Heller Boeing KC135 Stratotanker problem with Royal Mail

[mikestow]

Just tried to sell a Attic find that had not be built ,as out of my sphere these days!An Heller 72nd Scale Being Stratotanker KC135.It was going to go to the States and as it was quite large,but very light in weight I had to take it to my local Depot before it closed last Night.This morning I get a call that they could not accept it as "International Small Parcel",as it was over 60 cms in its longest section of parcel.The cost would now be £33 as only Global Express part or Royal Mail would accept it.Thus the unfortunate buyer had to be refunded.Not only was this unaccepted to the States but also to anywhere in Europe,except by Global Express or another Courier.

It will now either return to the attic or be sold only in UK,where standard rates still apply apparently.Has anyone else come across this Length Problem with Royal Mail on "International Air Mail Small Parcels???

[e8n2]

Sort of, kinda, maybe. I had the Airfix Shackleton on back order from Hannant's. When it came into stock it shipped immediately (which was nice), but it shipped by itself and not with other items I had in my cart. It also carried a lot bigger price tag for shipping than I was expecting, and also a tracking number which I had never had before. I'm in California. They told me this was due to the size of the box and that it had to go a different route other than Royal Mail. Live and learn.

Later,

Dave

[AntPhillips]

It's s big box, and it (along with other similarly large kits) has always been an expensive kit to post.

I sold a few of them a few years ago, together with Airfix/Heller E-3 / 707 kits, and they along with a Hornby train set I sold for a friend have been amongst the most expensive items to post.

That being said the size limits for parcels are easily obtained, either from the Royal Mail website or in the guide leaflets you can pick up in your local post office (if you've still got one), 2 minutes of research, would have told you it was going to be an expensive one to post, now you know you can simply relist it with the correct postage.

Anyone really wanting one will know it's a large kit and this will be reflected in the postage cost, they are still sought after so I'm sure it will still sell and you won't be out of pocket.

[Dave Fleming]

Since mail went to a dimensional tarriff (length & volume) rather than one based on weight, this has been an issue for large items

[chrisov]

You could have a look on the https://www.parcel2go.com/website, I have used this sometime to send large models overseas eg AMT KC-135 different box (and model?) to the Heller one.

They usually come with several options, not all of which are cheap, and can even include Royal Mail parcel force cheaper than via the post office!

One oddity I have found is that sometimes the parcel can be too light (vol/weight?) and it just says try again, if so play around slightly with the weight/dimensions.

Hope that might help in future.

Cheers

Chris

[e8n2]

I have used this sometime to send large models overseas eg AMT KC-135 different box (and model?) to the Heller one.

Cheers

Chris

The AMT kit is definitely different from the Heller kit. I would be 99% certain that the Heller kit is based on their E-3 kit, while the AMT kit was an entirely new tool. At the time it came out (early 90s), AMT had a relationship with ESCI and was re-boxing a number of their kits.

Later,

Dave

[AntPhillips]

The AMT kit is definitely different from the Heller kit. I would be 99% certain that the Heller kit is based on their E-3 kit, while the AMT kit was an entirely new tool. At the time it came out (early 90s), AMT had a relationship with ESCI and was re-boxing a number of their kits.

Later,

Dave

Heller have actually reboxed the AMT KC-135 kit, with markings for Adl'A and USAF and of course they also do their own E-3F and 707, incidentally the box size is the same for both kits, which is flatter but longer and wider than the box AMT used.

[Work In Progress]

At least one manufacturer of very large kits is changing box shapes changing to reflect this. The 1/24 Kinetic P-47D is a good example. It's designed with a much smaller footprint than its VVS predecessor kit, sprues arranged in more layers with a deeper package.