[John Youngs]

As a collector of Armour models, particularly the F-86 & F-4 series, I was ecstatic to do a deal with Armour Addict involving acquiring a pair of B11E315 Molders' F-4 Phantoms (among one of their best F-4 efforts to date, in my opinion!), as well as a pair of B11B583 JG-71 (Luftwaffe) Canadair CL-13B Sabres. There's lots of photos of these planes available from both AA's site as well as mine. However, getting the models from Germany to here (Tacoma, Wash.), was an entirely different story. I'll NEVER , EVER use DHL again!! The model I sent over to AA was the British R.N. FG.1 Phantom (B11B459 - #98046), via FedEx "Economy" ($115 shipping cost vs. $285/approx. for 2-day "Express") - took about 4 days or thereabouts; was instantly "trackable" by both parties, and got there a day earlier than promised. DHL, shipped from Dusseldorf, was a totally different story - it took 2 days shy of a month (Aug. 17th to Sept. 15th) for the box to arrive, and was only "trackable" by the sender. That tracking, by the way, was extremely "spotty", at best. It was almost never updated, and continued to spit out the same "tracking info" day after day after day. Once in the US, the "tracking" was taken over by the USPS, and while they indicated that the pkg. had left Frankfurt AM; that was it - it was never updated after that!! As the weeks went by, AA & I never knew if the box was lost or where it was at; until it finally arrived earlier today - surprisingly in pretty good shape. One thing I CANNOT emphasize enough - and that is how to pack one of these models for long distance shipping! Assuming you're gonna use the exterior "white" shipping box that Armour provides, you should place that box inside a much bigger, heavy-duty "outer" box with lots of room for several inches-worth of packing material - ALL around the white box!! What these boxes go through as far as abuse is concerned is incredible - and if you want a rather delicate model to "get there" intact, you gotta provide a strong level of packing material, or it won't survive the journey without some damage. Fortunately, although there was some damage to one of the F-4 white shipping boxes, the model boxes themselves faired quite well - surprise, surprise...!! Remember just one wee little bit of advice on picking a shipper as well as the level of service... - YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR - go the "cheap" route; ironically, it can really "cost" you in the end... -