Sally 4th Flames of War Storage Boxes - Review

Hello All

A few weeks ago I came across the Sally 4th laser-cut Flames of War Storage boxes and as I needed more storage before my wife killed me I thought it would be a great idea to order some and see what they looked like.

So the four boxes I ordered turned up in a pretty short time, let's have a look inside.

Details

There are three different types of case that come in two different sizes, the difference between the different styles of case is the type of bases they hold. The Small Bases case holds 30 small bases, the Medium Bases case holds 18 medium bases and 4 small bases and the final one Large Bases case holds 9 large bases and 4 small bases.  The size difference is between deep and regular, the deep case is 52.5mm high and the regular case is 35mm high, the regular can hold anything smaller than a medium tank while the deep case is designed for artillery and bigger tanks that won't fit in the regular case. Each case comes with a Perspex lid so you can see what in each case without having to open the box and these lids our designed so the case can stack on top of each other.

You can also choice one of five different colours for the case Olive Green, Desert Sand, White, Uniform Grey and Unpainted. For me this has two main befits, firstly it looks very cool! Secondly when the cases are stacked you can colour code your armies so it's easier to work out what in each case.

Construction

The set does need a bit of construction, there is a good set of instructions what come with the set and all you need is some PVA Glue, a knife and a brush.

The components are a base with the cut out figure holder, four sides with 2 cross sections and the clear  perspex with four sides for the lid.

I started by laying out the main box to give myself a visual example of how it would go together.

Once I had glued the laser cut top to the base I started with one corner.

Then the other and finally the cross bar sections (not sure thats what they are called but it seems to make sense to me). 

I got the lid put together in no time. I did find that I had to push the perspex sections into the side with a far amount of force as its a tight fit, but in a lot of ways that's a good thing as it means I won't worry about it in the future.

I also got a magnetic sheet to go on in-between the base board and the laser cut sections but I will cover this in a future post as I want to try out the magnets with an army and use it for a while before I give my final verdict on it.

Quality of the Product

The cases feel strong and I would think they will hold up with a lot of use as long as you stick them together properly. I did have to go over with a knife and remove a little excess wood from around the cut out base sections where the laser hadn't quite done it's job, but otherwise no issues at all.

Usefulness

I have been thinking of how I will use these cases, without the magnet I would worry about traveling with your models in a car for a long distance. I have tested the boxes by shaking them to see if the models moved and side to side there was no problem, up and down as different matter (which is something I would think the magnets would help with). For storage at home I you would of course have no problems, and the fact the cases stack on top of each other so well would really come into it's own here.

The use I'm looking forward to the most is at tournaments. I have never liked trays at tournaments, I'm not sure why, I think it's the size so I never know where to put them and the lack of a top so I worry myself or someone will put something on my army and crash them. Well with these boxes that not a problem, it'll be far quicker to get my models out of them than keep putting them in my carry case. As they stack up they will won't take up much space and with the lid there is no worry of the models getting crushed. All in all that is the main reason I wanted  to get these and try them out.

Pricing

The cases aren't the cheapest, the deep case will set you back £14.50 to £15.95 while the standard box is £13.50 to £14.85, the magnet sheet is £5.50 for two, postage and packing is free if you spend over £50. You will probably need about 3 to 4 cases for a standard FoW army, but personally I think this is worth the investment, especially for larger based models like artillery. I find the big artillery of my army a pain to put in carry cases, because the gun sticks over the base in most situations you have to either push them the foam making a very tight fit or you end up cutting the form which weakens the strength of it. Well with these cases that isn't a problem as you have the space between each slot. 

Overall

I will be honest I love these boxes, I have already ordered two more for my US infantry and I will be getting a few more very soon. While I don't think these will replace my carry cases I do think they will work in tandem with them, both will a role the other doesn't. Having said that if the magnet experiment works then maybe these could replace my carry case. I'd recommend everyone gives them and go even if it's just to try out one box for a small army.

Thanks for reading and until next time

Ben