The CrookedEye Transport and Display System

This is designed to be a start-to-finish solution for basing, painting, displaying and transporting your miniatures. With a few quick adjustments it can be customized to your preferences, and any of the individual parts can easily be used independently of the others.

The system starts with the box. This is the standard split box, with the brass package. (Nickel/Silver is also available). I can also do a half box (just what it sounds like) or a full box (same size, but doesn't split and only has one tray. Though I can still make it spin if you'd like). The handle on the split box is cotton webbing with a clip, held in place with brass hardware. The handle for the half and full box can be the same or it can be a standard briefcase/luggage handle. It's not quite as flat but still fits under even the smallest commercial aircraft seats. If you really wanted to, I could also do the luggage handles on the split box but two of them are a little cumbersome if you have smaller hands.

Unclip the handle and clasp (lockable clasps available) and the box opens to reveal 2 trays. Each of the trays can be removed and they spin around for display purposes like a lazy susan. The trays are designed to be thin enough to show both the front and back of your minis without them being removed from the tray, minimizing the chance that they will get damaged or dropped. The minis are held on the trays in a couple of ways. If you prefer a plain tray you can use the sticky-tac method. For those of you that want a little more security you can use rare earth magnets set into the trays, or you can use steel discs.

Finally, if you are using display bases or plinths, they can be screwed directly to nuts set in the trays or you can use my rare earth magnets with nuts attached to screw into the display base and attach to the tray (example below in the bases section). The boxes are made by a professional carpenter with quality half-blind dovetail joinery from birch plywood.

Here are some of the display bases I've made. They all have the hardware built in to screw onto one of the magnets with a post or directly into a bolt in the tray.

I will also be doing both decorative squares and a series of inexpensive plain oak, poplar and pine squares for those that want to utilize the whole system without the cost of hand-turned bases.

But that's not all! I wanted a system that worked together "from soup to nuts," as they say. So I made a bunch of holders that can be set up with magnets,disks, or blocks of cork. I have rounds and squares of oak, poplar, and pine. Some of the rounds are turned on the lathe for a more ergonomic shape, and the edges of the squares have been rounded off for comfort. I cut the tops of some of them at an angle, so you can set your hand in a comfortable position, and then you can reach any angle of the mini simply by turning the holder and the mini. You can paint the top, bottom, or front without holding it in uncomfortable or unsteady positions.

The holders each have a large 1/2" X 1/4" rare earth magnet in them to hold everything steady.

And to make it even better, in every one of those is a sunken nut that you can screw an extension into. Set the extension in your gut and brace it against the table on the bottom and your hand on the top and you have a rock solid way to hold the mini steady while you do delicate freehand, tiny details, or eyes. And of course there is a holder for your holders - with either dowels (recommended) or bolts (if you're really afraid you're going to knock something over).

For those of you that like to pin the feet and attach to cork, I have added solid blocks of cork with steel discs set halfway in and expoxied in place, pictured below. You can still spin the piece around if you're using one of the angled holders, so you don't lose that advantage, and you can also attach your cork to a tray-mounted magnet if you'd like to transport your WIPs as safely as your finished pieces.

To go with all of this I have plastic rounds in multiple standard sizes all preset with either magnets or disks, whichever you prefer. I also have some plastic rounds that I created myself; they are a bit taller and have a little more room on top so you can add a little more to your mini while maintaining a game-legal size base.

I hope all this makes sense, it's a very simple set of ideas that I tried to combine to make sense for a wide range of painters. The video explains things much better I think.

Box_Pricing is on the next page.

Main Page is here.

Contact Me if you want one!