Any Model shops in Kent you would recomend

[Paul-H]

Hi Guys

Has anyone got any recomendations for any good model shops in kent

Apart from Model Zone or Modelers world that is as I have both of them quite close to me, both are quite good but its getting a little boring with their limited range.

Thanks

Paul

[fraxinus]

Hi Paul

Since Beany's went in Sittingbourne the more esoteric Kits (classic airframes.MPM,Sword etc) are not available I tend to go to Dorking Models in Surrey ( to cheer up the owner....which is actually largly impossible but he has owned this gem of a shop for 40 years & he is an amazing scratchbuilder of warships & railway guns great shop!)or order on the internet or wait for a show (Biggin Hill picked up xtrakit supermarine swift for example).

For Airfix, Revell, Italeri, Dragon, Occasional Trumpeter tend to go to the model shop in Notcuts garden centre at Maidstone J? just off the M20 (modelworld??)or Modelzone in the Chequers Centre (I work in Maidstone...someone has too!).

I however prefer to patronise the independants ;Ramsgate Models when he's got some stock in does sometimes carry a more varied range, Whitstable models carries standard stuff & sometimes ICM, Smer, Hat, Russian makes. Not a huge amount as mostly trains. Faversham is mostly Trains, Manklows Seal Road Sevenoaks is the weirdest model shop very 70's it carries a varied range of kits (including Dragon, Hobbycraft,Smer, Roden,academy) & sometimes secondhand (have picked up Frog & old Matchbox/revell boxings there this year), also Fishing gear (so buy your plastic kit whilst the smell of Maggots hangs in the air!), warhammer & radio control cars

Since Hythe models went there is nothing now on the Romney Marsh, Turners of Dover looks a bit on its last legs few kits, Ashford has a mostly radio controlled aircraft/cars model shop in its garden centre on the A28, Tunbridge Wells has the Aviation Bookshop well worth a visit & have picked up a few bargain old kits for sale tucked away in the back room, there is also a model shop with the standard kit ranges in the town but havn't been there for some time. Canterbury has an Aitfix only stall in the 'indoor market' shop down the high street.

Manston History Museum (the one with the meteor opposite the Hurri & Spit Museum)does carry a few kits latest Airfix/Revell/Academy mostly

I think that summarises most of kent, there are I think quite a few Kent based modellers on this Forum & model shops occasionally get discussed.....andl Kent is the Home of Airfix ......now must visit the new Hornby visitor centre !! ......

[alanmac]

Hi

Historex Agents is in Kent, Dover in fact. One of the biggest agents for figures, books and PE in the country.

http://www.historexagents.com/shop/hxshop.php

You'll find their address on the web site.

Alan

Edited July 2, 2010 by alanmac

[sanguin]

Hi

Historex Agents is in Kent, Dover in fact. One of the biggest agents for figures, books and PE in the country.

http://www.historexagents.com/shop/hxshop.php

You'll find their address on the web site.

Alan

There is one 'local' bonus with Historex.

If you look up stuff on the Historex site and then phone them, you can arrange to go to their warehouse on Dover sea front and collect the goods in person; you have to ring the bell, say who you are and when you called them and they let you in to climb the stairs and get served. Depending on what you want it can save a lot of postage and as a bonus you can spot lorries/buses/ferries/exotic cars and the rather interesting range of people that you can find only in Dover. Oh, if you find a decent pub in the town please let me know where it is.....

The Hobby Shop in Faversham actually stocks quite a range of kits, http://www.hobb-e-mail.com/ is their site and they also have Humbrol/Tamiya and Alclad paints. They do mail order, too and the prices are very competitive. I am but a happy customer.

The demise of Beaneys was tragic, it was the best model shop in East Kent. Interestingly, the superb Hythe shop that closed had previously inspired inspired the owners of the Faversham shop to open up many years ago and now the son runs it as his father has retired. The magnificent Sevenoaks shop sounds a bit like a wonderful place that existed towards Bromley Common about forty years ago, a store to find all manner of quirky kits and odd boxes. Turners used to be quite a useful shop but I haven't been there for a good few years, the two shops I recall from Thanet are long gone and a place the size of Canterbury has virtually nothing, primarily because of colossal business rents and rates (so shopkeepers assure me).

