USS California BB44

Never received any answer !!!!!!!!!!

Brandon was the best. He was great with customer service.

Doesn't Freetime Hobbies answer their "contact" email ??

Thanks for the info. I've sent a request to Freetime .but still waiting for a reply.

Thanks, order going out tomorrow after my disability check reactivates.

ikar01

Is freetime still useable?... 

If you mean, is Freetime still in business, yes, it is.  Website is still the same.  Just the physical location has moved.

Is freetime still useable?  I have some things that I might need to get from them but now I'm not sure.

I have the Wolverine, it's a nive kit with PE but I'm not sure if I'm going to get to it.  Shame they don't make one in 350th scale. You should see the ship they used for the conversion, a great lakes cruise ship.

the Baron

 That's interesting, Ed!  I didn't know Freetime was sold/moved to North Carolina.  I've bought kits from Freetime but it's been a while.  That shows how little attention I paid.

Yes, Brandon Lowe got out of the hobby business to start a motorcycle/dirt bike business.  The Freetime name, website, stock and other assets were sold and packed up for the move.   His dad, Russ, was more of a silent partner who tended toward the railroad & die cast genres.

The Lowes bought the assets of Pacific Front Hobbies of California (from Bill Gruner - no relation) and folded it into an online and store-front hobby operation in North Georgia.   PacFront was an early importer of resin and hard to source ship kits from the Orient.  For a long time PacFront was a separate webpage under Freetime.

More incest

EdGrune

...Blue Ridge was the manufacturing arm of Freetime Hobbies in Blue Ridge, GA.  When Freetime GA sold out to Freetime NC... 

That's interesting, Ed!  I didn't know Freetime was sold/moved to North Carolina.  I've bought kits from Freetime but it's been a while.  That shows how little attention I paid.

I didn't know Blue Ridge was their subsidiary, either.  I have their kit of the Wolverine in my wish list.

I recommend them, generally.  I've always gotten good service from Freetime.

MB (Mike Bishop) Models begat Blue Water Navy (BWN).   Some MB Models were also released by Accurate Image (later Iron Shipwright)

BWN begat Yankee Modelworks (YMW) under Chris Decker who is now Squadron 3.0

Yankee Modelworks begat Blue Ridge Models under Brandon & Russ Lowe

Blue Ridge was the manufacturing arm of Freetime Hobbies in Blue Ridge, GA.  When Freetime GA sold out to Freetime NC Blue Ridge was not part of the total sale, but I would suggest that you contact Freetime and see if they have something in their back room.   I know that they sold off a lot of YMW branded decals & white metal items after the sale.  

The resin ship business is incestuous