cherry268 Posted June 15, 2022 Share Posted June 15, 2022 I have just had a reminder to my self of a local firm and can never remember seeing it on this forum The name is as title and their website is https://www.grandprixmodels.com They do a lot of diecast models but some kits as well I have no connection to them and have never used them so I am not trying to advertise them but I thought it may help people looking for obscure models Be warned you may be tempted to spend a lot!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted June 15, 2022 Share Posted June 15, 2022 They've been going for donkey's years. They used to produce their own 1/43 white metal kits and I've still got a couple in the stash - they've probably been in there for close on 40 years....!! They used to have a huge range of 1/43 kits from many makers, but there's far fewer of them today unfortunately, as you say they mainly stock diecasts and already built resin models now. Keith 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camwader Posted June 15, 2022 Share Posted June 15, 2022 I bought the 1/8th scale Pocher Alfa Romeo that I'm currently trying to finish from them in 1983 when their shop was in Radlett high street. I used to visit their shop in its next location near The Noke in St.Albans, but haven't been to their current premises. I've bought quite a lot of stuff from them online over the years and their service has always been very good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klubman01 Posted June 15, 2022 Share Posted June 15, 2022 GPM have, as Keith says, been going for ages. They are my primary source for the detail parts on my 1/43 models. Trevor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted June 15, 2022 Share Posted June 15, 2022 GPM was (IIRC) started by Brian Harvey, father of BTCC and sometime Group C racer Tim. I've used them since the 1980s and their service is always first-class. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitkent Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 GPM was run by Brian Harvey and his wife,he died last year or the year before. I get their weekly newsletter every Thursday,they used to do a 10 issues a year magazine called Four Small Wheels,which was my bible.It ran from I think 1982? I’ve still got every issue,I can’t remember when it stopped though! Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 31 minutes ago, Kitkent said: I’ve still got every issue,I can’t remember when it stopped though! Me neither, all my paper copies went for recycling a year or two back. Still get the weekly email newsletter but find it sometimes a bit of a depressing read when there are so few new kit releases in it. Not that I don't have enough stuff to build already mind....!! Keith 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klubman01 Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 I agree, there are so few new kits these days but, much like Keith, I have more than enough to keep me occupied for quite some time. The printed FSW magazines were really good for the hints, tips, and build articles by Wayne Moyer. Lots of good stuff in them, and sadly missed. Trevor 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 Agreed: I too miss "Four Square Wheels" as we used to call it There used to be another mag called Pit Road, which was also good for build articles etc. When was the last time you saw a 1/43 resin or white metal build covered in any magazine? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klubman01 Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 I have quite a few issues of Pit Road magazine. Another good source for reference material and "hints and tips". 1/43 does appear to be in the shadows, despite the huge variety of kits there were manufactured. A number of the smaller companies (and some of the larger ones) have dropped by the wayside, sad to say. Trevor 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 Those were really good days when Brian Harvey ran GPM and there were an endless stream of 1/43 kits released all the time and FSW arrived regulary in the (real) mailbox with the ever so important news list insterted as a separate copy. There were more weeks in the year that saw a Familiar Brown Box in one available sizes (depending of how many kits it contained) arrive, than there were weeks without an FBB. Happy days indeed! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel Smith Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 If anybody has a complete set of 'On Four Wheels' there is a museum in Sandy Utah USA named the Model Car Builders Museum. They are building an archive of model car publications and would probably be grateful for a set of OFW newsletters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 The other 'bookazine' (I suppose it would be called now) that I got, I think from GPM, was Auto Modellisime (sp?) who did annual specials on that years Le Mans and WRC cars (there may have been others but those were the two that interested me). They had one page spreads of all the cars competing that particular year and I seem to recall that there would be 1/43 models of all (?) the cars produced, with GPM announcing their arrival when released. Don't know if those publications are still going? Keith 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo NZ Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 On 16/06/2022 at 03:44, Sabrejet said: GPM was (IIRC) started by Brian Harvey, father of BTCC and sometime Group C racer Tim. I've used them since the 1980s and their service is always first-class. Brian was actually Tim's uncle. The Shop is currently run by his daughter Justina