Hobby Supplies

elbrop

I'm looking to start making scenery as well as trying some ambitious modding projects. So I'm wondering if people can suggest good places in Ireland to buy things like foamboard, insulation boards, and plasticard.

Irish/uk websites are also good if they take credit cards. I don't use paypal so can't use ebay.

draven3410

if you google for sites that do train model supplies, you should get some ideas, think there's a place in Dublin somewhere. Train scenery tends to be detailled and fairly good and from what i see they tend to offer the foam and stuff on their webpages.

Mantel

There's the model shop on capel street, they have plastic card and some other bits. Haven't seen foamboard around though.

Some thin cardboard, styrofoam, empty soft drink/beer cans and other random rubbish can make good scenary

Lemming

If you can get your hands on it, the insulation styro-foam sheets used in house construction are great. You can either create huge terrain boards (the sheets interlock), or you can hack the hell out of them to make hills/etc.

Some of the art & craft shops will stock plasticard and foam-board although I've always found it difficult to get (or rather it's never been in stock when I've checked).

But literally anything is fair-game; pringles tubes make for great "refinery/storage tanks", you can use the blister-pack plastic (stick it on a base and spraypaint/texture), Mr. Kiplings cake trays can be upended and turned into craters by simply taking two fingers and pushing straight down on the middle (also gives you an excuse to buy Mr. Kiplings exceedingly good Cherry Bakewells), etc.

You can melt styrofoam with superglue and the like of car-body spray paints (just make sure the area is well ventilated) if you need to certain effects as well.

Phototoxin

Balsa wood is sweet if you can get it as you can sand it into shape.

irishthump

For plasticard and styrene try Mark's Models on Hawkins Street. Their selection is'nt great, but it's the best I have come across.
You can get foamboard in any of the Art and Hobby shops, but the best selection is in OSullivan Graphics on Camden St. They stock foamboard up to 12mm thick.
You can get 2x4 sheets of Aeroboard in B&Q for about a fiver each, they're not as robust as insulation foam, but it's hard to get that stuff and it's expensive.

hairyheretic

I've gotten stuff in the Art and Hobby shop in Dun Laoghaire shopping centre. Big sheet of foamboard cost about a fiver, and got turned into 15 or so ruined buildings.

ttcomet

You could try the scratch builders section of barrule.com.
I have an order (my first) in with them at the moment, just waiting for it to be delivered, I will update here with feedback when it arrives.

Netmerchants have a materials section and a diorama section for more specialised bits. I purchased a load of items off them recently and the transaction was very fast and smooth. They are up the North in Larne.

Both sites take credit cards.

irishthump

I forgot to mention Green Hobby Modelling in Harolds cross. They have a great selection of balsa, and also stock some more specialist stuff like resins and fibreglass.

http://www.greenhobbymodel.com/

quozl

ttcomet wrote: »

You could try the scratch builders section of barrule.com.
I have an order (my first) in with them at the moment, just waiting for it to be delivered, I will update here with feedback when it arrives.

Good job on that barrule.com site. He has a great selection.

elbrop

Cheers for the suggestions, will try some of them out.

ttcomet

My order from barrule.com arrived. I can't really give them a positive review based on this experience.
The 2 main issues were that they charged me 35 sterling to send the stuff via courier but it arrived this morning via standard AnPost mail. The stamp on it said 15 sterling.

The other issue is that they have ignored 3 mails form me since I placed the order. They mailed me Monday saying they had sent the package and I mailed them back asking for a courier tracking number but got no reply to my mails (bar their automatic response).

As well as that one of the bags of scenic stuff burst in the post so it was rather messy when I opened the padded envelope they sent the stuff in.

On a side note I now have enough Mig and Tamiya weathering agents to do a real tank never mind a few Leman Russ'es

Edit: I mailed them to complain and they apologised profusely, refunded the difference in postage and the price of the thing that burst. So I have no issue's with them, and will probably use them again.