Category: Hobby Shops
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Aaaaand There It Is…

The error. The mistake. The blunder. The failure. Every build has one, and some builds have many. And there are a variety of them: a. The bad kit. Some kits are bad. Badly designed, badly moulded, badly boxed and badly shipped. In this case you are being beaten up by the manufacturere and the only…
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Martin Maryland – Part One – Circling The Shelf

You know that thing – when you visit a hobby shop on a number of occasions and pass the same model on the shelf each time. And you look at it and heft it and put it back for some reason. Then one day you run out of reasons… This kit of a Maryland is…
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The Joy Of Cheap Modelling

I often write paeans to frugality, now that I’m retired. No big stream of money coming in means you must cut your coat according to cheaper cloth – and use smaller bolts of it. Fortunately I am skinny so a little covers a lot. The plastic model hobby is also a field for care. I…
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Christmas Etiquette For Scale Modellers

A valuable guide to the holidays to ensure that you have the right spirit and none of it spills on the tablecloth. a. If you are given a model, it is The Right Model. You may have built eight ME 109’s already and the kit that you have received is an Airfix Me 109… You…
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Covid Painting

The year-long Covid pandemic has been so tragic for so many that it seems nearly a sacrilege to mention it in connection with a hobby – but it has led to a drought in the paint aisles of many hobby shops. Oh, there’s paint still, as not all the makers have ceased sending out their…
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When To Close The Doors Of The Hobby Shop

A. Never. Hobbies can occupy 25 hours per day and enthusiasts need things ASAP. This means selling paint at 3:00AM. Use cheap staff and chain them to the till. b. At the end of the day. 5:00 is the accepted end of the day unless you want to go to 6:00 in case there might…
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Every Shop’s A Hobby Shop

And so are a good many unattended rubbish piles as well…wherever a modeller casts an eye there are modelling materials in abundance. Unless you work exclusively in Argyle diamonds and platinum bars, you can find what you need frugally. Note: This does not apply to modelling fairs or specialty shops. The price of the aftermarket…
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Don’t Tell Anyone…

In my other three weblog columns I used the lockdown earlier in the year to write about the business of social distancing, working from home, getting supplies, and being brave and stouthearted. I didn’t give it a tinkle here in the Little World – and it wasn’t until I watched the Flory Vlog that I…
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I like Being An Escaped Idiot

It lowers people’s expectations and allows me to wear comfortable clothes. No-one asks me to pay for the next round of drinks and I can say pretty nearly anything I like. Occasionally the canvas waistcoat chafes at the back, but. I am a little dismayed when it overlaps into my hobby time – when folly…
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The Kiss Of Death

If you would like to destroy a commercial firm – to lay waste to its factories and plunge its former employees into miserable poverty, you must follow this simple procedure: Buy one of the products that they make. Try it and find that it is excellent. Become proficient in its use. Expect that you’ll be…
