Model kit packaging.

[ElectroSoldier]

It seems sometimes all the modellers on youtube who do reviews lead the charge for kit manufacturers to package each and every single sprue in its own plastic bag to protect the parts while in shipping.

 

I am I alone in thinking this is such a waste of plastic?

There are other better ways to protect the parts while shipping, isnt it time we started pushing for them to use other more sustainable methods to pack our kits in?

[ikar]

It does use a lot of plastic to pack pits that way.  It might be better just to place a layer of tissue paper or something like it between each layer and then seal the box.  In Okinawa I would often look at the parts when I was in the toy shop before I bought the kit.  But that was some time ago.

[habu2]

I've always been curious about the amount of styrene used in sprues vs actual parts.  I know sprues are a "necessary evil" for injection molded kits, just curious about the sprue:parts ratio...

[habu2]

I can live without individually bagged sprues, but prefer all the sprues be inside a main bag to contain broken off parts. 

 

Having said that, one bagged sprue is mandatory IMO: the clear (canopy) sprue should ALWAYS be bagged separately.

[wxltcol]

17 minutes ago, habu2 said:

I can live without individually bagged sprues, but prefer all the sprues be inside a main bag to contain broken off parts. 

 

Having said that, one bagged sprue is mandatory IMO: the clear (canopy) sprue should ALWAYS be bagged separately.

 

Hear, hear!  Truth!

[southwestforests]

Yes, Virginia, you saw it here, there is a truth on the internet.

 

3 hours ago, habu2 said:

 

 

Having said that, one bagged sprue is mandatory IMO: the clear (canopy) sprue should ALWAYS be bagged separately.

 

2 hours ago, wxltcol said:

 

Hear, hear!  Truth!

[TheGloriousTachikoma]

Rather than bagging the sprues, I'd like to see done like what AMK do for the missiles/bombs on their 1:48 F-14D and MiG-31. The sprues are designed so that they can stack like lego bricks and each set of ordnance comes in its own box. All it requires is arranging the parts layouts so they don't interfere when stacked. I would still want the canopy in its own bag, but thats it.

This is something I'm surprised Bandai have yet to do with their Gundam kits. They can mold working moving joints and hands on the sprue, but can't make the sprues interlock nicely to fit neatly in the box.

But the issue remains that the sprues are wasteful, and IIRC styrene can't be recycled in the conventional means.

[habu2]

Styrene is definitely recyclable:

 

https://youknowstyrene.org/how-are-styrene-products-recycled-and-recovered/

[TheGloriousTachikoma]

I suppose. I hit the Bandai tree hard the last couple years and produced a steady stream of waste sprues. I looked it up and Styrene just gets discarded in American single-stream recycling, it needs special recycling techniques.

[John B]

On 2/3/2022 at 7:50 AM, ikar said:

It does use a lot of plastic to pack pits that way.  It might be better just to place a layer of tissue paper or something like it between each layer and then seal the box.  In Okinawa I would often look at the parts when I was in the toy shop before I bought the kit.  But that was some time ago.

I wonder Shima's across the street from Foster/ Butler is still there?  There was another place down the same street and next to a bakery.

[Thadeus]

I don't know about You but I keep waiting for a moment we switch from polistyrene to some other more enviroment friendly stuff. Then the 'sprues' will probably packed in paper 😉

[ElectroSoldier]

On 2/3/2022 at 3:54 PM, habu2 said:

I can live without individually bagged sprues, but prefer all the sprues be inside a main bag to contain broken off parts. 

 

Having said that, one bagged sprue is mandatory IMO: the clear (canopy) sprue should ALWAYS be bagged separately.

But wouldnt wrapping it up in nice thick paper do the same job?

 

On 2/4/2022 at 4:08 AM, TheGloriousTachikoma said:

Rather than bagging the sprues, I'd like to see done like what AMK do for the missiles/bombs on their 1:48 F-14D and MiG-31. The sprues are designed so that they can stack like lego bricks and each set of ordnance comes in its own box. All it requires is arranging the parts layouts so they don't interfere when stacked. I would still want the canopy in its own bag, but thats it.

This is something I'm surprised Bandai have yet to do with their Gundam kits. They can mold working moving joints and hands on the sprue, but can't make the sprues interlock nicely to fit neatly in the box.

But the issue remains that the sprues are wasteful, and IIRC styrene can't be recycled in the conventional means.

It was exactly that kit that brought this back into my mind because the product is design is so well thought out and the cardboard packaging means the plastic bags the parts all come in means the plastic bags are not required at all.

 

15 hours ago, TheGloriousTachikoma said:

I suppose. I hit the Bandai tree hard the last couple years and produced a steady stream of waste sprues. I looked it up and Styrene just gets discarded in American single-stream recycling, it needs special recycling techniques.

Thats right, it is possible to recycle it but its expensive so it doesnt get done.
That is one of the reasons even China stopped taking in the worlds waste plastics, because its cheaper to make new than recycle the old, so it doesnt get recycled.

 

Im no tree hugging eco type but when i see waste on the scale we have for no real benefit then I do wonder about it all.

 

 

[midnightprowler]

I like every sprue being individually bagged. Especially clear, decals and tires.

[ElectroSoldier]

8 minutes ago, midnightprowler said:

I like every sprue being individually bagged. Especially clear, decals and tires.

But would it matter if it was a paper bag?

[Dave Williams]

1 hour ago, ElectroSoldier said:

But would it matter if it was a paper bag?

It would to me.  I don’t open the bags until I’m ready to start building, but until then at least a clear plastic bag lets me look at the parts.

[TheGloriousTachikoma]

9 hours ago, ElectroSoldier said:

 

Im no tree hugging eco type but when i see waste on the scale we have for no real benefit then I do wonder about it all.

