SPA Modeler

When I was a kid it was mostly department stores,we had a local place called Two Guys,also EJ Korvettes, and Woolworth's

When i started up as an adult, it was Dick's Hobbyland in Cranford NJ,run by a local icon, Dick Townley.He had a lot of kits and paints,and he was always getting shipments,he was very helpful with questions and advice.I bought my first airbrush from him,a Badger 200.I remember him telling my wife, "its an expensive hobby,but its better then having him hang out in bars."

He retired and sold the shop,it lasted a few years before it went out of business,he later died in 2003
Here's his obit.
https://www.newjerseyhills.com/richard- ... 13757.html

speedgraflex wrote: ↑Mon Oct 12, 2026 3:57 pm

BlackSheep214 wrote: ↑Sun Oct 11, 2026 4:23 pm My first foray into model kit building was Kmart. Later, I discovered Discount Hobbies in Downtown Utica, then Oneida Bike who also had model kits. The only hobby shop left in my area is Turn4 Hobbies (formerly HobbyTown) in Clinton.

Turn4 Hobbies looks like a nice family run store! I’m trying to think of if I went to Kmart for hobby supplies since these stores came up twice. I don’t think there was one close enough to me. Plus with my Dad being a slot car fan I think AB Charles was already on his radar. When I looked up Utica I saw some beautiful photos; these images made me miss the East Coast and the change of seasons.

Utica has always been known as Sin City with good reasons West Utica used to be a fairly decent neighborhood back in the day - mostly Polish, Germans and Irish resided there. Now… it’s gotten bad. Cornhill is another neighborhood no better either. South Utica not too bad but close to New Hartford border. We call them New Hartford wanna-bes. Homes tend to have larger homes. East Utica was and is predominantly Italian neighborhood. Some Ukrainians also reside in East Utica as of late. Parts of East Utica is still decent. I currently live in North Utica. Pretty decent neighborhoods just as South Utica. Steps away from Deerfield and a hop on 12 North to drive an hour to the Adirondacks.

Utica lost a lot of manufacturing jobs over the years - Chicago Pneumatic, General Electric, Griffiss AFB in Rome due to base realignment, Devine Brothers, Bendix, most recently Remington Arms in Ilion a few years ago. Con Med is currently in the old General Electric plant. I guess the only bright spot Utica still has is the Utica Comets hockey team.

Tojo72 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 12, 2026 5:20 pm When I was a kid it was mostly department stores,we had a local place called Two Guys,also EJ Korvettes, and Woolworth's

Yes, department stores were where I started. My first two models came from a store called Zody’s. Out in California we had a chain called Two Guys as well. I want to say that they were closed up by the mid 70’s. There was a Woolworth’s at the mall. But the Sears and toy store in the mall had more models from what I vaguely remember…

speedgraflex wrote: ↑Tue Oct 13, 2026 12:48 pm When I went to the Ben Franklin store they had the old Aurora version of the Space Clipper from 2001: A Space Odyssey. I stood in the aisle holding that box, looking at it from every side. When I asked my Dad to buy it, he declined saying that this would be a good time for a lesson in economics. I was crushed. Sometimes I’ll go on eBay to look for that kit in particular but to date I have never built any Space Clipper models. I can only recall Ben Franklin, Sears and JC Penny stores growing up; they were all a bit of a drive or bus ride for me and I didn’t go very often.

It’s interesting how K-Mart holds sway here amongst these memories. I wonder if having actual shelves of kits made the difference. Is that how model building begins?

Talk about childhood trauma! Wow… I think from Junior High on I had money from paper routes or mowing lawns, so buying models never became a problem at that point. At least the smaller ones that I could afford. The big ones always seemed to appear as birthday or Christmas gifts.

But seeing kits on shelves is definitely how it started for me.

Yup… same here with larger kits. Through the years at Christmas, I’ve gotten the old Monogram 1/72 scale B-52 bomber, B-36 Peacemaker bomber, The famous Clydesdale Budweiser wagon train, The General Locomotive, Jacque Cousteau Calaypso Research ship to name a few. I remember my sister getting the large scale Corvette kit. That was a monster of a kit.

I grew up in central Connecticut. We had Two Guys, Sears, Toys R Us. I remember riding my bike to TRU to get the Monogram Black Widow. My favorite hobby shop was War and Pieces in West Hartford. Even as a kid I was on a first name basis with the owners. It's been about 20 years since they closed.

tempestjohnny wrote: ↑Wed Oct 14, 2026 4:11 am I grew up in central Connecticut. We had Two Guys, Sears, Toys R Us. I remember riding my bike to TRU to get the Monogram Black Widow. My favorite hobby shop was War and Pieces in West Hartford. Even as a kid I was on a first name basis with the owners. It's been about 20 years since they closed.

Wow,I thought Two Guys was a Jersey thing,I loved their toy dept,and later on their $ 1.99 record sales in the mid 70's

My first shop was Pratley’s hardware store in the little village I grew up in - Milton Under Wychwood on the edge of the Cotswolds. They sold Humbrol tube glue and Airfix/Humbrol paints and the only kits they had were Matchbox - which is why I've built some many of them.

I didn't go into a proper model shop until I went to collage in Witney near Oxford, it was at the back of a local toy shop.