Custom Ammo Box Fabrication
WkD's workshops also undertook custom ammunition box projects.
Most of the boxes resembled classic US military ammunition crates. However, I am expanding out into other boxes as my tools and skills grew.
Payment was handled via PayPal. Terms are half of quoted cost at start of project, remainder at completion and client acceptance. (A rough total estimate is $175-200 per standard box.) I will ship the final work via UPS Ground in a well-protected cardboard box. Returns are accepted, but with a 50% reduction in refund.
Fall 2024: I have suspended the WkD website and any custom manufacturing projects. These projects are kept on this page for historical purposes.
Most of the boxes resembled classic US military ammunition crates. However, I am expanding out into other boxes as my tools and skills grew.
Payment was handled via PayPal. Terms are half of quoted cost at start of project, remainder at completion and client acceptance. (A rough total estimate is $175-200 per standard box.) I will ship the final work via UPS Ground in a well-protected cardboard box. Returns are accepted, but with a 50% reduction in refund.
Fall 2024: I have suspended the WkD website and any custom manufacturing projects. These projects are kept on this page for historical purposes.
Custom Box Project No. 1 (2014)
During March 2014, I worked with a small California start-up company to design two US military-spec ammunition boxes to be part of their men's fragrance product marketing campaign. Both identical boxes were constructed to display the individual products within. Custom dimensions were included in the build. The turn around time for this project was about three weeks.
The boxes were painted a medium grey with white custom stencils. The hardware was painted grey to match the box. Custom stencils were cut for each panel, and I hand cut the star logo stencil.
They came out beautifully, I have to say. My first real MIL-2427 spec boxes. In fact, they are the nicest military boxes I have ever seen--even better than the real things!
The boxes were painted a medium grey with white custom stencils. The hardware was painted grey to match the box. Custom stencils were cut for each panel, and I hand cut the star logo stencil.
They came out beautifully, I have to say. My first real MIL-2427 spec boxes. In fact, they are the nicest military boxes I have ever seen--even better than the real things!
"The two boxes that I ordered from Waffenkiste Designs came out better than expected. I have them here in the office and can't stop looking at them. Solidly built, great detail and the quality stencil work give the boxes a real military presence and look great with our products."
-- Bradley N., Grenade Supply Co. (men's fragrance products)
-- Bradley N., Grenade Supply Co. (men's fragrance products)
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Custom Box Project No. 2: MG-42 Transit Chest (2014)
A friend of mine asked me to put together a replica of a Wehrmacht machine gun transit chest for his dummy MG-42 machine gun. Since no pictures or actual examples exist of an original MG-42 transit chest, I had some liberties as to what to create. Using this excellent Webpage about a MG-34 transit chest most likely created by German coopers for a wartime Portuguese Army contract, I adapted these measurements and details into my interpretation.
This French Website of a box collector was extremely helpful with original Wehrmacht markings on weapons and ammunition crates. The German Heer used a very clean sans serif font for its markings, in response to Nazi concerns over the traditional Fraktur Gothic font used in many pre-war labels. Their racial obsession over font origins (?!) made the custom "Machinengewehr-42 Kal. 7,92mm" (40mm high) and "Ober" (30mm high) stencils I hand-cut much easier to create. I painted the exterior of the box in Panzer Grey paint, which was obtained from a World War 2 German re-enactor supply store. Stencils were painted in semi-gloss white paint.
This was the most complex box project I have undertaken. I would do it again, but for not less than US$2,000 (shipping extra) and a month for construction. My friend is very lucky for having this box constructed at the price I quoted him.
Notes on box construction details: 1-in thick pine used for carcass, mostly 1x12. Interior wood is pine, cut from various dimensions. 1/2-in. plywood was used in two interior sections, which the Portuguese MG-34 box used as well. Dimensions of the box were not based on metric measurements., but on inch measurements. Steel latches, hinges, and handles are modern sizes and US-mfg. marked. Screws are Phillips head; I could not find traditional slotted wood screws of the types I needed. Compartments were cut to fit my friend's Yugoslav M53 cleaning kit and spare barrel carriers.
A friend of mine asked me to put together a replica of a Wehrmacht machine gun transit chest for his dummy MG-42 machine gun. Since no pictures or actual examples exist of an original MG-42 transit chest, I had some liberties as to what to create. Using this excellent Webpage about a MG-34 transit chest most likely created by German coopers for a wartime Portuguese Army contract, I adapted these measurements and details into my interpretation.
This French Website of a box collector was extremely helpful with original Wehrmacht markings on weapons and ammunition crates. The German Heer used a very clean sans serif font for its markings, in response to Nazi concerns over the traditional Fraktur Gothic font used in many pre-war labels. Their racial obsession over font origins (?!) made the custom "Machinengewehr-42 Kal. 7,92mm" (40mm high) and "Ober" (30mm high) stencils I hand-cut much easier to create. I painted the exterior of the box in Panzer Grey paint, which was obtained from a World War 2 German re-enactor supply store. Stencils were painted in semi-gloss white paint.
This was the most complex box project I have undertaken. I would do it again, but for not less than US$2,000 (shipping extra) and a month for construction. My friend is very lucky for having this box constructed at the price I quoted him.
