Tips for moving large sets (UCS Falcon + Death Star 75159)

[Lucas Camargo]

Hey everyone! I’m getting ready for a big move and I’m trying to figure out the best way to protect and transport a couple of large LEGO sets.

The two I’m most worried about are the Death Star (75159) and the UCS Millennium Falcon. They’re big, delicate, and I’d love to keep them in great shape both during the move and for display afterward.

Has anyone moved with sets like these before? If so, what worked for you?

My main idea so far is a custom acrylic display box that could double as a transport case. The problem is I’m not sure how to keep the model from shifting inside the box without putting stress on fragile parts. I’ve also seen people mention gluing services, but I’m really hesitant since I don’t want to permanently alter the sets or ruin their value.

I’m open to any suggestions, whether it’s packing methods, partial disassembly strategies (although I would very much like to avoid this), storage containers, or display solutions. Thanks a lot!

[Kit Figsto]

I've moved two MBS Star Wars sets before and had them remain pretty intact, though I will say that this was a local move.  I was able to access both my new and old houses at the same time, so I just transported the sets myself in the back seat of my car, and did it on a day when I wasn't moving any other furniture or boxes over.  All that I did was just take a large garbage bag, remove any loose/delicate areas from the sets (one of them was Cloud City, so I removed the carbon freezing chamber and the dueling scaffolding, while the other was the Cantina, so I removed the moisture vaporators and some of the random antennas) and then put the set into the bag.  I literally just carried the set out as though I were moving it from one area of my house to another, except it was in a bag, so if any loose bits fell off, they were contained.  Set it carefully on the seat of the car, buckled it in, and then drove it to the new place, carried it in, and re-assembled anything that fell apart.  

If you can't do that exact method, my two suggestions would just be to make sure that the sets are contained in some way (whether in a large plastic bin, a suitcase stuffed with foam/bubble wrap/newspaper) so that any loose bits don't get lost, and that I would, if at all possible, move them yourself rather than having someone else handling them.

[MAB]

Take them apart and you'll get the fun of building them again.

[JesseNight]

Kit Figsto's method is what I would do too. Take off the loose bits and if the entire model is fragile, I'd probably use a big enough box with a pillow for it to sit on, and fill up the sides to stop it from moving.
And as he says... Most important thing for it to be contained so anything that falls off cannot get lost.