Hey guys,
I was just wondering where would be the best place to get really cheap kits? and that they would ship to Australia.
thanks
I think HobbyEasy and Lucky Model have very good prices… You must pay an extra to get a tracking number for your package at Lucky Model, though. Best regards.
José.
thanks 
Agree with lucky model… Especially, you live in Australia as lucky model kit are based in far east which you will get cheaper shipping rates.
Not only aircraft, their ships are very cheap too. Not sure about armour.
1999 co jp is cheap too. Some of their special price kit is really worth buying.
Hobbylink Japan also started dropping prices on many items, plus they run quiet a few sales.
Worth checking for bargains.
Matty, I use Lucky Model for most of my models and they are great. Evilbay is worth looking at as well if if scour for the bargins. I have looked at places like sprue brothers and some others just havnt needed them yet.
Andrew
Well if you mean price wise, I use eBay. You can get some real deals on there is you are patient. I have scored some sweet deals like my F7F Tigercat 1/48 scale for $13.
Cheapest kits?
Don’t just shop kit prices. Though a retailer may be giving you great prices on individual items, that savings is often wiped out when they tack on the shipping fees.
Compare TOTALS! Kit prices and shipping. You may find that one retailer who charges a little more on their kits, more than make up for it on their shipping fees. Compare the bottom line, the amount you’ll be paying after everything is tallied up…Compare Totals.
Also be 100% certain you understand their stocking definitions. Not every retailer has the same definition as to what In Stock means. Nothing frustrates you, more than learning either after checkout or the day the package arrives…many of the items you ordered and paid for were NOT actually on the warehouse shelf ready to ship to you. That’s why I prefer to do business with Sprue Brothers and MidTenn Hobbies both which advertise here on FSM.
I’ve had bad, er, luck with Lucky Model.
Specifically ordered some masks I couldn’t track down anywhere else. Well, they listed them as “available”. After not hearing boo about them for three weeks I finally contacted them and learned they were not, in fact, available, but out of stock with no known restock date. So basically available means “existed at some point and time, probably”.
Stateside, I really like Sprue Brothers, Great Models, and Scale Hobbyist. The latter typically has the best prices on kits, enough to overcome any shipping fees (Eduard’s 1/32 Bf-109E-7 Profi-pack for $54 vs. $64 at both SB and GMW), but they SUCK when it comes to aftermarket.
Outside the U.S., I’ve had a few really great experiences ordering directly from Ultracast. Very friendly and personable. I’d also recommend taking a look at Hannants.co.uk. One of the best selections I’ve ever seen, most of it in stock, they don’t bend you over on shipping.
Fun story about Hannants. Two weekends ago, I placed an order with Squadron for several sets of decals and masks. The next day, I placed an order with Hannants for a decal set and a PE set. Squadron is physically located 3.5 hours from my house, but the order from Hannants reached me on the same day, despite having to cross an ocean and half a continent. Oh - and their shipping was cheaper.
I can’t really offer any help with ship-to-Australia prices. Most of the shops ship international, but some are no doubt more rip-offish than others.
Bro, I think you forget to read their notice. when they put ‘in stock’ then it will indicate its available.
Lucky model and hobbyeasy are consider the cheapest online hobby shop.
Well realize any web site is only as accurate as its last update, if it was indeed a true refection of current stock or if the update was before a recent shipment. To worsen the possible bad results and information is the human factor, Mondays, hangovers or just a poor / careless employee can really mess the system up!
'When we break down the machine breaks down!’ ~ Barns Platoon
If you can drop by your LHS and support them. I know its more expensive and can take time out of your day yet its better than wishing you had done so to help them keep open in your area. Somethings in life are worth more than a price tag, a good LHS is one of them!
Well, I didn’t read their little system until after I ordered, no. I took the term available to mean, well, available. And it took me reaching out to them to get acknowledgement that yeah, the items I ordered didn’t belong in the “available” category.
IMO they should change the wording. If there’s in stock, preorder, and backorder, why wouldn’t “available” in their definition count as backorder? Or…temporarily out of stock. Available seems disingenuous.
A lot of sites use a real-time inventory system that’s tied right into their ecommerce platform.
I placed an order with Ultracast last week and entered the expiration date for a different card. I was going to have them cancel and resubmit the order, but since I’d bought the last early P-51 tail conversion they had in stock, I wouldn’t be able to add it again because of the inventory system.
I agree about supporting your LHS, but I don’t always feel like mine supports me back, if that makes sense. It hacks me off when I go up there for something that should be super common. A certain MM enamel, say. And they’re out. And two months later, after finally buying the paint at Hobbytown, they still haven’t restocked. It also hacks me off when I order something through them and see them going and finding it on Squadron.
I’d say 90% of my online orders are for products that they don’t stock. Or for the occasional screaming deal.
I’m with Hawkeye on this.
HLJ has great prices, but when your paying the entire price of all your kits, again on shipping, your not saving any money.
for US purchases I use Scalehobbyist.com they have fairly good prices. For gundam I use gundamstoreandmore.com they have the best prices 100%, they have a garuntee on it
I had one order from Squadron take a week to get to me and they’re only a thirty minute drive south. Maybe it was FedEx or something, but I still don’t know why it had to go to FedEx’s Memphis distribution center just to come back to DFW
Granted I can walk across the road to mine, but [dto:]. I try to keep my $ local where I can, even on my hobby purchases. The few times I have made online purchases have all been with Sprue Brothers. So far my packages have arrived within a week (from their location to New Brunswick, Canada) in perfect condition. And they charge me the actual shipping cost which is always less than the estimated rate at checkout. (I like good surprises!)
FedEx sends EVERYTHING to the Memphis hub. That’s their model. I actually think they might have a second hub operating somewhere in the country now, but yeah, even if you’re shipping across the city that’s how it works.
In my case, they sent USPS. But Sprue Bros. and Great Models also ship USPS, and I usually receive my stuff from them three or so days after placing the order. I’m convinced Squadron sits on it for a few days after it “ships”.
If you don’t need it right now model shows are one of the cheaper places to pick up kits. Most of the venders are willing to haggle and if you wait till the end of the show when they’re loading their merchandise back on the truck and give the guy an innocent look and say ‘Will you take 30 on this 50 dollar kit?’ you’ll often get a ‘Ok, I suppose it’s better than taking it home with me’.
Also bundling works, pick up 130 dollars worth and tell the guy you’ve only a 100 dollar bill with you.
Worse thing that will happen is they’ll shake their head and tell you ‘sorry, can’t do it.’
I use Squadron and haven’t been dissapointed yet.
As far as Fed Ex goes, I live in Exeter, MO in the SW corner of the state. You would have tought it would have went to Dallas, then to Springfield, then to me. But no—
Squadron shipped Fed Ex. From Carrolton, TX where Squadron is located, it went through Dallas hub, then up to Kansas City, KS hub where Fed Ex handed it off to USPS, and it came to my P.O. Box. [:S]
Obviously NOT Squadron’s fault here.