Transport/Storage Box by Caswell Inc.

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  • He Who Shall Not Be Named
    Moderator
    • Aug 2008
    • 12254

    Transport/Storage Box by Caswell Inc.

    Just got a first-run heavy-duty grade custom cardboard box from Mike yesterday -- first in a line of different sized 'generic' boxes specifically designed for the r/c target and submarine Driver in mind.

    You not only get a well engineered pre-cut and creased 'box', but also the gummed re-enforcing tape and epoxy resin needed to make the thing reasonably water tight.

    Tonight I assembled the box and applied the gummed re-enforcing tape to buttress the inside joints.

    As you can see, I'm going to use this particular box (they are cheap) to protect my 1/72 Revell Type-7 r/c submarine, but this size box can also find service protecting a 1/144 GATO or 1/144 SEAWOLF. I'm sure there are other r/c subs out there suitable for use with this box, but they don't come to mind.

    I'm tired, hungry and my feet hurt; been busting my hump all day for the great Caswell Empire -- he's got me doing double-time getting some 1/96 Type-212 kits and SubDriver's ready for him. This Sucks! I wish I were dead!

    Anyway ... here are the photos:
    Attached Files
    Who is John Galt?
  • Kazzer
    *********
    • Aug 2008
    • 2848

    #2
    Originally posted by Merriman
    I'm tired, hungry and my feet hurt; been busting my hump all day for the great Caswell Empire -- he's got me doing double-time getting some 1/96 Type-212 kits and SubDriver's ready for him. This Sucks! I wish I were dead!

    Anyway ... here are the photos:
    What a whiner! Does anyone have a pacifier for him?
    Stop messing about - just get a Sub-driver!

    Comment

    • mickelsen
      Lieutenant
      • Aug 2008
      • 94

      #3
      Hey Mike,

      When will the boxes be available?
      Hope is a harsh mistress!
      Mark

      Comment

      • Kazzer
        *********
        • Aug 2008
        • 2848

        #4
        Originally posted by mickelsen
        Hey Mike,

        When will the boxes be available?

        Almost ready. About 2-3 weeks!
        Stop messing about - just get a Sub-driver!

        Comment

        • He Who Shall Not Be Named
          Moderator
          • Aug 2008
          • 12254

          #5
          Caswell Inc. is working to get in the cheap cardboard boxes that will provide us a quick and dirty means of better protecting our model submarines. He’s also working with a Chinese source to secure the much more elaborate aluminum-vinyl-expanded foam custom carrying cases you see used by professional photographers and others who have a need for a very stout and professional looking shipping/storage container – stand-by for further word on that as Mike firms up a deal for those high-end cases.

          It has always struck me as stupid to arrive at a model boat regatta and then spend your time there repairing bent masts, chipped bows, bent propellers, and scrapped paint-jobs because the model was damaged in transit, between home and play-site. Why invest so much energy, talent, and time into a model boat or submarine and then neglect the relatively easy task of providing your model adequate protection: a proper shipping/storage container. A box!

          The purpose designed box is the ideal, but something is better than nothing; some form of protection for your model boat is far preferable to simply plunking your naked model down into the back seat of the car as you transport it around. Mike Dorey and Johan Sauer, both had their models seriously damaged as a consequence of traffic accidents and sudden lane changes on the highway – models that, at best, were either strapped to the hood of the car naked or wrapped in a blanket in the back of the camper. Protective shipping/storage boxes would have prevented, or at least would have mitigated, the damage in those two instances.

          Myself, I had a boxed model actually fall out of our van’s rear-door while tooling down the neighborhood avenue going abut 30 MPH. The box got a bad case of road-rash, but the model within survived without damage.

          Those of you who have seen me at a regatta undoubtedly have admired the boxes I use for each model submarine – no one takes greater care with their work than me! And I advise you to also invest the effort to protect your work. Either make your own box, or buy one. The below shot shows the typical purpose-built wooden boxes I make for my submarine models. In one shot, atop the five boxes on the floor, is the new Caswell Inc. heavy-duty cardboard shipping/storage box I put together the other day.

          Now (soon to be added to the catalog) you'll have a cheap, nearly purpose designed, effective means of storing your model. These boxes will be available in several sizes that will suit most of the r/c submarine (and some of the smaller model boats) out there today.

