Interesting Hobby shop Story.

Balride,
you dont paint during a sand storm. LOL. Luckily, we are in fixed building now and the dust is not as bad. A little tack cloth before you paint is the key here, and keeping everything sealed up. A lot of the little habbits that I had back home are gone now. I cap paint and thinner immediately after I use it. My brushes now stay in one of those disposable gladware boxes. My airbrush stays in a ziplock bag till its needed and my compressor stays in a plastic bag as well. AHHH the ability of the modeler to overcome and adapt is truly one of natures most remarkable things. (In my best Marty Stauford immitation) As of right now Im building an armor display for our headquarters office, and to be honest with you this is some of my absolute best work. Ill be sending pics into FSM when Im done. Im quite excited about it. Thanks to all of you guys and your tips and ideas!!

Hey armydogdoc, how do you deal with the dust in painting your models out there? I have heard of quite a few of you guys out there modeling and this is something I have always wondered about. I live in central Texas and the dust here is a pain. Sometimes I think the guys that build for magazines have clean rooms in their houses. Keep up the diligence. Thanks, blabride.

I'm not made of money ... but, I dont' get upset about the cost of my hobby ... shoot ... all I have to do is talk to some of my golfing friends about what it costs them a month to chase that little white ball with a club ... and I can enjoy my hobby rain or shine, warmth or cold ... see ... this hobby is cheap compared to some ...

QUOTE: Originally posted by warlock0322 I was looking for a PE set for an aircraft and found it online for say $22.95 and shipping and handling was about 4.36 for a total of 27.31 ...He tells me $22.95. the cost of the set. Now I am all for saving money and all, but to me he went above and beyond what he really had to do. So I give him $25.00 just because of the trouble he went through to do it and told him to keep the differance and had to argue with him about keeping it. Paul

It's always nice to have a shop nearby who'll special order for you.
You should understand a bit more about how both the mail order and LHS do business.
Both are geared to sell at retail, say $22.95, to make a reasonable profit based on what they pay the distributor (40-50% of the retail price) When you order from mail order/online, they have the additional expense of packing and postage, the LHS doesn't. When you special order from the LHS, his only additional work is adding something to his order and holding it for you. He is likely not paying postage from the distributor since he does business with them regularly and that cost is built into their price. Since it's a guaranteed sale, he doesn't have to worry about loss (the item getting ripped off) or not being abel to sell it. He can also bet on you wanting to buy some extras that you'll se in the store while you're picking up your special order as well. In short, a special order is a win-win for you and the LHS.

Right on blabride. I didnt realize how lucky I was, or how nice it is to have a hobby shop to go to and pick up what you want right off of the shelf, pay for it and have it the same day. What a GIANT luxury. Currently I am in the middle east as part of operation iraqi freedom. My MOS is medical, and I have a comparativly nice place that I can go to and model. My NCOIC is very understanding in this and knows that I need this to recharge from some very depressing days here. However, hobby shops are as plentiful as pork products here. I mail order everything in here, kits, paint, thinner, glue, you name it. I soooooooo miss the ability to walk into my LHS and get what I want that day. Long live the corner hobby shop back home and I have no problem spending the little extra money to have what I need right then, Putting a project on hold for a month while you wait on something in the mail is hard to do. At this point in the game however, I think that I am in front of the curve and have gotten the logistics in place. I am buying a month in advance now, and am generaly finishing a project just as the new one is arriving. But for a while there I sure would have loved to be able to walk into my home town shop for some airbrush thinner and a few nice paint brushes!!!

Sorry if I bored you all to tears. LOL

Outstanding! Good job Paul. This is something we all need to do. Now I will say I have been Hobby Shop's that did not desrve my business but that is true of any type of place. But if you read the thread on Phil's Hobbies placed last week you know we are losing a lot of great places filled with hard working types that will give you great service to get you what you need if you give them a try. I will happily give 10 to 20% more if I can have a place to go and get advice on the right way or the right stuff. Plus its more fun to have a place to look and see.

