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The Mrs. and I shall be attending Adepticon for the very first time, and we decided we ought to have display boards if we are going to shell out that much money for an excursion. We have one small issue though. We live in bush Alaska north of the Arctic Circle, and there literally are no roads connecting settlements up here. That leaves us at the tender mercies of the bush airlines which charge for each pound of cargo, have fairly strict dimensional requirements and employ baggage handlers who could break a hardened steel brick.

The mostly likely aircraft we will be traveling for the first/last leg is a Cessna Caravan and due to passenger demand, there isn't always room in the cabin for luggage, so we have to plan for something that will fit into the underbelly cargo pod where the limiting factor is the hatch size. Max width 49.6 “ / 1.28 m, Max Height 19.5 “ / 0.50 m, Max Length 3.3 feet/ 1 meter. Secondary consideration is that time of year is that subzero temps are guaranteed so the case should be able to handle -40 degrees F/C which rules out Pelican Case-style cases.

I would appreciate any tips anyone has.


-MaxGrav

Have you considered shipping your stuff there and back?
Perhaps that would be a better option?

Honestly...if it's that much work, and that much cost, skip the display board. That's a massive waste of money just to have something to set your miniatures on.

Failing that, I'd second shipping it by post if possible.

Another option would be to find a Dakka member or commission artist who is already attending who would be willing to make you a very basic board or let you borrow one and bring it to the event for you.
If it's cheap enough then just bin it or sell it on the last day for a few $$.
You could bring a few extra bits to put on it or bring a pre cut stencil or something just to jazz it up a bit?

How big's the display board going to be?

Sounds like a lot of work. Not impossible of course, but a lot of work.

There's a few plastics that transition to brittleness before -40 so you'll have to be selective about the material. For low weight I'd probably do a styrene lined plastic or fibre reinforced plastic, but I'd have to do some research to figure out which ones would be appropriate. I don't THIINK styrene undergoes another brittle transition at low temps but I can't remember off the top of my head (you'd probably know better than me, the coldest place I've ever lived only got down to about -10, lol).

What about a polystyrene lined cardboard box wrapped in copious amounts of plastic wrap?

Stryrofoam sandwich. Take 2 pieces of foam, hollow out room for the display board(s) between them. Add an extra layer of foam if you think it's too thin to survive handling. If you're really worried, reinforce all sides with MDF board. Then, plastic wrap the whole thing and duct tape the sucker to heck and back. When you arrive, cut the duct tape and plastic off, and re-wrap the whole thing for the return trip.

Some awesome ideas, guys.

Alex, unfortunately the first leg of sending something USPS/UPS/Fedex is still the Caravan.

I like the idea of a shrink wrapped "sandwich" with thin MDF as an outer skin. I initially discounted it because during the landing/unloading process, stuff gets set on the snow, but now I'm thinking if I paint the MDF with PVA that should make it water resistant enough for a casual exposure to snow and temperature based condensation. Paint would be better, but it's a major hassle to get up here due to it being considered hazmat by the FAA, who bars planes carrying passengers (the vast majority of flights up here) from hauling hazmat.

-MaxGrav

If you want something that'll last, get a sheet of cheap marine grade ply. MDF is heavy, ply will be lighter for the same strength and if it's marine grade it shouldn't swell and delaminate if it gets wet. You still need to seal it if you want it to resist all but the smallest amount of water, but once it's sealed it'll be mostly weather proof. You don't need the expensive marine grade stuff that people use to make actual boats from, just the cheap stuff that people use to make decking or cheap exterior cladding.

If you've plastic wrapped and duct taped it properly, it should be snowproof, if not puddle proof. Marine grade plywood is good as well, though if you can get your hands on corrugated plastic board, that stuff is super light and pretty tough. Here's a link to an example of what I mean.

http://www.canadiandisplay.ca/18-x-24-Blank-Corrugated-Plastic-Sheets-White-p/BCP04W-18X24.htm?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzISm_Mjm1gIVglh-Ch1d-A2bEAQYAiABEgKMivD_BwE

 John Prins wrote:
If you've plastic wrapped and duct taped it properly, it should be snowproof, if not puddle proof. Marine grade plywood is good as well, though if you can get your hands on corrugated plastic board, that stuff is super light and pretty tough. Here's a link to an example of what I mean.

http://www.canadiandisplay.ca/18-x-24-Blank-Corrugated-Plastic-Sheets-White-p/BCP04W-18X24.htm?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzISm_Mjm1gIVglh-Ch1d-A2bEAQYAiABEgKMivD_BwE

If that's what I think it is, it's called corflute over here, it is very light but it's not very tough. It's stiff, which is why they use it to make signs, until the cells get crushed (and they get crushed easily) after which it becomes very floppy and non-structural. Over here it's also not much cheaper than the marine grade ply, which you can get for about $15 for a 1200 x 800 x 4 mm sheet, though obviously the price of the sealer has to be added to that.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

 John Prins wrote:
If you've plastic wrapped and duct taped it properly, it should be snowproof, if not puddle proof. Marine grade plywood is good as well, though if you can get your hands on corrugated plastic board, that stuff is super light and pretty tough. Here's a link to an example of what I mean.

http://www.canadiandisplay.ca/18-x-24-Blank-Corrugated-Plastic-Sheets-White-p/BCP04W-18X24.htm?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzISm_Mjm1gIVglh-Ch1d-A2bEAQYAiABEgKMivD_BwE

If that's what I think it is, it's called corflute over here, it is very light but it's not very tough. It's stiff, which is why they use it to make signs, until the cells get crushed (and they get crushed easily) after which it becomes very floppy and non-structural. Over here it's also not much cheaper than the marine grade ply, which you can get for about $15 for a 1200 x 800 x 4 mm sheet, though obviously the price of the sealer has to be added to that.

It depends what grade you get. The company I work for uses some of the thicker grade for parts totes that ride on industrial conveyor chains, and get handled fairly roughly. You have to be trying to seriously damage the stuff. If your origami skills are decent, you can make pretty good boxes out of the stuff.

Do you have an idea of how big the display board is going to be?

will that alone live through sub zero temps?

because if i had to do it id start by making the display board ether flat or flat packable using magnets and light weight type things like foam or plastic.

make it flat packable under the min size of the hatch. or more importantly flat packable into the size of a standard foam case that will also fit your models.

cardboard box it, tape it and hope to god it doesnt get stuck on the bottom of the cesna.

Thank for all the tips everyone.

I've decided since I am doing a Tallarn armor force that I am going to go with the unit crossing a very gently rolling desert in combat formation. That will removed the need to protect a bunch of protruding parts like trees or large tiers/ridges.

My wife, the vile heretic that she is, is leaning towards having a broken hellscape for her daemons that is similarly made.

I am flying to Anchorage this week for a Dr.'s appointment and will hit up the Home Depot for supplies. I think I am also going to order in a sample of the thicker Corflute to test its temperature tolerance. If it handles it well, I'll probably swap the MDF for that as I can always use MDF around the home.

-MaxGrav