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So how do YOU move your built models?


ghodges

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There's probably as many ways as there are guys here, but it might be interesting to see what methods prevail the most, and what tips may be of use in case you have to move an entire built collection from point A to B.

 

I've had to move my built models at least 4 times over the last 25yrs. I found the easiest way was to use a medium or large U-haul box and rolls and rolls of toilet tissue. Just set up the box and then unroll an entire roll of tissue into the bottom, creating a bottom cushion. Place as many models as you dare on that layer and then cover them completely with another layer of tissue (be generous, it's PADDING!). Keep repeating this process until you get to the top of the box. If you're moving locally, you don't necessarily have to close the box top or pad the top models. If you'r packing for the long haul you'll want to do that! You can stagger the models in each layer so that they (essentially) rest between those on the next lower layer. I never had any catastrophic losses with this method; with breakage limited to pitot tubes, gear doors, and other dangly bits. In fact, the only catastrophic loss was when our cat jumped into the top of a box AFTER I got them moved, but before I could unpack!

 

The advantages to this method are it's cheap and it's fast. 2-3 large boxes can transport close to 100 1/48 models. The down side is that they are lightly padded and thus prone to breakage if being handled by someone other than your self (the moving guy, your wife, etc.).

 

So how do you get your collection across town or across country? Cheers!

 

GIL :smiley16:

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What worked the best for me was plastic grocery bags - for one, the compress very nicely and form well to irregular shapes - their second advantage it that when they expand, they dont put alot of pressure on small delicate parts. Whenever I have had to move models, I've always packet them with wadded up grocery bags and I've never had a single broken part!

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So how do you get your collection across town or across country? Cheers!

 

GIL :smiley16:

 

While I haven't tried it, a friend of mine swears by plastic Easter Grass. He uses it as his padding material.

 

I put mine in boxes, pad them as best I can, and wing it from there. I figure I can fix anything that breaks when I get to my destination.

 

Ralph

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I moved everything less than 3 years ago. We bought a new house in November 2006 and spend several additional thousands to replace carpeting, plumbing, and appliances over the next four months. It was only 5 miles, so I decided to move my collection myself in my SUV (countless trips). I moved the unbuilt kit boxes first (all 2,500 of them) into a large family room my wife allocated to me. The built models were packed loosely with much intermediate padding in large boxes. They then stayed in those boxes until the movers brought the showcases over in March 2007. I had removed all the glass from the showcases, and every piece of glass made the trip without so much as a chip missing. After positioning the showcases where I wanted them and cleaning every glass shelf and side panel, I unpacked the built kits and gave them their shelf space. If there were any broken parts, I do not recall them or making repairs. I did carefully clean each model with water and tissue before tucking them away for another decade to accumulate oil and dust. I bought and assembled many steel shelf units for the kit boxes, and then loaded them in a way that I could locate them at any time later. I do not wish to repeat that chore again any time soon.

 

Ed

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...Their just models, after all.

 

EGAD - Bite your tongue, sir!

 

 

My moving method is almost identical to Gil's. I take the built-up and partially-built models with me, and ship the stash. Likewise hope not to repeat that for a long, long time, if ever.

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- Unbuilt kits get boxed up in large moving boxes.

- I approach built kits two ways: Shelfers (3 foot models) and contest (award winners) models. The former, I pack up just like Gil, except that I just use packing peanuts (styrofoam). Some small parts get broken, but as "Shelfers," fixing them is a breeze. :smiley14:

- The contest models get packed in smaller boxes (quite often those wooden wine bottle boxes), usually with only a few per box, and craddled/surrounded by cotton balls. I make sure no part of the model is touching any bottom, top, sides, or each other. I have a pretty good "No-breakage" rate this way. :smiley20:

- I've heard of some guys using precisely cut and assembled foam-core frames to hold individual models for transport. I can see doing that to ship a model, but to me that is too much like work for moving the collection.

- And because, as David mentioned, each model tells its own story, I am thrilled to say that I still have a few of the models I built as a pre-teen. It's interesting to compare the "Thens" and "Nows". Not to mention the nostalgia and memories brother Keith and I have growing up together building them, dogfighting 'em, racing 'em down the hallway, and all those wargames in the living room when mom wasn't looking, LOL. :rolleyes: Model on, Packers of the sprue. :smiley4:

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I don't....I chuck `em. Their just models, after all.

 

I don't know how serious this statement is but I have to agree to a point. Moving is a great time to purge things more 'there' than appreciated. I don't know if I'd junk the whole lot of them but I would certainly thin the heard. I have a couple favorites I could not part with. There is NO joy for me in fixing broken models and the pleasure of looking at a long ago finished piece pales in comparison to the satisfaction I find while building the one I'm on NOW.

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Guest Bun E. Carlos

I moved them the exactly like I store them and transport them to shows............in clear plastic containers that TARGET sells. I add the shipping peanuts and there you go. Stack, move, transport all in the same mode. I even sell them "with" the container so the Client can take them home safe. Best of all.........NO DUST. Moving the unbuilts requires my Pepsi tape......and several big black lawn bags. Very easy.

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And not for something comepltely different

 

I have 200 built models from planes to subs to figures. I l;et the moving company pack and move them all. About 95% came through perfect. Some needed some work- I backcharged the movinf comapny for my time and they paid me to fix them.

 

To be fair to Greg, I did throw 2 out- they were early and had been dropped a couple times, etc.

 

For going to show, I use cottom batting (thing the fluffy, furry stuff and pack them in tupperware containers

 

Dave

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I moved them the exactly like I store them and transport them to shows.....

 

Kind of depends on how many models to move and the size of them. I have moved 50-70 models, mostly 1/72 scale. For my first move (to Brazil) I listened to the movers. They had boxes of shredded styrofoam. Sounded like a good idea. Layer of foam, layer of models, layer of foam etc. Problem was at the end, all the models were at the bottom, some with parts missing plus I was removing pieces of foam for years.

 

For the second and all subsequent moves, we would set the model in the middle of a large piece of tissue paper. This would then be folded up and around the model, kind of like a diaper and taped together. These little "packages" were carefully placed in boxes on top of one another. Most of the models would survive the trip this way unscathed. The ones that had broken landing gear, pitot tubes and antennae would at least have the missing parts inside the package. It worked.

 

If I had had something like 8 or 10 special models, I would have made foamcore carriers like I do for my contest models. See My Model Box

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Thankfully (?) I've never had to move my built kits, but I have mailed a few for display. I've found that if I pack a kit in a smaller box, say surrounded by a foam fairly tightly (so the kit doesn't move around in the smaller box). They I pack the smaller box in a larger box filled with with the peanuts. This allows the inside box to move around the larger box. The few times I've done this, the kits survived the US Postal System!

 

When I go to shows, I usually don't pack too well. I simply put the kits on a copy paper box lid with a little padding (something like a plastic bag, or dry cleaner's plastic wrap) and place them in the car so the boxes don't move around too much. I imagine if I am ever in an accident on the way to a show, the kits will be trash, but then if that happens, I will have bigger worries! :smiley18:

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