"Moving To Australia from Britain" Topic

Well it looks like I'm off to sunnier climes next month and am hoping you kind folks can provide me with some sage advice (especially if you've done something similar) in preparation for the movers turning up

Basically i'll be shipping all my gaming gear (to the best of my knowledge here's nothing proscribed going across, anything that potentially needs to be declared (e.g. stanley knives, & scalpels etc) will be and anything that needs to be treated e.g. balsa will be by Aus customs)

Figures (painted and unpainted) – metal resin & plastic
Terrain (buildings/trees/hills etc)
Acrylic Paints
Modelling tools and materials (e.g. pin vices, drills, modelling knives & blades) balsa, card, plastic card etc)
Reference Books & Rules
Boardgames

Here's the plan so far

Generally the idea is to pack everything in sturdy cardbard/plastic containers marked "fragile" with enough packing (e.g. bubble wrap) to make sure the contents doesnt move around (shipping will be by sea). These will then be packed by the removal folks, ultimately into a 40' shipping container with the rest of our belongings

Painted Figures –

As far as painted stuff is concerned some are in foam lined citadel army cases (so I think they should be OK). For the rest the sturdy boxes/bubblewrap combination will apply but with but an additional protective layer of tissue paper (or (unused!) toilet roll) around each figure to make sure they don't chip.

Paints –

(about 500 at the last count – full sets of Vallejo, army painter etc plus a few others mainly in dropper bottles) They'll cost a fair bit to replace (estimated over $1,000.00 AUD hence my preference to ship them across if possible!)

They're all acrylics so no flammability issues. but there's still a potential risk of spillage.

Hopefully the following cunning plan should help mitigate the risk.

1) making sure the caps are all firmly screwed on/taped down

2) sealing the paints in resealable grip top plastic bags (about 3 dropper bottles per bag)

3) Bagged paints will be placed in sturdy packing (box files+ bubblewrap)

4) Double bagging the box files in bin liners or similar prior to the movers packing them

5) I'll also ask the movers if they can take any other precautions – e.g. keeping the paints packed all together and in a separate (spill proof?) packing case

One final thing – everything will be included in the sum insured for the house contents that's being shipped.

Does this sound like a reasonable set of precautions?

Any alternative/additional ideas will be gratefully appreciated (including for stuff I haven't specifically mentioned like books/boardgames etc)

Thanks for reading – looking forward to seeing your thoughts. feel free to ask any questions you think appropriate if you need more info and i'll do y best to answer

Regards

Tonic

I did the same 20 years ago, except it was from the USA to Australia.

In general, Australia is great. But there will be some shocks, especially with real estate costs.

The thing to note is that shipping of low volume items such as hobby supplies means that these sorts of items are incredibly expensive in Australia. You need to bring books and paints with you if you can! You need to get up to speed on 3D printing and using pdf versions of rules. Because the shipping of minis and rulebooks is often more than the cost of the items.

Most importantly, blue board / pink board just doesnt exist in Australia. (OK -- it does exist – but its hard to find and expensive). If you are into terrain, get a few sheets of each packed into the container!

My figures and paints arrived in great condition. The shipping process is pretty gentle. The major risk of damage is the actual packing and unpacking. There were some broken spears etc, but nothing that couldnt be repaired.

Welcome to Oz! Where will you be?

It's not all prancing lambs and fluttering butterflies.

The first time we returned from the UK to NZ, I carefully marked all my boxes with figures in (there wasn't many) with signs like "fragile" "this way up" etc. Which the packers completely ignored.

Second time we returned. I made doubly sure I packed everything as if it was going to be abused.

It was clearly at the UK end that the problem was, but I'm talking 30 and 20 years ago now, things may have changed.

Make sure you have plenty of fire proof boxes that float, if you're going to the east coast. (joke)

You sound unbelievably well prepared. Given the relatively cheap cost of shipping your stuff to OZ, I'd suggest this is the correct course to take.
As for contraband:
link

As indicated above, prices for everything tend to be dearer. As a comparison, a bottle of Vallejo Game Colour costs me nearly 3 pounds sterling. However, keep in mind wages etc are more.EG minimum wage is nearly 12 pound an hour.

The issue is a lot of your hobby supplies need to be sourced overseas & this means waiting times before you get them.
The other challenge is finding pals to game with. Big place with relatively few people. If you're going to the urban centres (Syd.Mel.Bris. etc) there are clubs etc but they probably won't be in walking distance unless you're lucky.
In regional centres, wargames' clubs are very thin on the ground.

One little tip: when you go home -probably quite frequently- order stuff in advance & pick it up from relatives' houses. Saves a lot in P&P.

And welcome to OZ.If you end up in Bris. drop me a line. I miss the weather in Scotland but otherwise this is a great place.

Not sure of your rules, however, here in the states movers will not take paints.

Movers will not take most liquids. But I have moved a dozen times and movers always take my hobby paints and sprays no problem. It's house paint (hard no) and cleaners (again, hard no).

Liquor is a maybe

Yea, paints by air could be a problem.

I'd double bag them if you can ship them, and in the inner bag, put in some absorbant paper towels in case the bottles explode under depressurization.

I wouldn't be surprised if that occurred, and sadly, you can no longer take much in the way of liquids into the aircraft cabin with you, which is pressurized.

Is your life insurance paid up?

You are going to the "Death Continent" where almost everything there can kill you in multiple ways, so…..

Might want to bone up on ALL the dangerous fauna before you depart civilization for "the Outback".

Have a safe trip, and enjoy!

Found using plastic tubs instead of cardboard boxes to be the wiser way to move fragile items.

Early comments are spot on, wargaming groups are thin on the ground, but you'll find a reasonable gaming mix in each of the capitals. Regional centres are mostly GW focused, except for Qld which I feel has the most diversity of gaming genres in the regional centres. Being from NSW that's teeth grinding to admit…

Don't do it, it can get to 40 degrees celcius here ;-)

You seem to have a good plan for the paint. I think movers worry about large paint containers, like the cans house paint comes in. Our college theatre group ordered some once, there was a disaster en route, and Winfield (city of about 12,000) had red mail that day!
I would double check the insurance: it would be unfortunate if the light weight boxes came through while the high weight boxes with figures were lost but insured at a lower rate appropriate for foam core board buildings.

Grelber

When I moved to Ecuador, I packed my models in large plastic bins, filled with styrofoam peanuts, & wrapped in bungie cords, to keep the lids on. I had to carry mine in a suitcase, because shipping small items is terribly expensive, but I didn't have enough stuff to justify investing in a container (around $7 USDk). Still, the lid came off of one of my bins, & the models suffered varying degrees of damage. Paints & hobby supplies were not questioned. They did question my compressor, but when I told them what it was for in customs, they were fine with it. But of course that was Ecuador, & they do things differently down here…

Damon.

Nick Bowler – re property prices, it seems that Aus is a bit cheaper than UK. And the houses are much bigger…

Many thanks for all the input so far folks – Much appreciated and plenty of food for thought.

@Thresher01 – I like your thinking – we're off to Perth WA so extreme packing measures shouldnt be necessary but i'll still bear it in mind as an option!