A question for the 'collectors' perhaps

[Potsie]

Hi All,

 

I have decided to spend a day during the end-of-year work closedown to reorganising my stash. When I finally got my storage solution sorted ~2 years ago a tight timeline and "assistance" from a then 3 and 6 year old little helper meant the kits were put in with no thought or plan, and based mostly on what kit would fit where on the shelves. I also need to remind myself of all my 'projects' and make some hard decisions; will I ever build the two Tamiya and one Revell Red Bull F1 cars? Or the three Tamiya Aston Martin DBS kits that somehow ended up in the stash?

 

So my question is this. Do you:

1. Organise your kits by kit manufacturer? So all the Tamiya together, all the Revell, etc.
2. Organise your kits by the manufacturer of the subject matter? All the Fords, all the Lancias, etc.
3. Organise your kits by theme? All the rally cars together, all the circuit racers, ell the road cars, etc.
4. If you organise by theme, do you have sub-themes? All the convertibles, all the Kei-cars, all the supercars, etc. Perhaps within the rally cars, for example, you group by kit or subject matter manufacturer?

 

Or - and I cannot imagine a level of Hell where this would be possible - do you just "throw" them on the pile with no order at all? Madness I know, but it takes all people to build a society. 🙂

 

Then of course we have the decals, the transkits, the wheels, the paints. Oh, the paints!

 

I need a lie down.

[dnl42]

I have a Grumman shelf (1/48 & 1/144), a 1/144 half-shelf (exclusive of Grumman), a 1/48 GA half-shelf, a 1/48 Polish half-shelf, a 1/48 other aircraft half shelf, a naval & martime shelf (mostly 1/350), and a 1/48 AFV & soft-skin shelf. This allow me to easily find  a kit or browse for a next build. Decals and AM are in arranged similarly in multi-drawer organizers.

 

I also have a full inventory of kits, AM, paint, and books in Google sheets. That took some weeks of effort to build this, but it's great to be able to check my complete stash when I'm at a model show or the LMS. It also allows me to reflect on the scope of it all. 

[Potsie]

Yes the inventory file is must, but I was not wise enough to put it online. Unfortunately there are no model shows near me so I rarely need to look at when I am away from home.

 

It can be a stark reminder of how large the stash of unbuilt kits has become though!

[szeregowy]

Fortunately cars in my stash are all rally cars, so don't have much to organise beside putting them in alphabetical order by kit manufacturer. 

However if I had more different types I would go:

- kit manufacturer

- car brand

- car model

 

When it comes to decals, window masks, and trans kits, these go straight in the box of the car that will use them, so then when time comes I have everything in one box ready to go.

 

Paints are kept all together organised on the racks.

 

[Spottedlaurel]

Similar here, mostly 1 then 2 (make/model). Doing it by kit manufacturer first seems to work well as the boxes are often the same size so stack more efficiently. Wheels and accessory packs are then in their own stacks (but as above anything kit specific will go in with that kit).

 

Most of this is on ex-shop shelving out in the garage. A few special kits get kept indoors, along with the WIPs.

 

I don't have a list.

[SnøMotion]

Sorry, Grant. I'm a terrible person... 

 

My (pretty small) stash is organised by space utilisation. It's spread across multiple locations and in no order whatsoever. There's a possibility that the main cupboard is about to be repurposed, so this could give me the opportunity to get a larger cupboard and then start to organise. If this happens, I may well ignore kit manufacturer and go vehicle Make / Model / Year. This may also be the time to start a list and, as most of my kits were purchased with a specific plan in mind, I could keep a record of my intended plans.

 

Martin

[szeregowy]

1 minute ago, SnøMotion said:

Sorry, Grant. I'm a terrible person... 

 

My (pretty small) stash is organised by space utilisation. It's spread across multiple locations and in no order whatsoever. There's a possibility that the main cupboard is about to be repurposed, so this could give me the opportunity to get a larger cupboard and then start to organise. If this happens, I may well ignore kit manufacturer and go vehicle Make / Model / Year. This may also be the time to start a list and, as most of my kits were purchased with a specific plan in mind, I could keep a record of my intended plans.

 

Martin

Cupboard? Dream big, dream wardrobe 

[Alan R]

My stash isn't particularly organised, except for some special interest groups.

 

All my VW & Porsche kits are located together in my loft.

All my 1/16th kits are together.

Apart from those, everything else is fairly random.

 

They are also scattered about the loft, garage and conservatory.

 

At the moment, my interest seems to have gravitated to LM endurance cars, mostly 80s/90s, with the odd exception (Beach buggy, Routemaster)

 

Cheers,

Alan.

 

[SnøMotion]

14 minutes ago, szeregowy said:

Cupboard? Dream big, dream wardrobe 

It would be a wardrobe, I was just calling it a cupboard based on its intended use. 

[Neddy]

Organise?  What is this "organise" of which you speak? 

 

My stash is of necessity pretty small (twenty-something kits) and is organised by the size and shape of the box as to where it sits on the shelves!

 

(Wanders off, muttering "Organise my rear orifice!  Sounds too much like being back at work...) 🤭

[keefr22]

9 hours ago, Potsie said:

do you just "throw" them on the pile with no order at all? Madness I know, but it takes all people to build a society. 🙂

 

Ummm, well, that's me sussed out....!!

 

I did try to keep the car and aircraft kits separate for a while but even that's gone out the window now with aeroplanes infiltrating the car shelves and cupboards!!

