Jump to content

Shipping paint


dylan the rabbit

Recommended Posts

I'm shipping a bunch of stuff back to the UK next week and don't know what to do with my paint.

 

It's a mix of enamel and acrylic, and yes, they're not supposed to go in a container as per the rules.

 

Should I just shutup and put them in the container, or go down the hassle route of finding out the material specs of each manufacturers paint and sending them to a courier to ship them, or, write the lot off and buy new when I get home?

 

Hassle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most modellers will find their personal stash of paints is worth less than dangerous goods shipping to transport them.

 

As a responsible company I can't endorse or condone just slipping them into your container anyway, but considering the remaining 2 options, unless you have a very large collection of paints (e.g. 20 to 30kg worth) then you're probably more economical just disposing of them and replacing once in the UK.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If your also putting your model stash in the container that will set the alarm bells going of in their heads and they will tear it apart looking for paint!

What's the penalty for illegal goods?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hate to say it, but I think chucking the paint away and starting again from scratch is the way to go... :o

 

It's a very small risk that customs would find the paints in the whole container, but as I'm not paying for the container, and am taking spare space in a friends, I'm not prepared to risk it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's not customs that is the issue - there's no particular taxation structure for model paints that makes them illegal to import - it's more that the enamels in particular (and this applies to your glues and fillers too) are classed as dangerous goods and need to be declared, packaged and documented on their manifests such that the owners of the assets, their insurance underwriters and anyone handling the container understand the cumulative risks involved. The reality is that model paints represent a fairly low risk in very limited quantities but the law is the law.

 

Specifically, international and national governing bodies for air, road and sea transport set the laws about what can be transported, how and under what circumstances and they do like to prosecute through criminal courts.

 

I posted a news link a number of months back after Amazon was fined a large sum of money by the courts for being caught sending dangerous goods through regular post undeclared - as stated at the time that's why we refuse to send things illegally. I'm not going to criminal court for the sake of making someone's plastic model a few quid cheaper.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...