Safe Shipping Tips?

[Dreambaker]

Hey, I recently finished a custom with sculpted hair and unfortunately the tails of my customs tend to break off in shipping. I would like some advice from anyone who does sculpted ponies and how they ship them. I have to send it to the Netherlands so the safer the better.
Thank you for any assistance you may be able to offer.

(For those of you who want to see it, I can't post it till the person receives it because it was bough as a gift.)

[NoDivision]

I use tissue paper to fill in space between sculpting, do one overall layer of tissue paper, then wrap the whole thing in bubble wrap. Lots and lots of bubble wrap. Use a box that is quite a bit bigger than the custom. There should be plenty of clearance around your item on all sides - no part of your custom should be touching any part of the box.  Tightly fill the whole space around your customs (or what is now a bubble wrap blob) with either more bubble wrap, tissue, newspaper, packing peanuts, whatever you have on hand. The item should not be able to move at all once the box is closed and the box should be full of packing material so that it cannot be crushed.

[Dreambaker]

I use tissue paper to fill in space between sculpting, do one overall layer of tissue paper, then wrap the whole thing in bubble wrap. Lots and lots of bubble wrap. Use a box that is quite a bit bigger than the custom. There should be plenty of clearance around your item on all sides - no part of your custom should be touching any part of the box.  Tightly fill the whole space around your customs (or what is now a bubble wrap blob) with either more bubble wrap, tissue, newspaper, packing peanuts, whatever you have on hand. The item should not be able to move at all once the box is closed and the box should be full of packing material so that it cannot be crushed.

Awesome, that sounds like a good idea, thank you. I may have to try that, I have tons of bubble wrap from when I mailed out cookies.

[Roogna]

also if it's SUPER FRAGILE - double box it. yeah, it's more expensive, but it can make a big difference.
box #1 should be like NoD said
box #2 should be bigger, and you should put something between them to cushion (like packing peanuts, plastic bags, tissue paper, etc)

[Griffin]

I agree with the advice given above. Sometimes an additional safety measurement you can take is mount the custom on a piece of sturdy cardboard, plywood or other material to protect the more delicate parts. I have occasionally mimicked factory packaging and attached ponies on cards to protect bouncy straw curls, for example. Similarly, to protect sculpted dresses or tails that reach the ground, I would place the pony on a sturdy piece of board and tie her down with soft ribbons that won't damage the paint, then wrap the whole thing in bubble wrap or secure the piece of board inside a smaller box for double boxing.

Good luck, I hope your pony will reach her destination safe and sound!

[Blindfaith]

i found a lot of the time stuff i got in the post was wet and the box had split because of this, making the box weak so it could get squished.

so i started to pack all my sculpts and customs in Tupperware / plastic tubs (picking them up from a £1 shop) then wrap in brown paper.
depending on what i ship the inside can be a mix of bubble wrap, polystyrene or sponge.

[banditpony]

When it's all packed up, shake the box a little bit. You don't want the stuff inside to move/shift.