model shops

I,ve got 3 by me all within 7miles and all 3 are crapppppppppppppppp

frist main one is mostly trains or R/C with a few plastic kits, n the cars are mostly modern race cars
second one is mostly scaleletic(how ever its splet ..lol) with the odd modern steert car most beetle or the new mini
thrid n final shop is almost all R/C airoplanes with the odd one plastic kit

none stock kestel clear, or any modelers t-cut n polish, no customizing parts either in any off them

if anyone knows some good mail order sites that do lots of stuff pls let me know as i,m reduced to buying second hand kits from ebay that todate have had parts missing

http://www.modelsinmotion.co.uk/ is one i always metion for UK mail order as these guy's are one of the main distributers i believe!

Yep your right, the UK is pretty naff for model shops. Im quite lucky as my local one is ok and there is one not too far away in Stoke which has a good selection. I also venture out into the West Midlands often - as love draws me out that way! - and there are one or two good ones scattered about there. The best ive been to is the one in Manchester which i used to go to alot when i lived there, they have a great selection of stuff.

http://www.grandprixmodels.co.uk/

They seem quite popular, and have an online database that can be searched.

I agree with fly on Manchester, although I have 4 others within a 10 minute drive (all 5 are, in fact).

The closest is in Farnworth, but this concentrates mainly on R/C (has few plastic kits in stock; nothing new though), so I tend not to visit this one (even for my R/C stuff).

Next is Radcliffe Model Shop, which seems split 50/50 R/C Plastic.

Then there's Bolton Model Mart (who've been through a boom since I started *buying. They've just bought another shop closer to the town centre). They stock pretty much the same stuff as the one in Radcliffe; although, being closer to the town centre, they are a bit more expensive, and stock newer kits.

There's another one in Bolton, but it's one of those chainstore art/crafts/hobby type stores that stocks lots of Airfix kits, and very few (very expensive) Tamiya kits. Oddly, this was the first place to stock the 2000 Ferrari F1 kit out of those I've listed, but they seldom seem to get new kit in. (never seem to sell the ones they've got, either).

Lastly, there's Manchester. They have two floors. One is R/C, the other plastic; Probably the best of the bunch.

Only the town shops stock Tamiya paints though, which is a bind.

Since Beatties went down the pan, there's not as much choice. I remember buying 3 of Tamiya's latest models from the Leeds store 2 weeks before it closed for £8 each!

I tend to travel around the Northwest with my work, so I can usually find a model shop when I need one.

*note - buying, not building!

Regards
Mark

Oh yeah i forgot about beatties, they were great! They had a great store in birmingham i used to go to alot and they had a pile of tamiya kits. A couple of years ago i picked up some great stuff from there in their sale check this; Alfa GTV £7, Volvo 850 estate £9, Renault R5 £6, Ferrari T3 £3...yes...£3!!! and a double pack with the Zakspeed Capri and Piummi Sierra for £10. God i loved that shop! ...

RIP Beatties
:(

Dunno what happened to their Blackpool shop - I know it was one of the last in the NorthWest to close.

It reopened not long after under another name, and looks almost identical - everything's in the same place that it was before they handed it over.

I liked Beatties, I just got into visiting them a little too late.

...But then, I'm the sort of person who catches a programme on TV and thinks "Yeah, that was great, I'll watch that again" only to find it was the last in the series...

Regards
Mark

hopes to find a good mail order site that does most makes usa n others

as i love usa pre 70's cars