[LUW]

Like everyone here, I always get VERY worried about one little thing when I buy a car from a store or an eBay seller: will the store/person pack the model right? :help :help

I'm almost sure that most here has already received a damaged model because of improper packing. So I took the time to write a tutorial on how I do it. Unfortunately it's not 100% guaranteed, since once, doing the packing job exactly the way I described, a UT MacF1 that I sent to Felix arrived with a broken door

. But so far that was the only problem I ever had with cars that I sent (and most of them went overseas).

If you take the time and don't save on the packing materials, it's almost certain that a model can arrive in pristine condition. If you want to see how I do it, check out the Miscellanea section at MW. :cheers

 

[Noddy]

One of the pro builders years ago, might have been John Simon if memory serves, said that they tested packing methods by kicking a boxed ready-to-ship model down a full flight of stairs! Having seen boxes fall from 3 story conveyors there is no 100% solution.

We used to ship large and, at the time, very expensive, Apple monitors all over the place. Everyone of them went out with impact sensors on the custom made shipping crates. Every one of those sensors came back broken or tripped. :help

 

[993 Porker]

Very helpful tips :cheers I'm in the process of moving all stuff (including my diecast) currently in Auckland to Hong Kong and this will come as very handy advice. Will take the first 16 with me on my flight next tuesday.

 

[LUW]

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Noddy, as I said, my method is not 100% safe, no method can be. BUT, if the person that is shipping the model does make some effort to do the packing right, the model will have a (very) improved chance of getting there in one piece. And that's the idea behind the tutorial.

 

[guitardave_1]

I pack models the same way Luc. You can't give a model a much better chance of surviving than that. I also use strips of paper towel underneath the tape to hold doors etc closed, so that the tape never comes into contact with the model. It's still just as strong if you form a complete loop around the model with the tape, but it saves any accidents with the tape sticking to the model.

Just as your tutorial says, the three most important things are to secure the model in its box, secure all moving/opening parts, and make sure the model box is surrounded and secure within the external box.

 

[LUW]

Dave, you just reminded that I forgot to mention the tissue paper under moving parts (I'll have to correct that). It is very important to keep doors securely closed and protected, and the tissue paper is the ticket to do that.

Another tip I learned from Jeff this Wednesday is to wrap the original box in saran wrap, which is a great measure against rain, if the package gets by any chance exposed to the elements.

 

[acisne]

Great tutorial Luc! :cheers
I think that Jeff has Sarahn Wrap stock or a fetish :giggle Half the fun of getting a model from him is the unwrapping! :lol

A couple of things that I would add is to use "pipe cleaner" (the kids kind form a craft store) to hold down doors and hoods on loose models.

Another is to put your name on the inside of the box.
Just recently, I received a package that had been lost back in Nov. I had sent myself some stuff from SEMA as I did not want to carry it on and the outside shipping label got damaged so it could not be read. I had lost all of the tracking paperwork so I had no way to prove that I had sent it. I paid cash at a "U-ship-it" type of store.
Lo-n-behold, months later, they contacted me and the package sent to me because I had slipped my business card on the inside and they found it.
It had only been a Welly Mustang, some magazines and some posters but it felt like a late Christmas present getting them now.

 

[LUW]

Al, what's pipe cleaner?

 

[acisne]

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Kids use it to make furry stick animals and such. If you use the real "pipe cleaners" from a cigar store, then it would get expensive.

Here is a pic:

 

[LUW]

Oh ok, now I know what they are. Yeah, that's a good idea. You could also use good quality twisty wire, the ones with thick plastic on them so to not mark the paint job.

 

[Guest]

AUTOart

 

[Guest]

Like everyone here, I always get VERY worried about one little thing when I buy a car from a store or an eBay seller: will the store/person pack the model right? :help :help

I'm almost sure that most here has already received a damaged model because of improper packing. So I took the time to write a tutorial on how I do it. Unfortunately it's not 100% guaranteed, since once, doing the packing job exactly the way I described, a UT MacF1 that I sent to Felix arrived with a broken door

. But so far that was the only problem I ever had with cars that I sent (and most of them went overseas).

If you take the time and don't save on the packing materials, it's almost certain that a model can arrive in pristine condition. If you want to see how I do it, check out the Miscellanea section at MW. :cheers

First off, most shipping companys dont back the pressure switch put on boxes, in fact a friend of mine who use to work in a shipping hub laughed about tripping them when they found them, using a screwdriver or a set of keys.

Take if from me, I ship all over the world and they are resin kits, you need to double box it....Kev :storm

 

[smokin_moe]

Dave, you just reminded that I forgot to mention the tissue paper under moving parts (I'll have to correct that). It is very important to keep doors securely closed and protected, and the tissue paper is the ticket to do that.

Another tip I learned from Jeff this Wednesday is to wrap the original box in saran wrap, which is a great measure against rain, if the package gets by any chance exposed to the elements.

I once had a box of books delivered from Japan. When it got to my doorstep, it looked like it had been dropped in the Pacific at the midway point and floated in to the West Coast. The mailman delivered it in a tub with two inches of water in the bottom. When I picked the package up, the sides slid right off in my hands. mg Luckily, the guy who shipped me the books had the foresight to wrap them all very carefully and very tightly in plastic. Amazingly, they survived in mint condition. I couldn't believe it.

All of which is just a round about way of agreeing that yes indeed, saran wrap is a wonderful tip!

 

[Variodical]

Can someone tell me where MW is? :confused

 

[JSB 33]

MW

 

[Variodical]

Thanks!