Do you catalog your collection?

Extra Crispy · Post by **Extra Crispy** » Fri Mar 18, 2016 3:32 am

I'm in the process of a clean up of my WWII collection. Repairs, paint touch up, repaints, basing etc. As I work through it it occurs to me I might catalog it - listing how many units of each item I have etc. I would keep it on a Google doc so I could access it on my phone in case I spot something at a flea market etc.

Do you have an actual catalog of your collection?

panzergator · Post by **panzergator** » Fri Mar 18, 2016 4:00 am

In my head... Which is getting a helluvalot less reliable as the years go by. I'm considering a spreadsheet like we used to use in the Army, except we didn't have much in the way of computers back then. Vehicle type listed down the left-hand side, a column for each unit across the top with sub-columns for Authorized and On Hand. For instance, one of my tank battalions only has two M88 recovery vehicles. It is an H-series, which is authorized 5 M88s. I would see immediately that I am short three. Then I could plan and prioritize future purchases. Bottom row would roll it all up automatically (in these days of computer spreadsheets).

I, too, am considering refurbishing my fleet. A couple cans of paint remover and an unused glass baking tray should do the trick. And another soak in acetone to loosen the cyanoacrylate, maybe a little brushing with a wire brush. H-series era vehicles will be in USAREUR camo from early 60s and maybe some MERDC, battalions with transition vehicles and organizations medium green, and the J-series and later the NATO scheme. It's gonna take a while...

BurtWolf · Post by **BurtWolf** » Fri Mar 18, 2016 4:55 am

I started an excel spreadsheet but haven't updated it in a while...

Nationality- vehicle type- Ghq number- number of vehicles

I did it mostly so I would stop buying duplicates. I forget how many Sherman's and t34s I actually have!! Not a ton but enough.

saxophone · Post by **saxophone** » Fri Mar 18, 2016 5:17 am

I keep a listing in an Excel spreadsheet. It helps remind me which models I need to buy.

Donald M. Scheef · Post by **Donald M. Scheef** » Fri Mar 18, 2016 6:33 am

I don't think it will surprise anyone that I catalog almost everything - What I have, what's available that I haven't purchased yet, wish lists, etc.
I use XL spreadsheets for most, but also keep parallel Word documents for communicating in a more readable form.
Don S.

paul · Post by **paul** » Fri Mar 18, 2016 6:43 pm

I have an excel spreadsheet for the majority of my modern forces. As I pull out some of the unaccounted pieces I add them in. For the most part, everything placed in a unit is painted. A separate area will indicate that I have unpainted pieces that count towards what is needed.

av8rmongo · Post by **av8rmongo** » Fri Mar 18, 2016 8:26 pm

I too use an Excel spreadsheet. For land forces I organize by nationality but don't account for individual units within the spreadsheet. So the spreadsheet For Germany will list 136 Leopard 2A4 for example. The units are organized, typically by company, within their panzer keeper boxes with a custom label for each one. If a particular organization is incomplete I have a separate worksheet which forms my "wish list" from incomplete units. This list is also an aggregate of all the various nationalities. I may need a total of 23 additional Leopard 2A4s to round out everything but they will be parsed out to the Germans, Poles, Spanish, etc.

For naval forces I have WWII and Modern spreadsheets that mimic the way the land forces spreadsheet works. In the last couple years however I've added a new spreadsheet as well. This spreadsheet is geared toward specific scenarios that I have come across or have written that I want to make sure I can play on the table top. It has the navy specific inventory, in abbreviated form from the main spreadsheet, as well as the vessels needed, organized by specific scenario. It has columns for availability of models missing from my collection and becomes my active "wish list". It contains sections for 1/2400 as well as 1/6000 fleets since no one covers everything within one scale range.

paul · Post by **paul** » Fri Mar 18, 2016 9:09 pm

I need to do my WWII ships and my sons WWII ground forces but that will have to wait until after my move.

6mmwargaming · Post by **6mmwargaming** » Sat Mar 19, 2016 4:33 am

I started a spreadsheet as I felt some of my armies were too big. I marked how much was painted and not, and the spreadsheet gives me a clear (but depressing) idea of what I have to do to complete an army. I'm really trying to focus on finishing armies so this a good.

Another reason is that I am going to start on some wooden trays to store all my microarmour armies soon, and for that I need to know how many vehicles/trays I need for each. I have some 6mm foam from a camping mat and i plan to cut cut shapes for each vehicle. There only 1500-2000 to do!

Cheers
Kieran