# Good place to buy models online?



## Jodet (May 25, 2008)

I buy all my SF kits at Cultman. But for airplanes, etc, any place you recommend? 

I only have one LHS (other than Hobby Lobby which has a pathetic selection). 

Thanks for any suggestions. 

I'm looking for a Hindenburg kit.


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## Aurora 484 (Mar 8, 2017)

Ask your LHS to order the kit for you...


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## Proper2 (Dec 8, 2010)

eBay. Or just google the kit you want and see what comes up.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Everything you'll ever need is at:
www.squadron.com
www.megahobby.com
www.hlj.com


Other good scifi sources: 
www.starshipmodeler.biz
www.federationmodels.com


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## Jimmy B. (Jul 21, 2016)

Megahobby and CTV man are usually my first stops as well, but I also hit paydirt on some obscure kits from the Burbank House of Hobbies:

Burbank's House of Hobbies: Your Online Neighborhood Hobby Shop

In fact I was browsing thier website and its there that I first became aware of Moebius and the Jekyll and Hyde re-release


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## Jimmy B. (Jul 21, 2016)

Megahobby and CTV man are usually my first stops as well, but I also hit paydirt on some obscure kits from the Burbank House of Hobbies:

Burbank's House of Hobbies: Your Online Neighborhood Hobby Shop

In fact I was browsing thier website and its there that I first became aware of Moebius and the Jekyll and Hyde re-release (this being many moons ago)


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## mhvink (Aug 24, 2010)

Another excellent website is Roll Models for Plastic Models and all Related Items!

Mike


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

I order a lot online because I have limited local shop access and a lot of interests. Where you buy from also probably depends on what you want.

I have no problem with Mega Hobby www.megahobby.com and they are constantly adding new products. They also offer a discount for Hobbytalk members (see pinned posts on this forum). But, honestly, sometimes they may not have an item or not the best price. So, it pays to shop around.

Squadron is good but I find now their selection is not what it used to be or could be. Scale Model Cars Airplanes Ships Military Aircraft & Tanks At Squadron. and they have high(er) shipping rates. If you haggle they do have a price matching option and they do honor legitimate competitors prices (from stores not ebay or private sellers). I used to buy from them once a month but now its like once every two years. I can get more for cheaper from other places.

Free Time Hobbies has replaced Squadron for me. Again they get more and more stuff all the time, have fair shipping, fast service (I live one state away) and when they have a sale its a real sale, not a 2% discount on something jacked up 10%. www.freetimehobbies

Tower Hobbies Tower Hobbies - Best Source for Radio Remote Control (R/C or RC) Cars, Trucks, Airplanes, Boats and Helicopters is good for a lot of mainstream stuff, paints and supplies. Plus they often run cheap $2 shipping deals and have a lot of email discount codes and email coupon dollars for regular customers. They have great customer service too. In one case they sent the wrong item. When I contacted them, they apologized, had the correct kit on its way to me by the end of the phone call, and told me just to keep the incorrect kit (a $30 value) and enjoy it. 

Lucky Model from Hong Kong is good LuckyModel.com - Finest Plastic Model Kits and Accessories just make sure items are IN STOCK when you order or set your order preferences not to put items on back order. Otherwise you may have to wait a while for an item to come back in stock. Lucky is good for a lot of Asian kits, paints etc. Postage from Hong Kong has increased a lot in recent years though, so the money you save is somewhat offset by higher shipping. If you aren't in a hurry, order big and then use surface mail. It takes a month or two but you save a lot on big orders. Lucky offers free shipping on accessories too like decals, phot-etch etc. Lucky can be unresponsive to emails unless you are logged in and send them a message via their internal messaging system. I buy a lot from Lucky...

Hobby Link Japan is another good outfit. Home Page | HobbyLink Japan They have a lot of hard(er) to find stuff. Shipping from Japan can be more than from Hong Kong.

Hobby Search is another Japanese outfit HobbySearch PVC Anime Figures Store with a vast selection of Anime and sci fi stuff as well as military kits, figures, etc. A nice thing with Hobby Search is that they have a lot of kit instructions online as well as pictures of the kit contents. VERY good to deal with. I prefer Hobby Search to HLJ and I think they are cheaper and faster.

Hobby Easy is a good Hong Kong based shop Welcome to HobbyEasy.com with a very broad selection of items. Again, they offer very good service and customer service.

I buy a lot of Ukrainian and Russian made kits and hobby items from Hobby Terra in Ukraine. Plastic model kits & Scale model kits | HobbyTerra.com They are very reliable and offer good customer service. Hobby Terra is also thoughtful about postage costs and in some cases they will send your kits with the boxes unassembled (I think they get kits straight from the manufacturers) so you get all the sprues bundled up safely in bags, and the flat boxes, all packed in one smaller mailing box than if you had to put half a dozen complete boxes in the package.

