Useful model shops in your area ?

**wonwinglo** · 10-06-2004

Despite these days of internet shopping there is still a big need for the high street model shop,however they are getting a bit thin on the ground these days with the sheer cost of filling those shelves ! in my time I have been involved with the setting up of 5 model shops one of which I owned myself for several years and certainly know all about the pitfalls involved,the biggest problem for traders today is stocking the wide variety of different interests,ie boats,cars,aircraft,tanks,railways,kites,diecasts etc etc it is just not possible to specialise in every different field and dealers need to keep to a particular theme,for example there are quite a few specialists in plastic kits around which has proved to be a lucrative market,dont forget that whilst you could be led to thinking that your local shop does not fulfill your needs they cannot cater for the minority interest ! at one time model shops used to stock lots of the materials required to build models from scratch,this is not the case today where the ARTF field has started to dominate the shelves,without going into the whys and wherefores of this aspect it is important to remember that survival is the paramount thing in your dealers mind,he needs to survive through thick and thin in every season,in the summer months where everyone is flying he could sell upwards of 50 gallons of fuel every week,but what happens during the winter months ? spare a thought for this when you moan at him for not stocking this and that ! it just is not possible to do so.
Many of the long established shops have now vanished for good,their owners have retired and taken with them the a lifetimes knowledge,a sad fact but true,following in their footsteps are the large supply houses who have full page ads in the monthly magazines,now here is something else to make you think ? have you ever wondered who purchases those twenty odd model mags in your local newsagent ? well I can reveal that most of them are purchased by absolute raw beginners who have never made a model in their life,surprised,well not really because those that actually reach the goal of building their own dream machine are in a minority,you the reader here probably fit this category of achieving success,you have achieved your goal by years of hard work which brings success,but we are always learning every day.
What I would like you to do is tell us about your local model shop and how you rate their service,you dont need to mention any name just tell us about how his services have helped you or otherwise ? you will be recording a dieing breed of commerce and social history-The ordinary high street model shop.

malcolm_durant · 06-08-2005

Train Times in Seaside Road, Eastbourne is to be recommended, not just for model railways, but for a good selection of tools, consumables, some dicast cars, military and aircraft kits and Scalextrics etc.

As a bonus, he buys returned/rejected Hornby locomotives from Margate and sells them in bits "as seen" for pretty reasonable prices (ie. tender loco bodies and chassis are £7-£12 each depending on what's intact and the tender chassis's and bodies are about a fiver each).

Typically the chassis have been made inoperable by people grasping them by their valve gear, crushing it...nothing patience and a small vice or pliers can't resolve. Obviously you have to expect other damage due to everything being literally thrown in a big box and posted to him; but a rumage normally turns up something useable and at these prices, fettling is worthwhile.

I got a practically brand new loco-drive model LMS Princess Elizabeth 4-6-2and a second Princess loco chassis (needed to canabalise for bits as they were all too knackered on their own) for about £30 in total.

An evening swapping components around and fiddling had it looking and running perfectly...

Working on creating a unrebuilt Merchant Navy now, see my thread elsewhere...

**wonwinglo** · 06-08-2005

Thanks Malcolm,these things are always useful to know especially for those of us that do our modelling on a budget,next time that I am in Eastbourne will search out this interesting shop.

new to trains · 07-08-2005

i have two local shops one is wycombe models and engineering, - Gomm Road in High Wycombe, its as you say wonwinglo, he is trying to cater for all areas of the modelmaking fraternity, he covers RC aircraft( both fixed wing and choppers), plastic kits, model railways, dolls houses, RC cars, and the odd mairne model.....

but he is prepared to order parts for you, this does take time , but the service is there if you need it, the knowledge behind the counter is specialised, and so if you are interested in a model that one of the staff is familiar with then you are ok, but if it is a model that is a little less popular and no one is familiar with it then its a case of what you see in the box is what we are selling you.... no advice, help or input.......
but its not a bad shop as a general rating, clean and tidy and pretty well stocked with the basics of what you need, could do with more marine stuff, but i can live with that as i have my favourite mail order shops i use for my marine stuff !

the other shop is mantua models in dedworth road windsor, - the UK importer for Mantua, the shop is well stocked ( especially Mantua sotck !) but there is a good stock of materials, timber, parts and tools, not so good for model railways, but ok for other bits and bobs, again a reasonable shop, and worth a visit if you are ever passing !

**wonwinglo** · 07-08-2005

That makes interesting reading N.T.T,this is pretty well the same throughout the country at the moment,whilst model shops need to buckle to and get more experienced staff to answer the all important questions they do not always succeed,the pressures of internet mail order have certainly squeezed out a bit of dead wood,it is all about specialisation these days.The high street shop will always be with us in some shape or form even if it is a combined sports shop come model shop,it all about survival,once again the newbie will probably go into such a shop still and buy say a complete R/C starter package,then sadly they are on thir own to either trim it or fly the model,very few shops have back up flying schools etc but the last shop I helped set up certainly did.
It is a fact of life that the internet has changed the whole way that we think,and buy our goods,but there is still room for both if handled correctly.
Mantua they are the people that do that delightful little Republic Sea Bee look-a-like amphibian,never seen one fly but it looks good.Have a good weekending there in Windsor.

KenP · 07-08-2005

Westbourne Models in Bournemouth is my High recommendation.
They specialize in model boats. Barry Shanks, the owner, is a mine of information on all aspects of boats. He has a very well stocked shop and deals with mail orders from around the world. The business is active enough to keep four people employed.
He deals with all the major kit and semi kit manufacturers as well as keeping a good stock of bits & pieces inc flags, props, rigging stuff etc

new to trains · 08-08-2005

i totally agree- westbourne is great and i use them alot mail order, good advice over the phone too !

adzam · 08-08-2005

i have to agree on westbourne, also pandaan models but they are in teh process fo changin hands

Locally i have three model shops, one seems to have a bit of everything ,mostly RTR ,cars boats planes etc ,plastic guns model kits . Huge shop but not dedicated to any one kind of model, unfortunately teh customer service is NOT good, i fear it`s partly due to the high staff turnover they appear to have, lack of knowledge and weekend part time young people.

another model shop on teh opposite side of town stocks a very good range of Rc cars and planes and have been recomended by local model clubs but i find them a bit expensive , i paid £68 for a piezzo gyro for a heli, only to find that midland heli`s sell teh exact same for £32 !!!! you can imagine i was happy when i found this out !

lastly i have scoonie hobbies local,they do seem to stock a lot of cottage industry type of bits and peices, plenty of info and advice, if they cant help then they can put you in teh direction of someone who can. they have a wealth of fellow modellors contacts due to the fact that they do most , if not all the main model shows up and down the country. BUT i do buy a lot of stuff or even check out prices before buying in a shop. i dont have to travel,pay for parking/buses and won`t be dissapointed when arriving at shop that they dont stock that viatl part !

on the WWW it`s a buyers market which is good in some ways, but as far as advice,experience or guidance then one to one whether on the phone or in person cannot be bought. it could/.does put people off due to buying something that the new owner doesn`t have the knowlede or experience to assemble. Which would certainly put most people off , FULL STOP !

unfortunately there`s not much if anything that can be done to change the way things are going, but as long as there are model shows where traders and experst alike congregate it should stave of the wolves of RTR !