          About the Caswell cardboard box: Very neat design. Once you fold this thing up you have an easy closure box with an assurance that it will not open until you are ready to open it! The provided carrying strap forms part of the closure system. So, as long as you have the strap (handle) running through the top lid of the box, it won’t open. And the stiffness of the box after you coat it with the supplied special formula epoxy resin (which should be thinned with lacquer thinner to make application easier) also contributes to the tightness of the two outboard flaps that engage recesses at the sides of the box when you close the lid. Neat!

          It typically takes me six hours to make up one of my wooden submarine transportation/storage boxes.

          It took me about an hour to assemble and resin coat my Caswell box.

          (I goofed when I applied the supplied stiffening and water resisting resin provided with the box: I applied it un-cut. Mike informs me that you should cut the resin with lacquer thinner to make it easier to apply and to insure that the mix saturates deep into the cardboard. Oop’s! Anyway, I still got a good coat down and the things is sure water resistant! I like it.)

          Some pointers when you resin coat your box:

          First, I coated the inside of the box, then did the sides and bottom, and finished up the resin application after suspending the box by tying a piece of line around the handle and a ceiling fixture. That’s where it remained till the resin had cured a bit. Once the resin was past the tack stage, the box was taken outside to finish curing under the noonday sun.

          David,
          Attached Files
          Who is John Galt?

          Comment

          • Kazzer
            *********
            • Aug 2008
            • 2848

            #6
            That's a damned nasty vicious haircut you have there David!

            And, yes, I thought you understand that the resin needs to be 'cut' with lacquer thinner to make sure it soaks right through the cardboard tri-wall.

            It is very important that you add twice as much lacquer thinner as resin, and apply two coats, to ensure the cardboard will will never take on water.

            As for the foam to keep the model inside the box: remember that you must keep the model still, so pad the ends with carefully shaped foam to absorb the inertia of the weight of the boat moving. If the boat can slop about inside the box, it will get damaged.
            Stop messing about - just get a Sub-driver!

            Comment

            • Slats
              Vice Admiral
              • Aug 2008
              • 1776

              #7
              This is great idea. I for one am so over heavy wooden boxes.

              Mike, can you please advise on price and avaliability?

              David, can you please provide the mix ratios of the resin etc....I take it polyester resin will be ok?

              I take it the idea for positioning the sub inside is to enable it to be tied down on a cradle or an additional atop too?

              Thanks

              John
              John Slater

              Sydney Australia

              You would not steal a wallet so don't steal people's livelihood.
              Think of that before your buy "cheap" pirated goods or download others work protected by copyright. Theft is theft.



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              • Kazzer
                *********
                • Aug 2008
                • 2848

                #8
                Originally posted by Slats

                Mike, can you please advise on price and avaliability? John
                Well. I am a little concerned about shipping cardboard boxes to Oz. It seems that it will hit the cost way up.
                What if I got my brother in Melbourne to take a few on his next shipment of Caswell products? I think we could place them on the bottom of his shipment, so they wouldn't get bent or beaten up. They'll be a bit more expensive per box than in the USA. If we shipped them individually to the end user, I think the freight costs would be horrendous.

                John
                David, can you please provide the mix ratios of the resin etc....I take it polyester resin will be ok? John
                We could supply our epoxy to Oz, but it is a hazardous material so will incur additional charges. A polyester will work fine. Make sure you can thin it with a solvent like cellulose (lacquer) thinner. Mix the resin at about 50% mixed resin to 50% thinner, and apply a second coat after the first has set. Then paint it if you like.

                John
                I take it the idea for positioning the sub inside is to enable it to be tied down on a cradle or an additional atop too? John
                The boat must not move. You MUST secure it so that it is held securely in place, even when dropped on end. I'd suggest you pad the ends securely for at least 4". You could cut foam to carefully fit the box end and the boat ends. If the Sub-driver is secured in the boat with a locating pin and Velcro straps, I would think it would not move. But you don't want that slopping about inside the boat, or it will act like a kinetic ram and break stuff inside.

                Could you ask around your sub pals to give me some idea of how many I should send initially to my brother? (www.australia.caswellplating.com)
                Stop messing about - just get a Sub-driver!

                Comment

                • Slats
                  Vice Admiral
                  • Aug 2008
                  • 1776

                  #9
                  Thanks Mike,
                  I'll look into it - re the potential for the product down here.
                  Just burried amongst work till Christmas right now - have not been to the garage (the workshop in weeks!). Need to get organised as the Sub regatta down here is Easter.

                  Best
                  John
                  John Slater

                  Sydney Australia

                  You would not steal a wallet so don't steal people's livelihood.
                  Think of that before your buy "cheap" pirated goods or download others work protected by copyright. Theft is theft.



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                  Comment

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