and her partner Andre. I worked "with" GPM (Saturday boy, builder and FSW sub-editor) for about 15 years. Lots of fun, especially Saturdays (and a break from the insanity of my day job). One memory that sticks in the mind was a Christmas opening when four Ferraris turned up (including Nick Masons GTO) and the police moved them on from the dotted yellow line outside the Radlett shop. They all managed to squeeze onto the pavement outside the synagogue that was opposite the shop. Imagine four V12s reversing up a kerb at the same time... One of the customers, I'm not sure where he'd been hiding when this was going on, was looking at the 1/24 Western Models GTO and asked me if I thought that the bodyshape was correct. I suggested that he compare it to a real one. "Where am I going to find a real one? that ridiculous!" he said. "There's one over the road"... The shop was full and the windows well steamed up - he went over the the window and wiped a hole in the condensation. I think that I heard his jaw hit the floor... 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 It's been great to read these recollections and they brought back some wonderful memories. My first 1/43 kits came from a shop on the south coast (any ideas anyone?) and I used to await the latest resin marvel (usually Provence Moulage) with eager anticipation. Until latter years on Britmodeller I'd never really met anyone else who made these kits, so it's been interesting to read that we have a shared, isolated nostalgia for those golden years. However all is not lost: we have some truly awesome kits coming (sporadically) from MFH, and thankfully Marsh Models and SMTS are still in full swing. I'd rather hoped that BBR would chime in with a few kits of the models they do, but maybe one day? I also wonder if Spark might do the same? Having read the Le Mans Miniatures book, I was surprised to discover that the smaller manufacturers had contributed to the Spark catalogue, so it can't be that difficult surely? Anyway I'm now off to the garage (while the temperature is slightly less than boiling point) to find all my old FSW, Pit Road and anything else... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klubman01 Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 9 hours ago, keefr22 said: The other 'bookazine' (I suppose it would be called now) that I got, I think from GPM, was Auto Modellisime (sp?) who did annual specials on that years Le Mans and WRC cars (there may have been others but those were the two that interested me). They had one page spreads of all the cars competing that particular year and I seem to recall that there would be 1/43 models of all (?) the cars produced, with GPM announcing their arrival when released. Don't know if those publications are still going? Keith Yes, it's still being published. I get the Le Mans special each year from GPM. Trevor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windy37 Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 Like @Sabrejet I'm enjoying all the memories of Grand Prix Models . Mine come from the pages of Autosport magazine I used to subscribe to from the mid 80s to the end of the 90s . Every now and again they had a model kit review page , not of the Tamiya or Hasegawa products I got from my local model shop , but these amazingly detailed 1:43 scale kits , usually of Le Man's cars . They were nearly always mentioned as being available from GPM , which to me seemed an amazing model shop. I nearly even subscribed to the Four Small Wheels magazine ! I used to attend lots of BTCC races back then and hoped to come across some of these miniature marvels on merchandise stalls , but never did . The nearest I got were the 1:43 die cast cars , similar to what I occasionally buy now . Great memories Gary 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 2 hours ago, Sabrejet said: I'd rather hoped that BBR would chime in with a few kits of the models they do, They do show a limited range of kits on their website, remarkably inexpensive for 1/43rds these days too - but I have no idea what the postage may be on them these days, nothing really grabbed my interest enough to check. https://www.bbrmodelstore.com/English/category-KIT-SCALE-1/43.aspx Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitkent Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 BBR haven’t made kits for a long time, those are all old stock,it’s a bit of a shame. I have quite a few of their kits, I think the newest one is from Le Mans 2005. I went to Radlett a few times on a Saturday when I was supposed to be doing overtime at work! Apparently SMTS will be winding down now, I read this on the Model Auto Review website,which was also a printed magazine that I had to buy! I worked at St. Martins accessories in London on Saturdays when I had no overtime on that day. But I’m still making the kits! chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamiec360 Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 I used them for the first time a few weeks ago and they were great. While the range of 1/24 isn't huge it is good, I managed to get the K3 Porsche 935 along with the detail set and the apple computer decals. Picked up aome other renaissance bits as well. Next time might try them for som Komakai books rather than have them sent from Spotmodel in Spain. Long may they continue! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitkent Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 That’s good! I think they’ve been going since about 1973? In a few different places though. Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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