Stash organization

[atomicholiday]

Here’s a question for those of you with large stashes:

How do you organize/sort them?

I’m in the process of restructuring my basement storage and adding a bunch of shelving, about 2/3 of which will end up being for models.  Up until now, they’ve been kept in shipping boxes with very little in the way of organization.  Cars mixed with planes, etc…  It’s been a real pain trying to find anything, but there hasn’t really been a better alternative until now.

I’m leaning toward sorting by car manufacturer (all Fords together, Chevys together…), then by kit manufacturer.  So AMT kits together, etc, basically so the boxes will be the same size.

But before I start the process of sorting, I want to hear how you guys do it and maybe it will spark a better idea for me.

[Keef]

I try to keep my stash organized according to manufacturer. Mopars in one spot(sort by body) and Ford and GM separately. Doesn’t always manage to stay that way though lol.? 

[Scott Eriksen]

...........I keep 1 or 2 on the shelf that the wife can see ,,,the hundred others are well hidden ? 

[imarriedawitch]

All Nascar in a pile, 60's funny cars in a pile, IMSA racers in a pile, JDM cars in a pile, what I consider exotics in a pile, muscle cars in a pile, anything with a tubbed chassis in a pile. Well you get the idea.

[Little Timmy]

Model cars/trucks are all on shelfs. 

Tanks, planes,  ships  are all in a very large steamer trunk. ( big enough to fit me and my wife in it... but that's a story for another time ...)

Trains, figures, buildings and scratchbuilding supplies are all in 4 cupboard's ( each 2 feet wide x 3 feet tall.)

I also have 2 pegboard's  of model train parts set up over both workbenches. As well as 4 tackle box's full of all kinds of spare parts. ( and several box's of unsorted miscellaneous body's, and bits. )

 

And, ... my model vegetation for dioramas  ( bags of ground foam, bags of different sizes  of rocks, box's of resin  and bottles of tinting, and lots of little tree trunks) just seems to be everywhere.

 

 

Edited February 26, 2024 by Little Timmy
Typo

[Fat Brian]

My shelves are semi trucks and odd shaped boxes, Japanese kits and armor (basically the flat boxes), cars and trucks sorted by manufacturer, then race cars of all sorts. 

[iamsuperdan]

Organization?

lolz

You're funny.

 

 

[espo]

Most my stash is not on display because of its volume. I'm using boxes from U-Haul and Home Depot, and I'm sure there are others with much the same type of boxes. The boxes are 25"x25" and 28" high. U-Haul lists them as TV & Computer boxes for moving. They seem a little sturdier than most and provide openings on two sides as handles. When full of kits you will find these handy. I try and keep the boxes contents on a small spread sheet and box the kits by subject, I.E. Chevy, other GM, Ford and Chrysler. I also have a couple of boxes for NASCAR and other competition vehicles. With the spread sheet I can tell what is in the box without removing all the contents to see what is there. I cross off anything removed and pencil in any additions. 

[StanGlover]

I organize mine by vehicle type: sports cars, exotics, trucks, muscle cars, mustangs, f-bodies, etc. Then they’re roughly arranged within that group by vehicle model year and brand. All Japanese/European style flat boxes are stacked by size of the box since they come in non-standard sizes. I’m thinking of starting a spreadsheet to keep track of them all, since I’m running out of single-box-depth shelf space in the basement. Then I can start stacking them two boxes deep on my shelves and still find stuff. And maybe pick up my pace of building/slow my pace of buying ?

[Brutalform]

1 complete kits, either sealed or not. 
 

2 partial kits

3 built kits. 
 

Everything else, like bodies, tires, parts, etc. all go in organized, labeled parts drawers. 

[1930fordpickup]

Car manufacture 1st cars in one box. Trucks in another. 

My spreadsheet is a spiral not book. Number boxes by letter F-1 = Ford cars Box 1.  So when I look for a model i can check by brand 1st and not have to go through a big pile of boxes to find the Model I need. 

I have puchrased the large index cards to switch over because the stash has grown. I grabed a recipe box to store them in. Any way to save time when hunting stops us from buying another because you just can't find it.  The way you sort is up to you, but I feel keeping same types together is faster to search. Streetrods and stock drivers in thier own box when possible. 

Kit number and brand of kit on the card alsp helps. 

[Carmak]

After I moved a couple years ago I looked at building new shelving but instead decided on these rolling 48x18x60 rolling shelf units.

One 48x18x60 unit will hold 300 standard kit boxes. I have a few oversize boxes and I just turn them sideways.

The key is the wheels. I can set these 3 shelving units is a 4'x5' space, they can hold up to 900 kits, and I can get to any one of those kits in seconds without moving any kits out of the way just by rolling the shelf out.

