A Modellers Guide to London

A few weeks from now will modellers from all over the world gather in England to visit the IPMS(UK) ScaleModelWorld at Telford.

I will not be able to make it this year, but here are some suggestions for overseas travellers who want to visit other places of interest in England. Being mainly an aircraft modeller and usually combining my trek to Telford with an extended weekend based in London I travel by tube and train to museums and shops – I prefer to leave the driving on the left side of the road to others.

In London itself are there quite a few museums and a couple of shops.

Hannants has a retail shop in the Colindale Tube station, you can not miss it if looking to the right when coming out of the station. There is no way they can stock all items held in their Lowestoft warehouse, if you want something out of the ordinary do I recommend sending an Email a week or two before so they will send out the items when they restock (usually on Thursdays). Staff in the shop is friendly and reasonably helpful, but it is not possible to search the Hannants catalogue online there. If you wants a VAT refund when leaving the EU it is sometimes a bit of a discussion before they find the right forms.
What they have got is what you find in the shelves – mainly aircraft and military modelling.
Opening hours: Thursday and Friday 10.00am to 7.00pm.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday 10.00am to 5.30pm.
Take the Northern Line tube towards Edgware and alight at Colindale.

The Aviation Hobby Shop (TAHS) is a smaller shop situated close to Heathrow airport which cater to aircraft modellers and spotters, especially those with an interest in civilian aircraft.
Very good selection in civilian aircraft decals and you can find some unusual stuff there.
Worth a visit, if only just to visit the traditional kind of family run hobby shop.
Open 09.30 - 17.00 Monday to Friday and 09.00 - 17.00 on Saturdays.
Take a train from Paddington station to West Drayton and turn right after leaving the station, cross a small canal and then turn right again. 20min by train from Paddington, 5min walk.

Comet Miniatures specialities are Science Fiction and WW1 kits and have a lot of second-hand kits of all kinds in stock. Check it out if looking for Science Fiction kits or out of stock items. It consists of two adjacent shops, you might have to ask the staff to open the other if only one is open at the time of your visit. Friendly staff with enough patience to watch you rummage in all the shelves and boxes containing old kits.
Open 09.30 – 17.30 Monday - Saturday.
Take the train to Clapham Junction or Tube to Clapham Common and walk to Lavender Hill or catch a bus – the area is fine during daytime but I wouldn`t be walking there after dark.

Many bookshops in London are located around Leicester Square, Motorbooks at 33 St Martin's Court London WC2N 4AN has car, train, aviation and military books, but you should not enter the shop if claustrophobic or afraid of bookshelves caving in.
Foyles is one of the largest department bookshops, but not one of the best organized ones.

There are a lot of smaller shops with second hand books and bookshops which sell out overstock very cheaply – for some reason most of the latter has an adult section in the basement so if travelling with children or wife/spouse you should pay attention to the 18+ signs in order to avoid embarrassing situations when hunting for books.
Another bookshop worth visiting is Ian Allen close to Waterloo station, it is very hard to find even if you have been there before, I will not try to explain the way as I got lost last time I tried to follow my own notes.

Museums – England is full of them, here are some of my personal favourites:

London:

RAF Museum at Hendon is open daily 10am - 6pm and entry is free. (Bag search on entry)
15 min walk from Colindale Tube station (See Hannants)
Be aware that the Graham White Factory (GWF) with most of the WW1 aircraft and part of the Bomber Hall has been closed for some time, but there is still a lot to see.
You might want to check with the museum in advance if you are travelling from far away and want to see a specific machine.
Bring a flash if taking photos, otherwise all your images will have a sickly green tint.
Well stocked museum shop, restaurant and other facilities.

Science Museum is open daily 10am - 6pm and entry is free. (Bag search on entry)
Located in Kensington with other tourist attractions is this the place to bring family along, lots of stuff that should interest everyone. Aircraft department is very dark, you need a strong flash to get decent photos. If into aircraft, don`t forget the temporary Spitfire display and the Avro 504K and Lockheed Electra in the basement. You can spend a couple of days there.

Imperial War Museum (IWM) is not far away either, being located near Waterloo Station.
It is open daily 10am - 6pm and entry is free.
Follow the signs until you find a building behind a pair of battleship guns.
Has a combination of permanent and temporary exhibitions with aircraft, guns and tanks on display under roof in what used to be the courtyard.
Set aside at least a couple of hours, some very moving stories are being told and you need to take your time to digest them.
The IWM is also responsible for the WW2 cruise HMS Belfast moored on the Thames.

Brooklands Museum is half an hour by train from Waterloo station it is a combined car, racetrack and aircraft museum in a very English style. Take the train to Weybridge and catch a cab or take a 15 min walk to the museum itself.
Worth the 7£ entry fee if you are interested in race cars, bicycles, airliners, other aircraft.
Staffed by enthusiasts who are more than willing to open up the aircraft and tell their stories.

Outside London
If willing to take the train for a couple of hours are there quite a few other museums to see:
Information on trains cane be found on https://www.nationalrail.co.uk

Duxford airfield near Cambridge is the IWM outstation for aircrafts and tanks, at the moment a major rebuild is taking place and limited access to the aircraft.
The American Air Museum and the Land Warfare Hall are open, but opening hours are limited to 10.00 am - 4.00 pm in the winter – entry is 12£
I would rather recommend visiting it during the main season, especially if you can combine it with an airshow.
You can travel by train to Cambridge in an hour but you may have problems finding a bus from the station to the museum and back during the winter season.

Fleet Air Arm Museum is located to the SW of London, 2-3hrs travel time.
Open during the winter Wednesdays - Sundays 10am - 4.30pm, entry is 9.50£
It is located next to an active airbase and you need to get a taxi to/from the museum.
Nearest train station is Yeovil Junction which is quite some distance from Yeovil town, if no taxi is available at the station, take the shuttle bus to Yeovil town and get one there.
Yeovil town does also have a couple of decent restaurants so you can stop there for a meal on the way back from the museum and take the shuttle bus to the train station.
The FAAM has a unique collection of British carrier aircraft, the WW1 department has a number of so-so replicas but the stuff from the early years of WW2 and onwards is top notch.

Southampton Hall of Aviation – Solent Sky is (surprise-surprise) located in Southampton and specialises in flying boats and Supermarine aircraft. It is often overlooked, but definitely worth a visit if you like flying boats and racers, they have both a Supermarine S.6B Schneider Cup racer as well as jet powered flying boat fighter from after WW2. Centrepiece in the display is a Short Sandringham passenger liner which they sometimes open up to visitors.
Open during the all days 10am - 5pm, entry is 5£.
Take the (1hr30min) train to Southampton and take a taxi / walk to the museum.

Bovington – the Tank Museum is also to the SW of London, 2-3hrs away by train.
You find the worlds first tank there “Little Willie” as well a prototypes and production tanks from WW1 to the first Gulf War, the large and the small, the successful and the hopeless.
Open 7 days a week 10.00am to 5.00pm, entry is 8.50£
Take the train from Waterloo Station in London to Wool, alight there and have a short taxi ride or a 20min walk to/from the museum which is located in an area still in use for training tank crews. The area surrounding Wool is rather scenic English countryside.