Model making while traveling

Conversation and curiosity question- Does anyone have a “travel kit” they take along when in vacation, business trips, etc.? If so, what is your setup? I’ll be doing a bit of air travel in the coming year and currently putting together a “go kit” of sorts. My kit will be a checked bag setup as opposed to carry on. Thanks for sharing.

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This may not quite answer your question, since my travel was back to my childhood home, where I had left some model-making tools, but I’ll share what I brought over. I keep my paintbrushes in an oblong Band-Aids box (the perfect box for paint brushes), removed the misc brushes which I use for texture, and other dirty jobs, and put in some tweezers, an X-acto knife with a couple of blades, and some sanding sticks. I also packed some paints and a few things I wanted to paint.What kinds of things do you plan on doing with this kit? (there often isn’t much down time during vacation or business trips, after all)

P.S. To clarify, the box I am referring to is a Band-Aid shaped plastic box which originally contained an assortment of different-sized Band-Aids. Since many modelling tools are on the long side, this would be a perfect platform for such a kit.

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I have a make-up suitcase (Ali Express) with basic stuff for when we are one the campsite.

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I recently went to visit my son for 21/2 weeks and took a small plastic tool box and cutting Matt with me. Worked out fine. I traveled by car so obviously didn’t have to worry about packing sharp objects and glue/ paints.

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That seems like a good method, a stash in each spot. :+1:t3:

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Oh wow. That’s quite the kit!! Definitely something to aspire towards. I’ve been “out of the game” for about 30 years and definitely going to dive back in hard core. Thanks for sharing your setup.

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It’s mostly leftovers which I didn’t take to Uni with me. I even had a primed (not painted) Pak-40 waiting for me! (I’m not sure I’ll get to it in the week I have left, considering I still have an entire Panther to camouflage)

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Welcome aboard.

I have a small medical box that I use to carry my tools from the hobby room to living room or hobby shop. I have glue, blade, a few micro saw, nippers, generic micro drill bits, a few different types of scrapers, some different sanding sponges.

I would put the glue inside another container incase it leaks or explodes. That said, maybe don’t travel with glue and purchase in country to avoid any chemical issues/restrictions.

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That’s beautiful!

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my travel kit is much like Tank’s. I have not tried to take on a plane, but just essential tools for building a kit and leaving paints at home. I also don’t try to take on a plane, but by car to a second home, I have a plastic lid locking box of 16x14x6 inches that holds the kit box, tools, a cutting pad, glues, and it’s small enough to travel easily. I can take paints, but then I have solvents, and brushes and ? shakers and it’s just too much, but I can build a lot and several subassemblies and then paint when I get home.

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@HAVSUM206 @phil2015 thanks!
That bag was how I started in april, I now have 2 of them, one for building and one for painting.

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I need to do something similar for using my portable airbrush. A makeup suitcase might solve that issue for me. :+1:

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When I did this sort of thing, I did not carry anything for painting. Often, I did not carry anything for gluing. I would clean up parts and bag them, then build the model very quickly upon returning home. It achieves the same result and takes a lot less space.

One thing I am not seeing in any of the kits above are little plastic bags with zip locks. Losing parts on the road is way too easy. If you have a bunch of little plastic bags, you can sort parts by type or even model instruction step, then put the small bags in bigger bags, organizing all the parts for later assembly.

This is also really helpful if you are in the habit of building a lot of one type of vehicle. Need a spare part for a Panzer IV? It is probably in the Panzer IV Spare Parts bag / drawer.

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Our club has a build day every 3 months at a club buddy’s house. It’s been going for about 10 years. I got a plastic tool box from Home Depot and stocked it with everything I need for model assembly, from nippers to putty. What you see here is my permanent travel box, the contents revised over years until I never wanted for anything. It’s compact and lightweight and I only travel in the car, so it can include solvents. I never paint away from my own paint booth, this is strictly for assembly. This has worked outstanding for me over 10 years.

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The make up case rocks. Great idea!

Pretty basic traveling here, old Tamiya box & small plastic container.

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VERY solid advice.
Modelers take note.

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Ohh :hushed_face:. Portable airbrush. :star_struck: I’m assuming the compressor is the most challenging to pack up??

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Another option for people is to reuse medicine pill bottles for small parts.

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Not for me, it’s all the other supplies that are my issue.

The makeup bag concept seems like a good idea to fix my issue.

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As an answer by Phil2015 I think I found the Amazon verson of it:

Don’t be scared by the price, which is about 7x what I payed at Ali, this includes postage… which is free at Ali ( for us in EU)

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