I've read here that a handful of y'all do commission work. How do you package and ship your models to the costumer, securely?

Do you leave some assemblies off? Obviously I'm sure antennas are left off.
Do you mount the to a base?
What packaging medium do you use?
Do you insure the package? For how much roughly?
Is there a certain carrier you suggest for this?

I'm curious because I'll be shipping a model for Christmas (hopefully) across the country and I want to get a jump on this packaging deal so I'm not trying to figure it out last minute.

Thanks for any help.

Just check out this thread for some tips...

H.P.

Check out this guy

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/general_discussion/f/9/t/172709.aspx

I've just about given commission building up now-- I'm getting to old, and it takes me away from my own work, but in my "heyday" of building I used to ship all over the US, and occasionally overseas. The most difficult build I ever shipped was from Korea back to the US, it was a model of the USS Essex with all the photo etch and it was embedded in a seascape base-- in a glass case. It was shipped in a specialized wooden box with styrofoam supports and forms. More commonly, I built forms for commission models out of balsa, florist styrofoam, or cardboard to support the model in strategic areas, then placed it in a supporting box, which would in turn be placed into either a wooden or heavy cardboard box. I have a special "packing materials bin in my garage where I save all the incoming bubble wrap, soft foam and air bags I get as packaging. An old trick is to glue soft form or cardboard supports to a cardboard base and then block it into a box. I also shipped a model of the USS Johnston from Seattle to Missouri for a display at the WWII museum there-- that was with balsa wood and cardboard supports. I think the best rule of thumb is to think about the handling "hits" the box will take in shipping, and build your container to accept them so the damage inside is minimized. Err on the side of caution-- you can never use too much packing, but never pack right up to the model, always leave some "airspace". I never use tape or glue up against a model either-- tape can come "unstuck" in shipping, and glue obviously can mar the paint. I never use styrofoam "peanuts" or popcorn as some others do-- there are just too many opportunities for the model to shift and break things. The whole idea is to keep the model from shifting during transport, yet held steadily in place with some air around it. Oh-- I almost forgot, while I was on active duty, I moved a collection of 1/16 scale miniatures (20 painted figures from Series 77) around the world many, many times-- a total of 32 moves in fact. These figures each had their own separate cardboard box, cut to fit the figure with very little space inside-- then each box was filled with micro-cut paper from a shredding machine. The boxes were in turn packed into a metal footlocker with bubble wrap around the outside of each box. The foot locker came out scratched, dented and generally beaten up many times, the lock was broken off once, and the metal reinforcement totally ripped away once, but I never had any real damage to the figures inside. The real problem was cleaning up the micro-shredded paper after each move.
VR Russ

Thank you all very much.

I think it would be a good idea to determine the cost of packaging materials, etc., and postage, before agreeing on the price with the customer.

I should have mentioned, that I'm shipping this to my father. So, there is no money exchanged. This is a Christmas present.

How large is the model? Would it fit under the seat on a plane? I'm sure a personal delivery would be even more special. Consider how much the packing and shipping will cost compared to a round trip plane ticket. If you can carry it on but it won't fit under the seat or in the overhead easily, the attendants will stow it for you like they do other items in space in the cabin. Worst case, you buy two tickets and strap it in the seat next to you. I saw a musician do this with his violin once.

Just my $.0178 worth, after taxes.