Maybe you recall seeing my fancy orange shipping tube that was used to get my ship to this years Bruhaha in Louisiana; well it failed me. Good news for UPS was they had it available to break down a couple locked doors, using it as a battering ram. These pictures are just a small example of what was done. Hull was crushed up and down both sides, hull twisted, breaking the subdeck, main deck was broken and one shaft bent. I want to share many, many thanks to everyone that attended as they got my ship back into operating condition and I only missed one sortie. Pete did all the hull repair, Tyler loaned me so many parts I lost count and Kevin rebuilt my guns and got them working. No way was the Axis team going to be out done by UPS, so they made sure to do their fair share of damage to the Des Moines. Above is proof they got my ships into action for both days of the event. It was really a lot of fun! Thanks again to all who attended and helped.
I'm curious as to what the packing inside the case looked like. Glad the guys were able to get you patched up and battling!
I’ve shipped several hundred boats... I will not use UPS ever! I used to use them, and had several claims of damage they did not honor. Last time I used them, I had 6 models in my truck labeled pre paid. I stopped at a shop where I saw a UPS truck parked at a stop. I started handing the guy my boxes and he started chucking them into the truck from 6 feet away! NEVER USED UPS AGAIN!!!! USPS is the way to go. They have an outstanding record of delivering my models intact.
I had custom formed Styrofoam around the ship, however, the ship was only about an inch away from the outside of the tube on one side. My mistake was first putting the ship down the center of the tube which would have probably protected it well, but in an effort to save $$$ on shipping I moved it to the side and shipped batteries, tools and other supplies with it. I understand the damage on the one side of the ship, but the twisted hull and damage to the other side of the hull I don't. The bent shaft was also on the inside, where it was most protected. The damage was so well distributed around the ship, that UPS did their best to do a real professional job on it. Can't wait to see how it does on the way home!
6 ft? thats just warming up for UPS. You should see what goes on in the package handling centers. They're pretty serious about the whole 'proper packing' requirement and are dedicated to testing packages to destruction in an attempt to verify this.
So how did UPS do on the return trip you might ask? Their new motto "If first you don't succeed...". Initial signs are looking good that UPS outdid themselves this time. Drum roll please... Yep, they truly outdid themselves this time. A full and complete success! and Pete really did do a good job repairing the hull after their first try. and this is damage from the inside of the case, not the outside. Good news is they bent a shaft again, but their one and only mistake in getting the USS Des Moines home for me was... they bent the same shaft again. So I only have one to fix. So Ha, Ha... jokes on UPS. (PS) If you can't tell I'm a bit; no a lot p***ed off, I am. Yes, and next time I'll give USPS a try. Because there will be a next time, but not for UPS.
Now that I'm over being upset about it, I can say I learned a lot. I cut and formed Styrofoam around the ship and I should not have. I should have used the softer foam and made sure the ship was right down the middle and not to one side. The bent shaft was from being hit on the side and the rigid foam had no give. I had created additional areas to hold batteries and tools and I should have just shipped all the support gear separate. The added weight didn't help with handling a case of this size. The shipping container is great and will stand up to a lot more than a cardboard box would. The case is adjustable and could carry an even larger ship of Iowa size if needed. I will use it again to fly off to another far away event, but with a few changes.... and a different shipper.
So I bought an expensive violin from Italy... and UPS lost the invoice int the mail. Skreeeeeee. Bring a PT boat... You can handcarry that...
So I know this is an older thread but try using that packing paper. Just Did a PCS move where the military moves and packed everything. They bunched a ton of it up around the hull and ceran wrapped it all together. Not even the masts on the Mac broke. Highly recommend
After all this damage was done I checked into what "I" may have done wrong and as it turns out it's not 100% UPS's fault. I could tell from the damage to the hard case that they didn't give a S*** about the contents. My shared fault was trying to ship to much inside the case and ship. I had tightly pack internal items in the ship, such as using foam packing around the Co2 regulator, bottle and other items. While I thought they were in there tight, in transit they shake lose and bounce around inside the hull and hard case. I would say this may have caused as much as half the damage. While I was very discouraged after the return trip and couldn't bring myself to start repairing the ship, I have started to fix the Des Moines back up as I plan to try and make it to next years Bruhaha. Needless to say, it will be packed much much differently and likely be going via USPS.
