Which is the best all purpose site to get models from?

Great Hobbies is a great site with lots of inventory - especially if you’re shopping in Canada, the prices are low and there’s free shipping.

I like to shop where I can speak to a real person. Scalehobbiest is one of the best for personal service. Sprue Brothers useto be another good one to talk to a live person but in the last couple of years it has become difficult to talk to the person you need, “they are out in the wearhouse”

1 Like

Exactly Greg. And while I make a point of supporting the last serious LHS in Sydney, their staff are now all ex-schoolkids who know about the walking dead & Japanese fantasies but little else. Otherwise responding to the original question, big honourable mention to BNA in Melbourne. I know several yanks who go there regularly & speak highly of their rapid response & delivery times. I’ve never been disappointed either as a relative local, exceptionally reliable service. Prices are discounted although I can’t speak for variable international exchange rates. Their catalogue is awesome so if you’re not sure what’s out there and/or looking for inspiration it’s definitely worth a serious browse:

3 Likes

Just got a bunch of Live Resin figures from them through their eBay store a-modeler. Didn’t make the connection till taking with a club member (yeah, I didn’t pay attention to the logo in the profile). It’s interesting the number of eBay sellers that have a store and/or website to sell product. :+1:

1 Like

I have used "Lucky Model.com out of Hong Kong for new releases that had not appeared in the states. I ordered them by surface shipping which means by ship, and they arrived in a couple of months and very cheap prices. But I got the models without the preorder penalty or high shipping costs and before everyone in the states was “sold out” So for this type of situation, I think they can be very useful.

I ordered a Flyhawk 1/700 Zumwalt from Auroramodelshop on April 26, and it arrived yesterday. That’s less than 3 weeks, and well under their estimated delivery date of some time in June! Low price and minimal shipping. You may not agree with Chinese politics, but you can’t beat their service!
BTW; Flyhawk’s Zumwalt is cheaper and much better than Dragon’s.
:grinning: :canada:

1 Like

I agree

1 Like

Chinese politics include concentration camps, and other unfriendly totalitarian practices. Doing business with them is indirect support. Not my cup of tea

2 Likes

So…you’re going to refuse to buy Dragon, Bronco, Flyhawk, Great Wall, HK Models, Hobby Boss, Kinetic, Kitty Hawk, Meng, Lion Roar, Panda, Skunkmodels, Takom, Trumpeter, Very Fire, Vulcan, Xact Scale Models, Xuntong Models,(all Chinese companies) et al? Doesn’t leave a big choice! :thinking:
:grinning: :canada:

2 Likes

Sprue brothers, mega hobby and a few others are what I use in addition to eBay but BNA is one of my favorite sites. Reasonable prices and shipping rates with pretty fast shipping has been my experience with them over the years. Prices and shipping have gone up as well as shipping time but that can’t be helped in todays world at least for now.

ebay for me ad there are no model shops left where i live

If Scale Hobbyist doesn’t have what I’m looking for, I’ll reach out to eBay. Surprisingly, eBay has been very good lately. My orders have been arriving much faster than delivery estimates. And their mobile app is a snap to use.

—mike

3 Likes

In reality, we all make choices and stand up for what we believe. @drabslab, made his choice and we should respect him for it.

2 Likes

Point is, it’s totally irrelevant whether you buy your kits from a shop in China, or from a shop around the corner. The manufacturer (in this case Chinese) makes their profit, and Mr. Xi collects his taxes from the manufacturer. In either case, buying a kit manufactured in China supports their gov’t. If you are really serious about not supporting a repressive government, then you shouldn’t buy ANYTHING exported from that country.
And tell your favorite hobby store to stop stocking Chinese-made goods!
:grinning: :canada:

1 Like

That is indeed what I am trying to do, not easy, and in all honesty I am not to fanatic about it either.

I could say a lot more but better not here, we should discuss this in the of topic shenanigans part of the site I guess.

2 Likes

@Biggles50 Leo, a smart man once’s said “a small step for a man and a giant leap for a mankind.” It all starts with a small step. And I do understand what you are saying, but I also agree with the deeper message drapslad commented. It takes a fight to in the war.

1 Like

most of my buying is done on scalehobbiest,sprue brothers ak/mig,and e-bay with a majority of sales have been buying a lot of overseas stuff off e-bay,mostly figures as they are readily available and cheap,actually half the cost of figures than in the US, and a better selection FWIW.

I use HobbyLink Japan mostly.

1 Like

Agree about Andy’s HHQ. Been buying some items from him since he opened his online store. Always has pretty fast delivery and well packed.
I usually go to Sprue Bros. first since he’s local.

1 Like

My vote is for BNA. reasonable prices. Fast delivery. Best of all their site tells you if its in stock. And will tell you if there is only one or two in stock. Only negative is their lack of replies on customer queries.
I asked about them stocking CSM and never got a reply. So who stocks CSM?

Get on their newsletter and they send a list of what has arrived in stock.

1 Like