Shipping a diorama

The diorama is going to have to be glued solid so that things do not shake loose. You are going to have to build a crate that holds the diorama in place. My museum ships delicate art all over the world and we use professionals who know how to minimise damage. I've accompanied art as it travels and believe me if it is not accompanied by a courier it will be handled very roughly, so plan for the worst case scenario.

Ken Hamilton has a section in his diorama book on shipping diormama. Worth reading if you can foind a copy.

Unless you built the diorama with the intent for gorillas to play hackeysack with it, traditional carriers are going to be sketchy at best. UPS and FED-EX both use a 4-6 ft drop from a conveyor belt carrier to a concrete floor as a guideline. No...I'm not kidding. That is the guideline they use (I worked for them). And unless you use a specialized carrier like Vespa Boys, where the value of the item warrants the cost of the specialized shipping. packaging and specialized insurance on the item, you are going to risk damage to that item. This is a roll of the dice at best. My advice would be to contact the carrier, explain to one of the service managers what you want to do and include photos of the item you are shipping. Ask them for their best reccomendation (be prepared and don't be upset if they refuse to ship because of risk) to achieve the packing and best handling of the item. Then...if they accept, include shipping trauma indicators in your packaging. This won't prevent the item from being damaged as its handled but will give you an indicator as to if it was handled extremely during transit.

It will still have to pass through customs and survive inspection as well as customs repack and handled by the pick up service in the destination country.

A crate is ideal in a case like this but that crate must be able to be handled by whatever shipping company you use.

Good luck.

You almost have to build the diorama knowing in advance that it will be shipped...I would probably build the dio differently (stronger) if I knew if was going common carrier...If I have ever picked a model up, or delivered one, it was always done in-person with personal cars (once a plane) being the mode of transportation...of course, very long distances would pretty much knock this option out...the part about securing the base to the bottom of the crate is a must---IMO, it is not about getting it there undamaged; it is about getting it there with minimal damage that can be repaired w/o much fuss... 

Well you could package all the kits together in a box and put all the parts you now would come off in another box. Then put the bases in another box.

Thanks guys for the information and tips.  I've been searching the internet and found some carriers who claim to specialize in this sort of thing.  I'm going to start my calls...I'll let you know how it works out!

kp80 wrote:

...found some carriers who claim to specialize in this sort of thing...

Believe less than half of what they're going to tell you.