Review: LustLasered Foam Tray for Really Useful Boxes

Way back before Christmas, whilst looking for some new storage solutions for my 28mm WW2 Germans (after the dreaded damp got them), I chanced upon the service offered by UK-based JustLasered, so I decided last month to commission some custom trays from them.

After an exchange of emails with the very helpful Melvin, the postie delived them this week, and I have to say I am impressed.

Designed to fit into the popular 4L Really Useful Box, and each packaged with a themed foam topper, these trays are based on a layer of MDF, giving them a welcome rigidity, but Melvin very kindly tweaked the design for my custom build by adding a layer of strong magnetic sheet. This means my Germans, based on 25mm ferrous washers, have the additional security of sticking to the bottom of their holes. I always prefer my models standing in transit when possible.

Trying things out with my late-war Germans. Note the silica gel packs.

In addition to the magnetic sheet, my custom order also included two additional 60mm circular cut-outs from each of what were otherwise 66-Model Trays (pictured below; image from their webstore):

The trays are well made and cleanly cut, and though it's always reassuring to have the cut-out foam bits included, I must say that it's particularly fun when they're round in cross-section, and my cat agreed!

...and some of my early-war Germans. Foam cylinders are for illustrative purposes only. Honest!

The lip around a tray in a 4L box with the one topper.

Depth-wise, the trays are good, although personally I find I prefer them fitting that bit more snugly with an additional topper inserted, so that there's less vertical wiggle-room:

The 4L trays are designed so that three of them can stack into a 9L box too, but in stacking them I did run into a bit of a snag - when filled with models, the glue wasn't quite strong enough to hold the foam cells to their bases for lifting out: understandable, and easily solved by running two broad ribbons beneath each tray, but still a little frustrating.

There's a fair range of trays on offer from JustLasered, as we might expect: not only those with generic cells but also a number made for boxed sets from different games, from X-Wing and Victory at Sea to Blood Bowl and The Walking Dead, with appropriate toppers, and with reasonable prices, I must say some of them are rather tempting, as is the pluck-foam...

Well played, JustLasered.