I used to get to kit and Kaboodle once in a while, but I either forgot how to go there or they moved. I do remember the Berkeley sculptures, but I’m old enough to remember BEFORE they were there too. I do sort of miss them. Used to go by there with my dad in the mid 50’s on the way to Oakland to buy well casing in a 48 GMC cabover.
Berkeley Ace Hardware has a great selection of old and new airplane kits. They aren’t a discount store but you can find things there that you’ll seldom see in the usual hobby shop. It’s kind of fun to buy war machines right under the nose of deepest darkest liberalism! It’s amazing that the place has never been picketed.
What’s that old expression, keep your friends close and your enemies closer? [:-^] Maybe that’s why my wife and I like to run around in Berkeley a couple times each year. [;)] Now where can I find a Republican Party T-shirt before Saturday… [oX)]
Scott - It might be hard to find a Republican in Berkeley or San Francisco. In fact the city supervisor in San Francisco Ed Jew who was recently arrested had switched parties prior to the election. He was priviously a Republican. And the last time Willie Brown ran for mayor he had the Republican party’s endorsement.
Franciscan Hobbies is my LHS, their selection is medium at best even though they do have some rare Classic Airframes kits on the shelf. Trains is their bigger market with r/c cars. Bill the original owner of the shop has retired. He served as a dogface in WWII and was among the troops liberating concentration camps. A couple of years ago Bill went back to visit the camp he liberated. John his son, now manages the shop.
My niece went to college in the Boston area but grew up in Richmond, CA. she jokes about growing up around the PRB (People’s Republic of Berkeley) and going to school at the PRC (People’s Republic of Cambridge).
Mike T.
I’ll be down there tomorrow buyin that 1/48 B-29 I’ve always wanted. Truth of the matter is, if you see me in my Democrat T-shirt we’d probably be back-to-back facing an angry crowd.
Bondoman
To be on the safe side, I’ll wear one of my Monty Python shirts on Saturday [(-D]
Now, now guys, you must remember back in the day we didnt call it Berkeley. we called “Berserkeley”. LOL [(-D]
Scott, good idea with the Monty Python T-shirt. But personally I think you should go with the Reggae Rasta Man disguise and a carry a Big BOOM BOX playing Bob Marley tunes. No one will ever know its you! OH yeah, and dont for get the dreadlocks wig! [:-^]
So here’s the report. I went over to Berkeley this afternoon. It was a beautiful day, blue skies in the 70’s, and the visuals on campus were stunning by the way.
Berkeley hardware a block from the end of University, at Campus. There’s a litt’e Brazilian food stand next to it, can’t miss it. Parking is easy, 1 hr. for buck in the meter. Down in the basement theres a good sized hobby department about equally divided between plastic kits and railroads. Plus the usual racks of paint.
What they don’t have are AM stuff, much in the way of decals, materials or tools. What they do have are one heck of a lot of model airplane kits.It’s all organized by manufacturers, sub organized by scale and I guess type. There are all kinds of manuf.s there- MPM, Pavla, Eastern Express, on and on and on plus of course Airfix, Revell, Heller, Hase. Curiously no Monogram or Tamiya, but hey, if you want a Mach 2 C-123 or an Azur Breugeut, they’ve got it. The guy was pretty nice and really helpful.
It turned out to be Britains day: I bought a 1/72 AMT Shackleton Mk 3 (ex Frog), a 1/72 Testors Gloster Javelin and a 1/48 Gloster/Whittle E.28. The prices as marked are fully retail, not anything wonderful.
So when I checked out if I’d had my Ace hardware club card I’d have gotten 10% off. But, it turns out the model and paints are marked down 20% through the end of July, which is great.
Highly recommended, I’m back there Monday to see what I missed.
Bondoman
and you missed allot! - part of the fun of that place is digging - I know there are a couple binders of decals laying around - I have found what i needed twice now, vs spending all night drooling in front of a screen, and as for the AM stuff - they have a fair amount for a hobby shop - just ask sometimes it’s in strange spots! also - no Tamiya!? last time I looked they had stuff from them I never knew existed. Where ACE shines is obscure kits if you’ve been looking for something to come up on E-bay , try ACE… unfortunatley all but one of the dudes that works there specializes in the choo choos and slot cars. Rob is your man if you wanna talk AC and he only works Sunday (sometimes) through tuesday. The deal is the owner is a collector of kits - in addition to the stock you see and all the current releases, I’m told he has almost 3000 more at his house! the stocks of old gems are rotated slowly, and that number includes allot of AM stuff… so like I said I’ve been there uncountable times and always find something new.
No, no I liked it alot. I found the three binders and bought some Israeli stuff. I ran out of time but I’m going back next week.
Thanks for the tip, and the Shackleton has more rivets than the old revell memphis Belle!!!
Hi, I was stationed with the 552nd Wg, 964 Aew&C Sq from 1968- 1971. We had our squadron HQ in the end building, flight line side, next towhere the the Museum is now. We flew the EC-121D in training and active air costal defense,. But most flying was away in Project College Eye over most of SEA, Free China, Korea and out of Itazuki, Japan. I was an intercept controller, then Senior controller on the Connie. I logged 83 combat missions.
I am an aging but still avid modeler… I collect and restore and rebuild old kits and am especially fond of Monogram Superkits and anything to do with the Vought OU-2 (etal) biplane corsair.
If there is anything I can do to help a fellow modeler, just ask. If there is anyone that can direct me to IPMS activity within 65 miles, please do!
Recently moved from New England to where I am a member of IPMS Patriot Chapter. to 10446 Lone Star Way, Stockton, CA 95209 email WINGSNUT54@juno.com… Tel 1-541-554-4727