from Games Workshop inside one of them for scale. The 1? version of this tray costs €3.49 ($4.99)
The following picture shows one of the two sheets of foam you get when ordering the Convoluted foam 70 mm (2.8 inch) 2pc half-size. Each of the two foam sheets have the same teeth pattern and so they lock into each other, keeping minis or hobby equipment secure. (€6.99)
The next tray is interesting as Feldherr have changed the shape of the slots so that you can fit 20 28mm models in the same space you would normally fit 16 (as shown in the first tray we looked at). This is the 25 mm (1 Inch) Figure Foam Tray 20 Cut Outs half-size self-adhesive and each slot is wider at one end than the other. (€3.49)
This tray is the first of the custom cut trays suitable for Flames Of War models (check out our review here). As you can see below, the FOW Foam Tray 8 Tanks 25 mm (1 Inch) fits the contents of our Achtung! FOW starter set perfectly, with room for turrets and small pieces of foam you can pluck out for extra long cannons and similar. (€3.49)
The FOW Foam Tray 6 Large Tanks 25 mm (1 Inch) is another tray designed specifically for Flames Of War, this time aimed at some of the larger vehicles from the range, again with separate spaces for the turrets. (€3.49)
The FOW Foam Tray 8 Large Bases 25 mm (1 Inch) is designed to safely transport 8 large bases for Flames Of War, or any models of a similar shape/size. (€3.49)
The last of the special Flames Of War trays we are looking at today is the FOW Foam Tray 12 Medium 6 Small Bases 25 mm (1 Inch) which has slots to fit 12 FOW medium and 6 FOW small based miniatures. (€3.49)
For those unusual shape models and conversions we have the 25 mm (1 Inch) Figure Foam Tray half-size Raster self-adhesive which consists of raster (pick & pluck) foam, so you can create slots to exactly fit your miniatures and/or hobby tools. (€3.49)
All of the trays we have shown you today are half-size trays designed to fit within the Mini and Mini Plus cases. Many of the trays are available in a variety of depths, for example the raster tray above is available in 5, 10, 25, 40, 60, and 100mm depths so that you can get an exact fit for your models and case. Each of the trays apart from the convoluted foam is self-adhesive, and so they will all need foam bottoms, available separately for (€0.59).
Overall we are impressed with Feldherr’s smaller cases, they both feel high quality and look good. We found the Mini Plus in particular is very useful as it can hold 4x 1? trays or a combination of other depths, which gives you a decent amount of storage while still being very easy to carry around. Since these products are soft foam in soft cases, you still have to take a little care in handling them to protect your models, but that this size that should be pretty easy.
If you would like to pick up your own Mini or Mini Plus case, or see what else Feldherr has to offer, head over to http://feldherr.net/ and take a look.