I got these units for $120 each at Menards (similar to Lowes or Home Depot).

[atomicholiday]

Some pretty good ideas here.  Thanks everyone for your input.  I really appreciate it.

@Carmak I just have to say it.  Nice stash!  You’ve got some really great stuff there.?

[Carmak]

14 minutes ago, atomicholiday said:

Some pretty good ideas here.  Thanks everyone for your input.  I really appreciate it.

@Carmak I just have to say it.  Nice stash!  You’ve got some really great stuff there.?

I don't have a ton of vintage (pre 1980) unbuilt like some guys here have, I am mostly into rebuilding/restoring vintage builder annuals. I store those in these nice cardboard boxes I get from work. I have 2-4 models in each box. The stack of vintage boxes was just for fun to get an idea as to how well they would stack if I displayed them in another room (my wife said no  ).

Most of my modern stuff is in the ceiling. It is organized by make, model and year. 

[stitchdup]

vw are mostly stacked on the floor in 3 roof height piles, porsche fills a shelf, bugatti, audi, seat skoda and other vw group are on another shelf. flat box pick ups and tractors have a shelf and larger trucks are under my paints. then theres a shelf for japanese and other euro cars and all my usa boxes are stacked on the other wall. parts are in various sizes of plastic drawers and my bottle paints are sorted by brand in a small drawer unit. then theres boxes of prints scattered among all this and 6 large and 12 small totes full of parts sorted by brand/type. and i have a few clear shoe boxes for putting german revell kits when i start to build them cos the boxes are garbage and never last until a build is finished

[atomicholiday]

31 minutes ago, Carmak said:

I don't have a ton of vintage (pre 1980) unbuilt like some guys here have, I am mostly into rebuilding/restoring vintage builder annuals. I store those in these nice cardboard boxes I get from work. I have 2-4 models in each box. The stack of vintage boxes was just for fun to get an idea as to how well they would stack if I displayed them in another room (my wife said no  ).

Most of my modern stuff is in the ceiling. It is organized by make, model and year. 

I remember seeing your post in another thread with models in the ceiling.  That looks absolutely awesome.

 Actually measured the spacing of my floor joists after seeing it.  I could probably make it work, but the spacing is pretty wide.  Might have to revisit that one again.?

[slusher]

9 hours ago, Carmak said:

After I moved a couple years ago I looked at building new shelving but instead decided on these rolling 48x18x60 rolling shelf units.

One 48x18x60 unit will hold 300 standard kit boxes. I have a few oversize boxes and I just turn them sideways.

The key is the wheels. I can set these 3 shelving units is a 4'x5' space, they can hold up to 900 kits, and I can get to any one of those kits in seconds without moving any kits out of the way just by rolling the shelf out.

I got these units for $120 each at Menards (similar to Lowes or Home Depot).

Neat stash !

[bobss396]

I have most in my basement boiler room on salvaged metal and cheap plastic shelving. One shelf unit, all stock cars separated into dirt and pavement. 

On another wall, the bulk of my stash lives there. Separated into rods (1930 to 1940), Pro Street, GM muscle cars, 1950's, 1960's and 1970's kits. Trucks are separate.

In a finished area in a closet are about 120 boxed up kits I take to sell at shows.

[von Zipper]

Im always on the look out for old store display fixtures like this that was discarded behind our local grocery store ( I asked first )

sometimes i have to sort them by the odd shaped boxs

Also found this rotating display stand that works great for Hot Wheels/Matchbox

 

 

 

[Dave Ambrose]

My stash is fairly unorganized right now. I have cars, model railroad, scifi, aircraft, and real space subjects. It complicates everything. Plan is to pull the entire thing out, and take inventory. I'll keep that inventory in a Google sheet. That way, I can access when out shopping so I don't pick up any unintended duplicates. Probably set up several areas and track that in the spreadsheet too. 

[Deathgoblin]

Organize?  *blink blink*  It's not at all.  Some are in boxes, and I've got 4 tubs and two bags of bagged kits (had to unbox from the last move thanks to our neighbors bringing roaches)

[bobss396]

I have one shelf unit that I found on trash night, it looks good and needed a couple of things fixed on it.

[HomerS]

It's very unorganized but I started with the VW's as I have more than I care to admit on the PL Beetle.  I needed several for a diorama but I exceeded what I planned for.  The Der Beetle Bus were Ollie's buys for different versions I've found on the web.  I have no excuse on the Deals VW van and the Baja Humbugs.

[redscampi]

I've tried to organize but I keep getting more kits and don't want to waste time sorting them. Basically I put them where they'll fit. That said I'm close to critical mass in the allotted space and I'm strongly considering building a storage room in our walk in attic. A lot of what you see here is 2 kits deep.

 

Edited April 5, 2024 by redscampi
add photos