Written by 11:18 am Hobby Musings • 2 Comments

Making my rounds in Singapore’s hobby shops

So I had a short business trip to Singapore. As usual I also make a run at the model shops to see the goodies. There’s really nothing like being able to just go to a shop and leisurely look at the model kits and supplies. Even better is that these shops are all walking distance from my hotel. Here’s a short write-up of each and what I got there:

The M Workshop (MWS)
91 Bencoolen St. Sunshine Plaza #01-58 Singapore – Website

This is the one I always make sure I hit as MWS has the most eclectic mix of kits. Bernard and Julian are also very friendly and offer honest opinions of the stuff they carry. Most of the kits are also unsealed so you can ogle at the parts within. Nice. In particular they carry A&K interactive, Lifecolor and Vallejo though not all of the latter line. I usually try MWS first for anything I want before heading to other shops.


My hoard this time were:

  • 1/48 Tamiya F4U-1A Corsair
    I have a shelf queen of this which i botched the wings badly. So instead of trying to fix it i decided to just replace and redo
  • 1/48 Tamiya US Army Infantry GI Set
    I have a planned need for the tank commander figure. The others are in decent action poses and will give me figure painting practise
  • Hobbymate alligator clip heads
    There is always need for more alligator clips for painting. These require the addition of bamboo skewers to be complete. Those come in a huge bundle and are very cheap
  • No brand grass tuft
    A small container of artificial grass for basing. I have a bottle of darker colored ones to mix with
  • Vallejo Polyurethane Gloss Varnish
    I have a small bottle of this and since it works very well I figure I might as well get the large one

Hobby Kulture (Closed as of 31 July 2016)
3 Coleman Street #04-23 Singapore – Website

Kulture is pretty much the continuation of Achtung Hobby which was my go-to/hangout modeling shop when I was based in Singapore in the early 2000s. The guys have continued the tradition of bringing in a huge variety of new and classic kits every shipment. We are talking about kits so old the decals have yellowed though. Also following the Achtung tradition is that all the kits are unsealed and they won’t give you the stink eye if all you do is spend the whole visit just opening and looking at kits.

I am friends with some of the guys there and I usually end up spending a few hours chatting there. Alas this isn’t a full-time venture for them so the shop has very irregular and short hours. I’ve also heard they are closing for good soon. Pity.

I hoarded:

  • Gundam EFSF Decal (not shown)
    This is a third party decal sheet. I’m always on the lookout for ‘EFSF’ markings having almost all of the mass production Federation mobile suit kits in my stash
  • UStar Etch Processing Vise
    I haven’t really played with PE but I was told this would make my life immensely easier when that time comes
  • UStar airbrush QD adaptor
    A good buddy gave me his table top mini compressor which hopefully I can use in place of my Sparmax diaphragm compressor. I’m hoping this one will be a lot less noisy. This adaptor will me quick detach my 3 airbrushes.

Art Friend
Blk 231 Bain Street, Bras Basah Complex #03-33, Singapore 180231 – Website

This is the defacto shop for art supplies. One could get lost just looking at all the stuff they stock. Its a stop for me every time even if I’m not looking for anything in particular. Now that I’m into figure modeling, there are more things that interest me here. Incidentally Art Friend is the only supplier I know for X-acto products in Singapore.

  • A4 colored paper
    Black and Blue in this case to use as backgrounds for the photos of my figures
  • Cork board
    For figure basing purposes. This A4 Sheet will last me a long time for sure
  • Foam board (not shown)
    Same as above. It came as an A2 sheet which i cut to 4x A4 for easy transport
  • Talus Buff Fine
    Same as above. This will join my fine and course sand for all sorts of bases
  • X-acto #11 blades
    Always have spares ready
  • Wooden bases
    The long rectangular one is for one of my ‘bucket list’ builds while the oval one is for my future Speederbike build. All else are pretty much for figures

Artmark
Blk 231 Bain Street, Bras Basah Complex #04-35, Singapore – Website

This is a smaller shop across from art friend where i found some small balsa blocks that i think will work very well for small individual figures.

Battle Bunker
201 Victoria Street, Bugis+ #03-16/17 , Singapore – Website

This is my first visit here since I’ve never used to be interested much in Warhammer 40k. They carry the whole Games Workshop and Citadel Paint line. Half of the shop are also set up for board gaming which is pretty cool. I also spotted Star Wars and even Talisman, a board game I used to play as a kid. Luckily they don’t carry Corvus Belli’s Infinity line. It would have been dangerous on my wallet haha. Slightly annoying is that most of the stuff on display don’t have price tags. The guy at the counter claims that their price tagging machine was broken. Interestingly, the stuff at the Funan the IT Mall branch also don’t have price tags. Hmm…

  • Games Workshop Grey Knights Purifier Squad
    I’ve been eyeing this kit as it allows me to have 5 different units of Grey Knights: I don’t play the game so I don’t need to have a squad of the same type of Knights. And come on, ‘a power armored Knight armed with arm mounted guns and a laser halberd with a jet backpack’… how bad ass does that sound?!

No I didn”t really hoard kits but pretty much yes for everything else haha. Most of these are probably available in Jakarta but are more likely spread out over multiple shops across the huge city. Probably available online too but I’d rather be able to see what I want to buy beforehand.

A good and large haul indeed. Luckily all of them are pretty small eh?

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Tags: , , , Last modified: 25 February, 2020
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