Movement trays

So far I have been using steel movement trays from Shogunminiatures with magnets under each model and they are quite good in terms of holding magnets, plus they have a nice slim design, with just a few millimeters of bended edge for lifting the tray around. I am not a fan of massive dominating movement trays or grose unit fillers for that matter, so the slim design really appealed to me at first. However, once the steel trays are painted they are prone to getting scratched and I have not been able to figure out how to properly add flock or decorate them. So I decided to do a set of MDF trays from Warbases ( warbases.co.uk ).

Adding metallic sheeting

Since I still want to use magnets for holding models on the tray, both during games but also for light transportation, I decided to try out something a friend of mine recommended and apply metallic sheeting to the MDF tray. The metallic sheeting is basically tape with an adhesive side and a metallic side. I was worried that it would not be strong enough for holding my precious old metal models and although it is a weaker bond compared to the steel sheets, one can simply compensate by adding bigger magnets under the models. In fact using steel trays I have had instaces where magnets seperated from the bases and remained stuck to the tray when lifting off models. I bought my metalic sheet at a local danish webshop but you may have to do your own google search to find a suplier near you. I buy my magnets from supermagnete

How I did it

1. Cut out metallic sheeting in apropiate sizes. I used regular scissors. Be very accurate, otherwise you will end up with gaps between the metalling sheet and the tray edges.
2. Peel off backside of metallic sheeting to reveal the adhesive. Use regular white glue to glue the sheets in place. Even though the sheet is adhesive, I played it safe and also used glue.
3. IMPORTANT: make sure the surface of the MDF tray is clean and free from sand grains and other particles, otherwise you’ll end up with small bumps on the sheeting.
4. After the metallic sheeting has dried a bit it is now time to add sand, flock or whatever you fancy to the edges using white glue. I filled the lid of a box with sand and then pressed the trays firmly into the sand after applying glue.
5. Spray paint the whole thing. I like brown. Drybrush the flocked edges.

Note: on several of the movement trays the two layers of MDF had come loose and I therefore had to glue them back together.

Box with sand and tray with glue

Press tray into sand

The tray shown below was painted using

• Army painter brown spray
• Vallejo black ink
• drybrush Zandri Dust and finally Terminatus Stone

…and done!