I can see how you had to refrain from laughing. I was chuckling as I read it myself.

Although as I read it I thought about the LHS here where I live. Now I don't have a Hobbylobby or anything like that anywhere close to me. The closest hobby shop like that is an hour away, but after hearing that story I think I got something better just two minutes up the road.

Where I live there is a little hole in the wall Hobby shop that is run by one of the nicest guys I know. I read about the so called "Experts" those referred to in the previous posts. This guy is by no means a know it all but can be considered a real expert.

He can answer any question you may have about any subject from modelling to RC and so on. I and others have asked some real off the wall questions about kits and such and if he didn't know without batting an eye he'll pick up the phone and call the company or whoever to get you an answer.

Let me bore you with an examples of what this guy does.
I was looking for a PE set for an aircraft and found it online for say $22.95 and shipping and handling was about 4.36 for a total of 27.31 So I decided to see what he was charging or would charge if he had to order it. I inqured about it to him and he looked to see if his distributers had it or carried it. After looking he said they didn't, but there was on thing he could try. So he hard punched it in and told me to check back in about a week because he recieves his shipments only on certain days and it would be a week before the next shipment came in. If it worked it would be in that shipment.

So I check back in a week and there sits the PE set. I ask him how much I owe him figuring it would be about the same or more than what I had told him what I had found. He tells me $22.95. the cost of the set.

Now I am all for saving money and all, but to me he went above and beyond what he really had to do. So I give him $25.00 just because of the trouble he went through to do it and told him to keep the differance and had to argue with him about keeping it.

Now if there is something a want/need I'll look it up on the net get a total price with shipping and handling ( cause you gonna have to pay that anyway). Go to him. If he can match, beat it or come within say $5 of the total price. I'll get it from him.

I figure he may have a small shop without all the bells and whistels of the larger guys, but if that $5 extra I spend keeps him open. I chalk that $5 up to the service he brings his customers.

So not meaning to hijack the thread. To me the real question is. Is it a store that has all the bells and whistels that make a hobbyshop a hobbyshop or is it the guy/gals behind the counter ?

Thanks for listening and sorry if I bored you to tears with this.

Paul

Ive noticed that model kit prices at my neighborhood HobbyTown are higher than the Hobby shop I have been shopping at for 25 years. I think one reason is the LHS owner buys kits from auctions and from collectors and can afford to sell them cheaper. I for one love the savings!

Regards, Dan

I watch and see if the price goes down. I don't know why I had quotes around expert. He really is. I think i heard him say he had won at mastercon a few years back.

I do agree Zokissima, some of the kits are way to expensive but I think what Foster said pretty much explains it.

He, he, he,

There is one thing in your story that's right one the money (so to speak). Generally, the prices on some of the higher priced kits do come down after a few months.

The MSRP on the first fun NX-01 Enterprise was $65.00. You can now pick them up easily for $50.00 when not on sale.

The original price on the DML Karl Morser was $85.00 and it's now available for $55.00.

I think that many of the bigger kits coming out these days are way overpriced by the manufacturers on their first runs in order to cover their losses if the kits don't sell very well. If the kits are good, and need further runs to meet demand, the prices will generally come down.

Enjoy your modeling...

That's funny, bargaining for a model. If the kit's too expensive, save for it, that's my thought. Or use your wife's credit card...just kidding!

i'd just like to walk into an LHS here where either the owner or an attendant knew anything about the modelling hobby.......not just the price of a kit......

Pretty funny, but I can understand the guy's frustration. Prices of some kits today really are extremely high. The thing is, I don't see kits really falling in prices. Quite the opposite, if anything.

John,

I went to a newly opened Hobbylobby in the area and the "Expert" was only good at stocking shelves (I guess). He didn't know anything about modeling. Sad to say that newbees that want to get into modeling will have to deal with unknowns. It is not at all good for our hobby.

Richard

John, some people will do anything for a bargain.

From what you've written I would have a difficult time keeping a straight face.

Let us know if it does go down to $75!!!!

Karl