I forgot to mention this but last week while i had to find the loo in a shopping centre Mrs P found a Hobby shop.It was brill they had an Airfix display small planes £10 upwards larger planes £35 it took me back a long way.Spitfires,Hurricanes and those Geerman ones.They looked beautiful.
Model shop.
- Thread starter postman
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
midlife
Guru
Spent a lot of Saturdays at The Model Shop in Hull as a young kid 
https://i2-prod.hulldailymail.co.uk/incoming/article2647654.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/0_Model-Shop.jpg
https://i2-prod.hulldailymail.co.uk/incoming/article2647654.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/0_Model-Shop.jpg
derrick
The Glue that binds us together.
- Location
- On the edge of London
Model shops are few and far between these days, But i did get to go here last weekend. https://www.meridienneexhibitions.co.uk/events/london-model-engineering-exhibition
Seems to be getting smaller every year, The people in charge stopped the beer seller from selling his pasties, just so there own cateres could sell there rubbish food, Unbeleivable. I doupt i will go next year.
Seems to be getting smaller every year, The people in charge stopped the beer seller from selling his pasties, just so there own cateres could sell there rubbish food, Unbeleivable. I doupt i will go next year.
Oxford Dave
Senior Member
- Location
- West Oxfordshire
I went to the Ally Pally show last year - never again!
Cycleops
Legendary Member
- Location
- Accra, Ghana
I used to run a model shop when I was in the UK but the owners who were large model distribution company (Ripmax) eventually pulled the plug when it became unviable financially. People were buying direct from China. They are now just online.
Some branches of the hobby seem to be thriving though with model trains doing well. Hattons in Liverpool is now a huge concern and doing well as well as a few others. The technology has advanced hugely.
As for a traditional model shop with racks of balsa and airfix kits it's becoming a thing of the past. Sad.
Some branches of the hobby seem to be thriving though with model trains doing well. Hattons in Liverpool is now a huge concern and doing well as well as a few others. The technology has advanced hugely.
As for a traditional model shop with racks of balsa and airfix kits it's becoming a thing of the past. Sad.
derrick
The Glue that binds us together.
- Location
- On the edge of London
The Red Baron in Enfield went down hill when it got taken over by Ripmax. When John and Brian ran it, was a proper model shop.
Cycleops
Legendary Member
- Location
- Accra, Ghana
Back even then I suspect it would have been struggling, you really can't run a model shop as a one man band and even when Ripmax took it over it couldn't pay despite being backed by all the resources of a big organisation.
I've just remembered, Ripmax still have one shop left, Slough Radio Controlled models.
https://sloughrc.com/
I've just remembered, Ripmax still have one shop left, Slough Radio Controlled models.
https://sloughrc.com/
classic33
Leg End Member
Flight Centre, Crossgates, still did the balsa kits. Modellers World, Halifax, for plastic kits.
Yet to get to F.M.R.'s new home, but if it's anything like the old one it'll be worth it.
derrick
The Glue that binds us together.
- Location
- On the edge of London
It might of helped if they put in someone who new what is was all about.
Oxford Dave
Senior Member
- Location
- West Oxfordshire
We still have Howes Models in Oxford which started off as a bicycle shop something like 80 years ago. It's no longer the shop that it used to be in the city centre where I spent all my pocket money in the 60s, but it is still a model shop, though now on an industrial estate in Kidlington.
Smokin Joe
Legendary Member
- Location
- Bare headed cyclist, Smoker
Very sad indeed, there was something magical about visiting a well stocked shop and browsing the goodies on display. I know you can get it all online now, but there's nothing like seeing the stuff for real.
Model rail has always bucked the trend, with a dedicated band of enthusiasts keeping the hobby alive through even the toughest of times.
derrick
The Glue that binds us together.
- Location
- On the edge of London
Even the old boys and there trains are a dying breed. No young blood coming into the old hobbies.
Reynard
Guru
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK
I remember there used to be a massive model shop in Holborn - used to spend many a Saturday afternoon browsing in there before heading off to Foyles and Sportspages, which was a few stops further along on the bus.
Could never afford any of the cars I wanted back then (model kit / RC / large die cast), as I was a rather skint schoolgirl, and books on motor racing (especially secondhand ones) were a far more attainable goal...
I still have all the books and magazines though.
Edited to say that this was mid-to-late 80s to early 90s... And that the Forbidden Planet wasn't far away from there either. All perfect for a geekette like me.
Could never afford any of the cars I wanted back then (model kit / RC / large die cast), as I was a rather skint schoolgirl, and books on motor racing (especially secondhand ones) were a far more attainable goal...
I still have all the books and magazines though.Edited to say that this was mid-to-late 80s to early 90s... And that the Forbidden Planet wasn't far away from there either. All perfect for a geekette like me.
Last edited:
Remember the days when every high street seemed to have just that kind of shop, happy days.
I use one who has a big Facebook group and does a lot of business online, he still has a proper shop as well though, seven miles up the road from me.
classic33
Leg End Member
Not down the road into Manchester, about an hours walk out, just before the roundabout?Remember the days when every high street seemed to have just that kind of shop, happy days.
I use one who has a big Facebook group and does a lot of business online, he still has a proper shop as well though, seven miles up the road from me.