 

It does kind of bug me when you realize how much empty space is in the box. Especially with Gundams. But models are a luxury item and styrene is so easy to work and is plenty strong.

Bandai are trying to pilot a recycling program with "EcoPla", taking collected used sprues and grinding them up and melting them down for re-injection, but the kits are black, so only painting gunpla enthusiasts will buy them. Might make sense for model aircraft builders.

Edited February 7, 2022 by TheGloriousTachikoma

[midnightprowler]

On 2/6/2022 at 11:00 AM, ElectroSoldier said:

But would it matter if it was a paper bag?

Yes.  Paper is abrasive. 

[habu2]

The advantage to (clear) plastic bags is you can inspect the tree for missing/broken parts without breaking the seal.  Can't do that with opaque paper.

 

From a production standpoint plastic can be heat sealed rather easily, paper would require an adhesive and additional machinery to seal the bag = more $$$

[habu2]

23 hours ago, TheGloriousTachikoma said:

It does kind of bug me when you realize how much empty space is in the box. 

 

 I'll take empty space over parts packed so tightly they are bent/broken/warped.  I remember when I got the Kinetic F-16XL kit I could not fit everything back in the box once I took the trees out for inspection.  Well, I did eventually get them all back in but it took many many tries on rearranging/reordering trees into the box.

 

edit: the Kinetic kit didn't have any broken parts, it was not my intent to make Kinetic look bad.  I've had the same issue with several other kit mfgrs.

 

.

Edited February 7, 2022 by habu2

[ElectroSoldier]

1 hour ago, midnightprowler said:

Yes.  Paper is abrasive. 

Its not so abrasive so that the parts would be damaged though is it.

That kind of thinking is not only beside the point its almost completely irrelevant. 

49 minutes ago, habu2 said:

The advantage to (clear) plastic bags is you can inspect the tree for missing/broken parts without breaking the seal.  Can't do that with opaque paper.

 

From a production standpoint plastic can be heat sealed rather easily, paper would require an adhesive and additional machinery to seal the bag = more $$$

The paper wouldnt need to be sealed, you could take them out to your heats content.

 

Yes there is a cost to bare in mind, there is also a cost to plastic bags, the machines to make them, put the parts in them and seal them too.

The current zeitgeist favours sustainability.

 

The AMK weapons set is a good example of what I would like to see. There is no need for the plastic bags. and all of the packaging can be recycled very easily and cheaply if you removed the plastic bags. They are the only items which will go to landfill.

[ikar]

I sed to hit some small stores outside Kadena's gate 2 that were on side streets.  I think the other store by Shimas was called Franks and wasn't that far away, only a few blocks.  I would hit several stores each payday after going to the base bank and loading up on yen, sometimes 20,000 or more.

[John B]

@ikar - I remember that opening boxes at Shima's and Frank's and they had a particular smell.  It wasn't a bad smell.  Just a particular smell.  Whenever I get a package from a Japanese on-line stores, that particular scent takes my mind back to my time in Okinawa.

 

Back to the subject, what if we could return all our plastic sprues for credits/ tokens towards a new purchase? The sprues would be turned back into plastic pellets and be used for new plastic kits.  It's a lot to ask, but at least they don't turn into more landfill, ocean trash, and all the bad things that people are trying to avoid with plastic bags.  Think - recycling beer/ soda bottles & cans and using the money to buy more beer/ soda.  It's really more a token gesture at best, but I'm down for any extra incentives to be able to finish then buy more kits.

 

[ElectroSoldier]

1 hour ago, John B said:

@ikar - I remember that opening boxes at Shima's and Frank's and they had a particular smell.  It wasn't a bad smell.  Just a particular smell.  Whenever I get a package from a Japanese on-line stores, that particular scent takes my mind back to my time in Okinawa.

 

Back to the subject, what if we could return all our plastic sprues for credits/ tokens towards a new purchase? The sprues would be turned back into plastic pellets and be used for new plastic kits.  It's a lot to ask, but at least they don't turn into more landfill, ocean trash, and all the bad things that people are trying to avoid with plastic bags.  Think - recycling beer/ soda bottles & cans and using the money to buy more beer/ soda.  It's really more a token gesture at best, but I'm down for any extra incentives to be able to finish then buy more kits.

 

That would involve the manufacturer taking something back and increasing a workload that they just wouldnt want to do unless there was a profit in it.

 

The plastic used in most kits can be recycled its just expensive to do it and requires an industry in its own right.

 

Im more thinking about the plastics used that are much harder to recycle, not because they are hard to recycle in their own right but because the cost of making new is lower than the cost of recycling the old so there is no business incentive to do it. Thus the plastic bags the model makers want to see in their boxes never get recycled.
Not even China wanted a piece of that industry, because despite their low wages they couldnt make it pay.

 

Would you still be interested in sending the old plastic back if instead of them paying you you would have to pay them for getting rid of your hard to process garbage?

Edited February 8, 2022 by ElectroSoldier

[midnightprowler]

22 hours ago, ElectroSoldier said:

Its not so abrasive so that the parts would be damaged though is it.

That kind of thinking is not only beside the point its almost completely irrelevant. 

The paper wouldnt need to be sealed, you could take them out to your heats content.

 

 

Whatever.  I guess any opinion is valid as long as it agrees with you.  You realize paper comes from trees right? Omg!! Don't cut down a precious tree!!!

[ElectroSoldier]

1 hour ago, midnightprowler said:

Whatever.  I guess any opinion is valid as long as it agrees with you.  You realize paper comes from trees right? Omg!! Don't cut down a precious tree!!!

And do you realise paper can be recycled? Sure you have to cut down the trees but its not a single use thing like the plastic bags are.