Spare
Parts
116
Odds
and ends, tips and tricks, miscellaneous musings.
Brick
and Mortar
Any
modeler worth his sprue nippers would never miss an opportunity to visit a
hobby shop, and I’m no exception. When traveling or just out and about, I’m
always aware of when I will be passing near a hobby shop. But when I count the
number of hobby shops that I can no longer visit because they no longer exist,
I run out of fingers. That’s why I was delighted to learn of a new hobby shop
in our region.
In
August of 2012 a new HobbyTown USA store opened up, located at 4143 Plank Road,
Fredericksburg VA. If you are familiar with the HobbyTown USA franchise you
know that they are a full service shop, catering to scale model builders, RC modelers,
and model rail road hobbyists. This new store is owned by the same people who
own the Newport News HoobyTown, and the manager is active in the Richmond IPMS
chapter. I found everyone that I interacted with there to be knowledgeable,
helpful, and cordial.
I
have visited other HobbyTown stores and this new Fredericksburg store is smaller
than others I have seen. In spite of this, they carry a wide selection of
aircraft, armor, and auto kits and a large assortment of modeler’s tools. I was
most impressed with the paint selection. You will find full racks of Tamiya
spray cans and acrylic bottles, Testors Model Master acrylics, and Vallejo
acrylics. And there are three full
racks of TMM enamels! These three racks include the “basic” and auto colors,
and the biggest selection of military colors I have ever seen in a retail
store. I’m sure that’s good news for you dinosaurs who refuse to learn new
things, like how to paint with acrylics or use a smart phone.
One
feature of this store that I really like is the public restrooms. You
youngsters are probably saying “Big deal”, but to us more mature individuals this
is a very good thing. Right Jon? Another nice feature is the HobbyTown rewards
program. When you sign up at the store you are given a card. Scan your card
every time you buy something and you earn points towards a discount coupon. Discounts
are good no matter your age!
While
we can’t really call it a “local” hobby shop, the Fredericksburg HobbyTown is
definitely worth the trip. It takes me about an hour and twenty minutes to
drive there. There is a great Mexican restaurant in Dahlgren, so you can time
your trip to include a lunch or dinner stop. Road trip, anyone?
Chuck