Sprue Brothers Sprue Brothers Models has a hit or miss selection. It seems a lot of items are always sold out. Their prices are okay but you can usually save a lot on some items buying from Hobby Easy or Hobby Search, even with overseas postage. Fine Molds armor kits in particular that were in the $80-$90 range from Sprue Brothers can be had from Asia for $35 and $15 postage. They also would not exchange a defective kit I got from them (wrong sprues in shrink wrapped box). I do buy from them but they are ot a go to source unless I can't find the items anywhere else.

Someone else mentioned Roll Models Roll Models for Plastic Models and all Related Items! I have to say I CAN NOT recommend them. They suck. To be fair I wouldn't call them a rip off outfit and they are honest sellers, but they seem NOT to carry a lot IN STOCK. Basically you order an item from Roll and they order it for you... and that can take weeks and weeks. Any other web site would say not in stock or unavailable. Roll lets you order it and then you wait and wait and wait and wait while they try to find it for you. I guess that is how they keep costs down, but I would rather pay more and get what I need in a week or ten days and not a month. Plus if you order 20 items and they have 18, they hold your 18 items while they waste a month finding those 2 items... AVOID AT ALL COSTS. Sad thing is Roll used to be Battle Hobbies and they were GREAT. Now, unless you want to wait forever, you are better off ordering from pretty much any place else.

I order less from (Western) Europe - usually the dollar value and/or postage costs are prohibitive. Hannants in the UK is very good, though. I've bought assorted odds and ends from various UK and German shops. Azimut in France sucks if they are out of stock on an item. They charge you right away even if its a discontinued item and they do not respond to emails regarding why it has taken 9 months to get an order. For in stock items they are ok but be careful. Track 48 and Quarter Kit (one in Canada and one in France) are good for 1/48 military kits.

In the US there are a lot of smaller local or regional shops with good deals. Mark Twain Hobby Center, who sell on eBay are reliable.


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## Jodet (May 25, 2008)

Aurora 484 said:


> Ask your LHS to order the kit for you...


Good thought that, I asked and they said they couldn't get it. 

I ended up ordering the Revell Hindenburg from a Japanese company off Amazon. 

Anyone know where I can get some swastika's for this kit? Maybe I'll just make a template and airbrush them on.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

The Revell Hindenburg has been out of production for a while so no, a local shop can
't order one and you would have to find one sitting around somewhere. eBay is good for kits like that. 

Many companies make swastika decal sheets for model aircraft. The Revell kit is pretty small so probably 1/72 fighter decals would be close. 1/48 or 1/32 would be much too large. You will need four all black ones, which are a little harder to find than the normal black outlined in white, or black or white stencil type swastikas. I know Hannants has a lot of decal sheets and they would be a good place to start. Decals are not cheap any more so you may have to drop $20 for a sheet (that used to cost $6).


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## harpooner54 (Sep 15, 2008)

The Archer company has dry transfer swastikas- they are listed as air recognition devices.

AR72197B

-David


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Squadron and Megahobby for waterslide swastikas. Squadron in particular has tons of aftermarket decals. Swastika-only sheets have been available for decades.

Scale Model Cars & Airplanes - Military Aircraft Ships & Tanks At Squadron.

https://www.megahobby.com/search.php?search={q=swastika}


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## Jodet (May 25, 2008)

John P said:


> Squadron and Megahobby for waterslide swastikas. Squadron in particular has tons of aftermarket decals. Swastika-only sheets have been available for decades.
> 
> Scale Model Cars & Airplanes - Military Aircraft Ships & Tanks At Squadron.
> 
> https://www.megahobby.com/search.php?search={q=swastika}


Thanks John, that's very helpful.


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## MEGA1 (Jul 18, 2000)

I would recommend MegaHobby.com, they're obviously the best! Totally unbiased opinion here right???

Seriously though, I welcome you to try us out if you haven't before. All orders ship within 24 hours, if you order by 12:00 PM EST it ships out same day. We have great customer service, we answer the phone (no voiceover) and respond to emails multiple times per day. Free shipping on US orders over $100, coupon code "hobbytalk" for $5 off an order of $50 or more, and of course our loyalty program where you earn rewards points and redeem them for coupons or store credit,

If you have any questions about our website, feel free to reach out to me!

Alan
http://www.megahobby.com


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## diecastcollector2004 (9 mo ago)

In terms of high quality models (amalgam, autoart, top marques, cmc etc..), I recommend https://model-universe.com 

Genuinely a great customer service, fast delivery, superb collection of products and they match the price with competitors (it actually worked when I tried it, unlike most shops where they offer a price match but always have an excuse as to why they won't accept it)

Jay


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## apls (Dec 5, 2005)

Mega Hobby is a good place. I live about 5 miles from the place, my local hobby shop is AAA Hobbies, and believe it or not, in all the years of going to the place, only recently I realized Mega Hobby is connected to the store, in the same building. This is the reason why AAA always has the latest kits and supplies.


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## Mr.Duesenberg (Oct 26, 2021)

If your in the Phx Glendale AZ. area Andy’s Hobby Headquarters is an outstanding place to shop also has a large online store to peruse!


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