 

5 hours ago, Potsie said:

Yes the inventory file is must,

 

I do wish I'd done one, as I've sold on so many kits over the years I suddenly decide I want to build one, spend hours looking for it and when the search is fruitless realise it must have gone to a new home years ago....!!

 

Keith

 

 

[Potsie]

Well looks like there are more 'stack them where they' people than I thought. I had planned to arrange by genre, then by subject matter manufacturer. So all the Peugeot rally cars together, all the Porsche road cars together, erc. But as noted, going by kit manufacturer keeps box sizes similar which can also be helpful. Ah the dilemma. Maybe I can ask a Gen-AI program to assist? It is just a space optimisation problem I guess.

 

Who am I kidding? It is far more important than that. It must be just right so I can sit and stare at the pile for hours dreaming of all the wonderful projects I will likely never finish.

 

I too normally put decals and transmits straight into the corresponding kit box. Which is why a list is important. Have more than once bought the same set of decals twice!

 

Grant.

[keefr22]

8 minutes ago, Potsie said:

Have more than once bought the same set of decals twice!

 

Yes, well, less said about that the better!!   (and it's not just decals....!! )

 

9 minutes ago, Potsie said:

It must be just right so I can sit and stare at the pile for hours dreaming of all the wonderful projects I will likely never finish.

 

 

I do that more than actually build the things in the piles! Doesn't matter whether the shelves are organised or not!

 

Keith

 

 

[SnøMotion]

34 minutes ago, Potsie said:

Well looks like there are more 'stack them where they' people than I thought. I had planned to arrange by genre, then by subject matter manufacturer. So all the Peugeot rally cars together, all the Porsche road cars together, erc. But as noted, going by kit manufacturer keeps box sizes similar which can also be helpful. Ah the dilemma. Maybe I can ask a Gen-AI program to assist? It is just a space optimisation problem I guess.

 

Who am I kidding? It is far more important than that. It must be just right so I can sit and stare at the pile for hours dreaming of all the wonderful projects I will likely never finish.

 

I too normally put decals and transmits straight into the corresponding kit box. Which is why a list is important. Have more than once bought the same set of decals twice!

 

Grant.

It's starting to remind me of this... [PARENTAL ADVISORY]

 

 

[Alan R]

2 hours ago, Potsie said:

I too normally put decals and transmits straight into the corresponding kit box

I tend to keep all my decals in a big folder in my study, to keep them warm and dry.

The down side is that it can take a while to locate the decals in the folder, as I do seem to have a lot of decal sheets.

 

Cheers,

Alan. 

[Sabrejet]

I have to admit to this: my 1/43 stash is organized by manufacturer, mainly for 'mojo' reasons. So I have Starter in one section, Provence Moulage next and the later, larger boxings of Provence kits after that and then Marsh Models. 'Everything else' (Feeling43, Mini Racing, Meri, Tameo etc) gets placed on a shelf of other manufacturers where sadly I can't match box shapes and sizes. 

 

Then I have a 1/24 kit stash with Studio 27 in one area, MFH next to that, Alpha, Le Mans Miniatures and Profil24 getting their own pile too.

 

Other boxes (1/12 MFH etc) just get stored in a cupboard until the mood takes me. Must get into that next year.

 

The 'mojo' thing comes into play if I'm looking for something to revive my enthusiasm and Provence Moulage tends to get the nod there: I've always liked their kits and PM mouldings just make you want to build their stuff. So at least I know where to start looking

[keefr22]

1 hour ago, Alan R said:

as I do seem to have a lot of decal sheets.

 

Errrrmm, I have four A4 box files full of the things (although only 1 is full of car decals!)

 

K

[dnl42]

5 hours ago, Potsie said:

Have more than once bought the same set of decals twice!

That and eventually figuring out I had multiple copies of books led to my several weeks' effort to catalog everything. Has saved me from unwanted kit duplication.

 

Well, except when companies rename their kits. I'm looking at you Airfix, with your 1/48 "Bedford MWD" and "WWII 15-cwt 4 x 2 G.S. Truck". Probably shouldn't blame them as much as some lawyers looking to justify their existence...

[sennapod]

Almost no organisation here, stash of circa 200 kits is mostly F1 and other Motorsports plus a fair sprinkling of Airfix/Tamiya aircraft. They are stored in multiple large removal boxes, and the only criteria is what size model boxes fit/stack together best such that I can completely fill the outer box.

I did create a stash spreadsheet once upon a time, but that is long-since fallen out of use as I've bought/sold stuff.

[Spiny]

I suspect my organisation is somewhat less than most of you - basically the stash (relatively small by the sounds of things) lives under the bed and models are built and gradually advance from the back/bottom of the piles to the top/front at which point they hopefully get built. I guess you could say I've organised in chronological order.

 

That said, I do have a spreadsheet for paints so I know what I have and what I need to buy for each kit - does that count as being organised?

[johnlambert]

Kits are stored wherever they fit. I thrive on chaos. 🤣

[johnlambert]

Kits are stored wherever they fit. I thrive on chaos. 🤣

[Neddy]

So we see... 

[Admiral Puff]

On 11/5/2025 at 12:04 PM, Potsie said:

Hi All,

 

I have decided to spend a day during the end-of-year work closedown to reorganising my stash...the kits were put in with no thought or plan, and based mostly on what kit would fit where on the shelves.

You mean there's another way to do it?

[othertales]

32 minutes ago, Admiral Puff said:

You mean there's another way to do it?

Putting them underneath different beds around the home in the hope no one actually realises how they all add up to an embarrassing number.