Notes on box construction details: 1-in thick pine used for carcass, mostly 1x12. Interior wood is pine, cut from various dimensions. 1/2-in. plywood was used in two interior sections, which the Portuguese MG-34 box used as well. Dimensions of the box were not based on metric measurements., but on inch measurements. Steel latches, hinges, and handles are modern sizes and US-mfg. marked. Screws are Phillips head; I could not find traditional slotted wood screws of the types I needed. Compartments were cut to fit my friend's Yugoslav M53 cleaning kit and spare barrel carriers.
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Whilst doing research into this project, I noticed a lot of very poorly done replica MG-42 crates. I can only add these historical observations for those attempting a similar project:
1. While it is very tempting to make a World War II German Army crate with a magnificently cut big Nazi war eagle stencil on it, akin to what The Raiders of the Lost Ark prop makers did for the Ark of the Covenant chest, not one example of a real Wehrmacht crate I found had anything as gaudy or as elaborate. If you are striving for German military crate authenticity, you have to remember that these crates were created in a wartime environment with a concomitant need to save time, thus a simple stencil would have been applied. Forget any elaborate Nazi parade regalia you may have seen in movies and pictures; spend a lot of time with Germans as I have and you'll discover a love of clean lines in their workmanship. The 1940's-era boxes I saw on the French collector's Webpage were almost all examples of plain sans serif fonts and nothing more. I used Arial fonts as my base font; I have since learned through a kind note from a N.C. graphic artist whom also re-enacts that the font most likely to be accurate for German WW2 crates are the DIN font families. The next German box I create will incorporate that detail into its graphics. 2. Point number one dovetails into this aspect as well: Many of the crates I saw illustrated on the Web were beautiful examples of craftsmanship. Heck, if I was an ignorant new MG-42 owner who just spent upwards of US$30K for a registered functioning gun, I would want a beautiful transit chest as well. But not one MG-42 replica crate I saw even came close to looking authentic! Think about it: you're a 1943 Heer contracting officer and the last thing you want is a cooper making beautiful and expensive chests for what is just a shipping container. You want to save the German government its Reichmarks, so you get the lowest bid for box construction within Heer box standards, which do not include using knot-free wood, precisely machined latches, or elaborate stencils. That means rough cut wood, commercial box hardware, and simple identification marks. That's the approach I took with this project. These boxes will get beat up and treated roughly, which is what an authentic crate will experience during its military service., so why spend needless money on precision when it isn't needed? That's a German way of thinking (a most refreshing logical approach, too, in my opinion, which is why I love spending time in Germany). And if one thinks this kind of box containing expensive military equipment is always handled with kid gloves like one might do with a very expensive new personal possession, spend some time at a military logistics depot and one's eyes will be opened to reality. Such handling abuse is even more acute during wartime. 
The crate dimensions are: 48.0-in L x 14.5-in H x 11.5-in W. Weight empty is 47 lbs.
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Custom Box Project No. 3: Marketing Box (2014)
A prior customer asked me to create a smaller military box to be used by his company as an easier portable marketing tool for his products. Taking inspiration from a standard US Army-spec crate, I adopted the design to fit the interior dimensions (3-in W x 6-in H x 6-in L) used to transport two of his product boxes. I was able to custom-create for him this box at a good price and created two more for him a short time later.
I thought it turned out to be a cute little box! Due to project time constraints, I was not able to paint any stencil text on the box and only could affix the custom logo stencil, as you can see. The two additional boxes had an adaptation of standard US military stencils on their surfaces. The hardware had to be adapted to the smaller crate dimensions; thankfully I had some extra latches from an earlier European-military box project that I could use.
Final dimensions are 9 1/4-in W x 8 1/4 H x 4 5/8-in W, weight 4 lbs.
A prior customer asked me to create a smaller military box to be used by his company as an easier portable marketing tool for his products. Taking inspiration from a standard US Army-spec crate, I adopted the design to fit the interior dimensions (3-in W x 6-in H x 6-in L) used to transport two of his product boxes. I was able to custom-create for him this box at a good price and created two more for him a short time later.
I thought it turned out to be a cute little box! Due to project time constraints, I was not able to paint any stencil text on the box and only could affix the custom logo stencil, as you can see. The two additional boxes had an adaptation of standard US military stencils on their surfaces. The hardware had to be adapted to the smaller crate dimensions; thankfully I had some extra latches from an earlier European-military box project that I could use.
Final dimensions are 9 1/4-in W x 8 1/4 H x 4 5/8-in W, weight 4 lbs.
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Custom Box Project No. 4: Plain Grey US-Spec Box
A friend asked me to make him a plain grey MIL-2427 spec box, which I was able to do using left-over lumber and extra hardware I had acquired. My friend did not want any stencil markings on it, so I was able to give him some well-painted black hardware instead. Two top cleats, and two side handles rounded out the features.
All in all, it was a nice, quick project that also told me I'm getting pretty good at making these wooden containers. Manufactured slowly over one June 2017 weekend, two days work in the paint shop.
Final dimensions are 17.0-in length x 12.75-in wide x 7.75-in height, weight about 10 lbs.
A friend asked me to make him a plain grey MIL-2427 spec box, which I was able to do using left-over lumber and extra hardware I had acquired. My friend did not want any stencil markings on it, so I was able to give him some well-painted black hardware instead. Two top cleats, and two side handles rounded out the features.
All in all, it was a nice, quick project that also told me I'm getting pretty good at making these wooden containers. Manufactured slowly over one June 2017 weekend, two days work in the paint shop.
Final dimensions are 17.0-in length x 12.75-in wide x 7.75-in height, weight about 10 lbs.
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Future Projects
I will add new custom project descriptions in this area, once they are completed.