In the last several months at least two of my Frisco modeler friends have mentioned buying scenery at Hobby Lobby (yes Hobby Lobby). I finally went into our local one and was astonished at what they actually carry. These types of stores have historically carried a small selection of plastic model car and plane kits and the paints and glue to assemble them. What I found was a whole isle of train related items in all scales. In the locomotive and rolling stock area there isn't much to choose form beyond train sets and a few add on cars and track pieces. What they did have that really caught my eye was a rather large selection of Woodland Scenics supplies such as assembled trees, tree kits, ballast, ground foam, plaster cloth, water resin, rock molds, and glue. Also, the practice kits that they make for rock outcroppings, etc. They also had about 8 of the most popular Design Preservtion Kits and some J&L Innovations detail items to dress them up. They had 4 basic colors of Floquil spray paint and all three of the new marker pen sets. Over in the model car isle they had plenty of Modelmaster colors that could be used by model railroaders. Hobby Lobby just happened to have all of the above mentioned items on sale for 30% off in their ad. My friends print off the 40% off of a single item coupons on their website and make frequent trips in there as they are in the neighborhood. This is a great way to stock up on more expensive items such as trees. In conclusion, there is enough selection of scenery material for most modelers to get way beyond the benchwork stage.
When I needed plaster, walmart didn't have any. So we went to the Hobby lobby in Joplin and I was amazed to find they had a great selection of stuff. But as far as plaster, you can get 8 pounds for I think 5 or 6 bucks, where 24oz of smooth it is like $6.5. I know I saw a few bachmann cars in HO, and I think a locomotive. there were also a few train sets. Thing is though, Hobby World is a few blocks away with a wide selection of stuff.
Ethan, If you ever need a source of cheap acrylic paints for painting scenery go to the art and crafts section of Walmart (where the fabric and yarn is sold) and pick up some of their $1.17 bottles of acrylic artist paints in light leaf green (for grass) and country tan (for earth) to use for a base coat. They are far cheaper than the Woodland Scenic landscape "Under Coat" paints, and they come in larger bottles. Also, while your there you might as well go ahead and get an artist paint brush assortment, and some low odor mineral spirits too. Another thing you can get is the artist acrylic paste paint kit that has 8 tubes of basic paint colors in Burnt Umber, Raw Umber, White, Ochre Yellow, Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna, Raw Sienna, and Black. These can be thinned down and are great for making washes to use on rock facings. George
George: You are lucky if your local Wally World still handles all that stuff. Our new Stupidcenter quit handling most of what you just stated. It also quit handling all model car kits along with Testors paint, brushes and cleaner. Next it quit handling Xacto knife blades. I am sure glad our local Ace hardware has them. Hobby Lobby is a great source as is Michaels. I have to drive about 55 miles to get to them but that is no problem. Our local Wally World STINKS!!! El Bob Oh
El Bob Oh - Why not just order the items you mention directly from Walthers? They certainly have this stuff in stock. FYI, I ordered a bunch of detail parts Thursday via their on-line site. They came today. The minimal shipping cost sure beats driving 55 miles! If any of us are lucky enough to still have a decent model railroad hobby shop close by, most of the stuff they have on their shelves came via Walthers. Ken ps - I sure got tired of hearing "Rocky Time" yesterday!
Trust me, I know about the Walmart acrylics. Bob, are walmart quit caring the models too. Last may when I wanted to repaint an SD40-2 I kept trying to find the paint there (at the time I didn't know it was testors). but I ended up with the acrylics and that was a mistake that stuff covers up detail parts quicker than snow covers grass. But they do work good for washes.
Back to Bobs original concept, when you have a 40% off coupon from the Hobby Lobby, a $30.00 pack of the Woodland premade trees goes for $18.00. Not a bad savings. And you can go online to their site and print as many of the 40% off coupons you want. The local store carries a decent amount of DPM items and JL Inovations. Makes buying buildings a good deal also.
