Well, I posted this comment in the “Odds & Ends” section, but no one responded; so I’m hoping that all you armor buffs will be more knowledgeable…
The Doog is going to be visiting me soon in NC and I need some help finding quality hobby shops in the area. I mean, what is a trip without a visit to a new model shop, right?! Does anyone know of any shops in the “Research Triangle” (Raleigh-Durham area) that deals with armor, cars and/or paint supplies? Any help is very much appreciated! Thanks!
The only one in the area is a Hobbytown USA that opened in Apex a few months ago. Its pretty good. Decent sized wall of kits. But its nothing outstanding. The best two I know of are in Fayetteville. I go there 2 or 3 times a week for work. One is called The Hobbit its on Yadkin, the other is Hayes Hobby House on Bragg. Both are great by any standard. Hobbit even has an entire display of aftermarket armor add on kits in stock. Nice place. So if you don’t mind driving an hour those are tops. I have searched all of the other ones I have found listed locally and on web sites, they are almost exclusively for RC stuff here or closed down. Unless I missed some its slim pickins here. I have only been in state for a year though so I mat have missed some that don’t advertise.
Feel free to contact me if you need more info. I was actually going to post a thread on this same topic at some point. I know there are more then a few guys on this site from NC.
I know it’s in Fayetteville, but honestly if you can make it to the Hobbit I guarantee that you will be totally impressed. There’s no way you will leave that place without doing some spending. There’s all kinds of paint and reference material. I’ve been there many times in the past but my most recent trip was about 4 years ago.
The guy and his wife that own and run it have been at the same spot since the early 70’s… The entire place is COVERED in models of nearly ANYTHING. I’ve seen things in there I’ve never seen anywhere else.
Amazingly, some of the aircraft hanging from the ceiling have been there for up to about 40 years (the oldest are over the cash register) and the display cases are jam-packed.
It’s a one story hole in the wall, (in a strip mall) with a decent sized parking lot… lots of restaurants nearby.
Hobbit Hobbies is indeed a great store. I visited it several years ago. Also check out Hayes Hobby House in Fayetteville. They have a website. In Gastonia, Johns Toy and Hobby is no longer on Cox Rd. They have moved to South New Hope Rd… In Charlotte there is one Hobbytown USA in Pineville and one on W.T. Harris Blvd. There are several in Asheville. Thats about all that I can give you in NC but I am always on the lookout. I will be heading to Raleigh for the region 12 show and thaught of going up a day early and was hoping to find a hobby shop to visit
I’m in NC at “Beam17”‘s apartment (my fiancee’, Jenn) and will be here for 10 days before heading back to NY. Got here yesterday after finishing a grueling tour. Spent a day of 24 hours+ yesterday flying back from Valencia, Spain, with not one but TWO Delta airplanes having mechanical trouble. I’ll tell ya…[:@]
Anyway, it’s good to be here, relaxing with the Beam. I’m going to be moving to North Carolina in June, so I want to find a store that has good supplies, mostly—paints, styrene stock for scratchuilding, and glues, glue tips, etc. I’m sure I’ll be able to locate something from that list Rob provided, and I’ll check out that Hobbit place as well. It’ll be nice to take a ride….STEVE, we’ll have to get together and talk some disastrous weathering!!
My LHS in NY is a 45 minute trip, so a little longer won’t be too bad-especially on the DRZ400, in this nice North Carolina weather!
There is a place that specializes in trains in a strip mall in Cary right where 40 crosses Hwy 1. Cant remember the name but its right next to the office where you get license plates. They have styrene and other things that are great for scratch building. Some paints too. Between that place and the HobbyTown USA in Apex your basic needs should be met in the Raleigh area.
Doog- Good luck with the move… you will like NC. Be sure to eat BBQ food… I miss those!
Coldsteel- Funny I brought my house in Garner and lived there for three years before moving to Wake Forest for 5 years. Have you checked this place ToyTown Hobby Shop in Fuquay-Varina? I was staying in Durham for a conference last summer and found this website but unfortunately I didn’t have the time to check it out. At first, it looked like a shop for R/C but after clicking ‘online shop’ link it showed that the shop also sells many model kits as well. Man, I miss that restaurant ‘BBQ Lodge’ in Garner…
I have been to ToyTown. Its on the old main street area for Fuquay-Varina. A decent place. From what I recall its was mainly RC cars but had a few models and a large supply of Tamiya paints. An ok place but not something I would go to far out of the way for.
Thanks again, guys, for the encouragement and the info. It will help save me from making a lot of useless trips that end in disappointments!
deafpanzer–no BBQ for me! Jenn would kill me, ha ha! She’s vegan, and a hell of a cook. Got me eating things that I thought only things with udders did! [:O] lol!
Hey Doog- congrats to you and Jenn. My brother has lived south of the Mason-Dixon Line for 17 years (currently metro Atlanta), so I’m a bit envious of the warmer climes…most of the time!
Hope you find suitably supplied hobby shops. Up here, where such animals are a greater drive than I’d like, I’ve had to rely mostly on Squadron, e-Bay, and the vendor tables… [:(]
Steve, I’ll be squarely, directly IN Chapel Hill, on campus, as a matter of fact, in student housing! I’m ;living with Jenn in one of the housing units for a year til she finishes her Master’s degree and internship, and then we’re going to find a bigger place. I’m only moving here with like, a third of my “stuff”–modeling stuff and guitars having priority, of course!
STAGE_LEFT—I hear ya; I use the internet a LOT for models per se, but I like to have an LHS for quick needs like paint and glue and such!