So, like most of us, I use mail order and the internet for many purchases. The downside of that is the lack of chat and banter; good model shops are places to chat as well as buy, There is a fishing tackle shop near me that always has at least four gents, with cups of tea, debating life, the universe and nearly everything. I wander in to buy my lead wire/holographic sheets/fine line and a three minute transaction takes at least thirty if you want it to. That is what Beaneys used to be like and that is what every hobby shop should try and achieve. That is what on line and telephone shopping lacks, although I must say that speaking to a real person is always better, and I am usually pleasantly surprised that the idea of customer care is alive and well in model shops. Real shops stock things that you may not want, but buy because they are an interesting variation on your interests or represent something totally different to the norm. You see the box, ask another modeller if it is any good, a third person chips in and wham! you have just bought a 1/35th Velociraptor instead of the two tins of paint and a Revell Walrus to be finished in Swedish markings that you had planned to purchase. That is how life goes, thankfully. From amphibian to dinosaur. So you go home and build a stealth velociraptor with six shades of airbrushed grey and someone says it should actually be olive green, sand and sky....

That is model making.

If you find a good shop, enjoy it and let others know, please.

John

[Baz962]

TJD Models, 83 Main Road, Sutton-at-Hone, Dartford - Mainly R/C Aircraft, Cars , Boats etc, but has plenty of Tamiya, Revell, Airfix and a few others if I recall. ModelWorld at Maidstone, as previous poster alluded to, has fair few kits too.

[Paul-H]

Thanks for the replies guys

I have also found that Modelzone in Maidstone also stocks Vallejo Model Paints and its the only one of the 3 in ther area to do so.

Paul

[vonmarkenhausen]

A bit late in the day? www.KitKrazy.com in bexleyheath near dartford.

[Graham T]

For Airfix, Revell, Italeri, Dragon, Occasional Trumpeter tend to go to the model shop in Notcuts garden centre at Maidstone J? just off the M20 (modelworld??)or Modelzone in the Chequers Centre (I work in Maidstone...someone has too!).

My office is in Maidstone (Turkey Mill) & although I only go down there every couple of weeks, I've often passed the sign & wondered whether it was worth a visit. May well do do next week!

Edited November 12, 2010 by Graham T

[fraxinus]

My office is in Maidstone (Turkey Mill) & although I only go down there every couple of weeks, I've often passed the sign & wondered whether it was worth a visit. May well do do next week!

I work 'above it' no hope may as well have wages directly paid into Modelzone!!....always pop in to have alook when i'm in wednesdays and thursdays, even if I dont buy anything as I like supporting the small independants, like Ramsgate & east kent models and now Mutleys models in Canterbury, few tank kits yet though, only a few Airfix (carries valiant minitaures figures ) Turkey Mill is avery nice environment most envious!!

[AnonymousAA72]

Maidstone isn't too bad for model shops.....Modelzone is quite good, plenty of Airfix and Revell, tools and paints. Hobbycraft has a great range of stuff that until you actually see it - you wouldn't realise you needed it!! As for the Model shop in Notcutts Garden Centre, its not as good as it once was - sadly. OK for flying models/RC and trains.......but not that much in the way of kits.

[Stormbringer]

I tend to use Ramsgate Models when I'm down that way (parents live just outside Dover), he has a fair range of kits etc. As someone else has said Turners don't seem to have much in the way of kits and I've given op on Modelworld at Maidstone mainly due to the attitude of some staff members. Hobbycraft at Westwood have a reasonable range and do some good offers at times, I picked up both Tamiya Pz II kits and the Tamiya Hetzer for under £50 earlier this year.

Pete

[Jon Fitzgerald]

There used to be a nice model shop near my parents home in Eltham. Suprisingly it was called Eltham Models! Went through a few different owners and sadly closed down a few years back.

The art Shop Booers in Eltham was also good for art supplies and airbrushes, that too closed down recently... EM is now a Tanning shop and Booers became a tacky discount wood furniture place.