Model Forum / General / Models / July 2007

I cut up the ones I don't need for storage and keep only the artwork
panels.  A lot of them can fit inside a kit box. The idea is that some
fine day I will mount them in my hobby room wall as wallpaper.

Built cars go back in their box after a while. A/C boxes get folded and
stored. Yep, me too. I figure some day the boxes 'might' be worth something
for my grand kids. Look at some of the moldy oldies that fetch a nicely sum
now :-)

--
Chuck Ryan
Springfield OH

A good box can have a long carreer at my place. Some companies use good
quality boxes with plenty of room inside, while other use crappy envelope
thingies, and some kits have had a hard life before even arriving at my
place in battered boxes. The good boxes have the kits inside them build,
then replaced by something previously housed in a lesser box, which gets
thrown out.

Aside from that, I've fallen into the habit of running each and every bit
of paperwork, boxes, decals, instructions, or whatever, through my scanner
at a decent resolution before I even start on the kit. That way, I will
always have a digital copy should something go wrong with the originals.
Such digital copies might also serve your need to preserve the artwork.

If you're playing for money, this suggestion is useless, of course..

Rob

Check the sides for diagonal fold/crease marks.  If you see any, you can
fold the box flat without damage.  Just push the sides gently inward.  
If there's any resistance, check the tab inside each corner, and pry it
a little away from the side; it should turn and slide along the inside
top as the sides flatten.

If there aren't any diagonal fold marks, I would slip a butter knife
under the corner tabs to separate them from the sides that they're glued
to.  There'll be some damage to the glued surfaces, but that'll be
hidden if you ever glue it back together.

When I complete a model, I cut out the box art and tape it to the wall
of my shop. The rest of the box is recycled. I like my wall-o-boxart;
it's pretty and it makes me feel like I've accomplished something.

And there are many models I don't have any longer represented on my
wall. Broken, given away, etc.

---Stephen

I keep the instruction sheets (all the way back to my childhood) but as
for the boxes, I throw 'em out.  Though I seem to be collecting an
unreasonable number of shipping boxes...

Thanks all for your advice!

Kaliste