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Traveling with models


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Soon I will be moving across the country. I was in the process of magnetizing my bases to easily travel to events nearby. However, I realized for my newest form of travel I am bringing everything and will most likely not magnetize it.

 

This got me thinking  -- What is everyone's experience flying with a magnetized army to a tournament? Does it work out ok, or did you regret it when you arrived and wish you had put the models in foam? Magnets work out brilliantly for traveling between tables at an event or driving but I've not flown with them.

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I would go for foam/bubblewrap cases for air travel and make sure the case itself is a hardcase. Airport luggage is somewhere between apes and cavemen in terms of their delicacy with regard to handling - ergo its not there. Even if the staff are careful the machines and auto sorting systems already bash cases around some. 

 

Magnets are great for holding things to a flat surface, but jolts and bumps and all angles (upside down, corners, left and right etc...) gives a huge chance for magnets to come lose. It would only take one model to come off and then its there to bounce around and chip and bump into everything else. Or there's also a chance that the superglue holding the magnet in place could give out - again leading to a bouncy destructive force. 
Remember on most car trips and carrying the case isn't moving all that much really and it might only get light bumps/jolts. The most likely time for a bump/jolt is when you're hand holding it and walking around and then if you take a really big swing and hit something you'll know it at the time and can pause to open up and check everything is fine before continuing on. 

Some models are also more delicate - a Khinerai might be ok held down by a magnet to a sheet, but all those jolts are going to take their toll on its supporting tail and upper body. 

 

So honestly I'd say go for a foam based approach. It will keep models separate, keep them secure and should provide far more padding and production during the transporting process. Furthermore a hard outer shell will prevent other cases bumps/etc... from impacting into the body of the contents and causing damage. 

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Ive done alot of traveling with trains, busses, carrying bags on my back for long walks between hotels and such and so on. So there are som rough handling , like bumping into people and so on, no problem at all. But there is a big diffrence between that and having some one else handling your bags.

A friend of mine traveled by plane to a tournament with a magnitized army, he spent the night before the tournament repairing alot of models. Everything basicly came loose and just played pinball machine within the bag.

Im not sure I would even use foam, since with a normal foam setup there is alot of air for models to bump around in. I would probably use something like toilett papper and carefully wrap everysingle model in that, stack them as tight as possible (depending on how they are modeled) in some sort of plasticbox (and make sure that the box was completly filled out so nothing could move) and put that box in a bag togheter with clothing and ensure that everything inside the bag was very tight so nothing could move.

I would only fly with a magnetized army if I was 100% sure that I would be allowed to take it as a carry on.

 

 

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Magnetizing worked totally fine for me - had a 4 hour flight but I did take it on the cabin. Although we did have some turbulence ( if that's the word ) everything was fine. Sole way of honestly safe transport  imo. Problem is that I m guessing you are taking way more than 2k army with ya :P

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If its carryon you should be fine so long as the bag is tough on the outside as well (people will push/cram/squeeze things into the overhead). Though I'd probably cushion any heavy/large/abnormal/delicate models. Your basic "marine" style model will be fine but something larger I'd take a little extra precaution over. 

 

But that's only if it goes carryon and you've got to be very sure about that; last thing you want is to pack for carryon and then get told it has to go in the hold. 

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In some cases the postal service might actually be a better bet than putting delicate stuff in the hold of an aeroplane. They may not always take as much  note of "fragile" notices as you'd like, but are probably not quite as rough as the airport machines.

I've never tried either though, so can't talk from experience.

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Interesting experiences. For the record for moving across the country I am going to be using bubble wrap and packing chips or whatever those things are called. I figure if you can pack and ship fine glass with enough padding it certainly can work for a model collection.

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