![\"Issue](\"https:\/\/www.disneyexperience.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/mfbj09_01.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThis month’s box arrived in perfect condition a few days before Christmas. The only damage was on one of the assembly jig pieces, which isn’t a big deal.<\/p>\n The assembly jig is a temporary construct that will be thrown away in the end, and the damage was not severe enough to compromise the part’s function.<\/p>\n With the final two pieces, I can finish the assembly jig and store the hull frame on it instead of in my closet. That solves one storage problem, but it brings up a new one.<\/p>\n Since this month’s parts are mostly just assembling the hull frame, now is a good time to focus on storage solutions that I’ve been either neglecting to mention or are brand-new.<\/p>\n Before the completion of the assembly jig, I stored the lower hull frame inside my closet. It hung from a modified clothes hanger that was used to store the Jack Skellington<\/a> that I built last year. The hull was carefully sandwiched between clothes that I rarely wear, ensuring that the hull plates stay on (they’re not yet screwed to the frame), and that the whole assembly doesn’t get jostled and damaged.<\/p>\n Now that the assembly jig is finished, the hull needed to be stored flat. The assembly instructions say to use a stiff board measuring 24-inches by 32-inches, but a lot of that space is wasted since the assembly jig easily fits on a 24”x24” board. Granted, the ship’s mandibles will hang over, but they’ll be supported by the assembly jig.<\/p>\n The bigger problem is that there will eventually be two assembly jigs (upper and lower hulls) that will need to be stored in the future, and I don’t have the storage space for that. To solve my problem, I built a custom work table\/storage area with some lumber from Home Depot<\/em>. I’m no carpenter, but I was able to create a sturdy 3-shelf table in a single afternoon.<\/p>\n The top two shelves are designed for the two hull assemblies, and can be removed for working in a more convenient area. Underneath the top shelf is a storage area for model parts, tools, and supplies. The bottom shelf is fixed and is used for storing miscellaneous items such as my airbrush compressor.<\/p>\n The table has caster wheels on the bottom for “easily” shifting the whole out of the way if needed. Unfortunately, I cheaped out and bought small casters that couldn’t handle the weight, and do not swivel. I’ll have to replace those at a later time.<\/p>\n One thing that I have been struggling with is how to store the magazines. I don’t like the binder that comes with the model, and the magazine holders that I was trying before became a nuisance. Ultimately, I bought a jumbo magazine holder<\/a> (pictured differently) that will easily hold fifty magazines. I found that I prefer to look at one magazine at a time, and the magazine holder lets me quickly find the magazine that I want. A simple solution to a simple problem.<\/p>\n I finally got tired of my poor, battered pill box and bought a new one with double the storage. One side is for screws, and the other side is for miscellaneous small parts and bits.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nStorage Solutions<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nAssembling<\/h2>\n