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New Member

Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 6:25 pm
by CanberraPaul
Hi All

I have just joined this forum to converse with fellow 1/18 collectors. There are many great model makers here and I am blown away by the quality of their work and historical knowledge.

I have only been collecting 1/18 for 2 years but have admired it for much longer. I have a reasonable number of factory vehicles, airplanes, soldiers and buildings. We never had the golden era here in Australia like you did in the US so my purchases were considerably more expensive than most of you have paid. I will post images of my models on here when I get a camera. My favourite models are the customs that I have collected which were made by Jnewboy (Jon) who has helped me tremendously - wow what a craftsman and I can only wish I had his skills and ability.

Best Regards

Paul

Re: New Member

Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 6:32 pm
by pickelhaube
Hey Paul welcome aboard :D

Re: New Member

Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 6:43 pm
by Jnewboy
Great to see you on here Paul!!!! :D :D

A great friend of mine!!

Thanks for the kind words! :D

Re: New Member

Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 8:52 pm
by CW4USARMY
Welcome aboard Paul!

Re: New Member

Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 9:10 pm
by B17Fortress
Welcome! It is always nice to have some one else that belongs to a common wealth!

There are quite a number of Aussies here on the SSMHQ, perhaps you will find someone from your own town down under!

Re: New Member

Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 9:48 pm
by snake
Welcome to the forum, Paul.

Sounds like you have a varied collection, and I do know that the larger scale model hobby is expensive down under. If you are looking for 1/72, or new HM 1/48, Hong Kong will give you good shipping rates.

A few collectors from Aus, New Zealand, and surrounding areas on here to keep it "local" for you. :wink:

Re: New Member

Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 9:50 pm
by Buckyroo
Welcome aboard

Re: New Member

Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 10:05 pm
by Jay
Ki ora from NZ paul! Good to see another Pacific resident! Oh....and get used to these yanks talking about $5 Avengers from Walmart haha.

Re: New Member

Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 11:16 pm
by CanberraPaul
Men thanks for the warm welcome.

Pickel was one of those to welcome me here - thanks mate. I mention him as I intend to get a Wirblewind from Jnewboy (Jon) in the future that uses the fantastic turret and cannons he makes. I was one of those that Jon promised he would produce for before he became just too busy - I count myself very lucky.

Paul

Re: New Member

Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 12:56 am
by Light.Inf.Scout
Welcome aboard buddy :)

Re: New Member

Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 6:44 am
by normandy
Welcome to the site Paul!

Re: New Member

Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 7:09 am
by Tanker85
Welome Paul

Pull up a chair and stay awhile.

Eric

Re: New Member

Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 8:06 am
by Dauntless
Yep, and even some half Aussie commonwealth living in the states.

You might be able to find some BBI P-51's and F-18's in Australian markings a lot easier than we can however.

Welcome.

Re: New Member

Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 11:40 am
by Aslav
G'day Paul,

welcome to the board. You will find a wealth of very knowledgeable people here.

Re: New Member

Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 12:20 pm
by supersonicfifi
hello down hunder !

welcome from France :)

Re: New Member

Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 12:26 pm
by flyboy_fx
HELLO!> :mrgreen: Enjoy your stay, but please, keep you hands and feet in the ride at all times. Thank you. :) :lol:

Re: New Member

Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 3:10 pm
by granch
Hi Paul,
1/18 items in your country should be very rare, I've just seen an australian BBI F/A-18 for more than 1500 $ on eBay: just killing price. Living in Switzerland, I have always very high shipping costs to pay to get any model, as you on the opposite side of this world...
Welcome aboard, Chris

Re: New Member

Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 5:58 pm
by CanberraPaul
Hi Chris

The shipping costs to send to Australia are very high as we are far from everywhere here. Whenever I buy a model I have to add on considerably more for postage to get it here. I like sellers like Jnewboy who only charge what it costs them to send the model to me. Buying models here is too expensive as it is cheaper to buy from the US even when considering the large postage costs. Some US sellers offer free postage within the the US which is really good for those that live there.

Up until a year or so ago the Aussie dollar was only worth about 90 US cents but over the last year it has gone up to as much as $1.10 US to the Aussie dollar at times - which is much better than being lower. I need to try to buy when our dollar is higher against the Greenback.

Re: New Member

Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 9:21 pm
by flayrah
Welcome! Once I found an Australian dealer who had the bbi Mustangs at a fair price and was willing to ship to the US. Once he added in the shipping cost the price more than doubled, I had to cancel the purchase.

Re: New Member

Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 10:23 pm
by Jnewboy
The hard part is there are major size limits on the size of box you can send to the AU.
Like the Stuka, it being built with pop in tabs, it is difficult to take the wings back off to ship it so they cant be sent to the AU built.... I take this into consideration in my building and if at all possible I make everything with the idea that it may need to be broken down for shipment.

Re: New Member

Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 10:34 pm
by CanberraPaul
Yes mate the Australian postal size limitations are a real problem for 1/18 models already assembled.

However you did an unbelievable job packing the ME262(complete), P38, IJ car and Tiger and various bits and pieces into the restrictively sized box for its long journey here. Obviously your great skills with models translate into box packing also!!!!

Re: New Member

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 3:28 am
by gouchy
Welcome aboard CanberraPaul :D

Totally understand you as I'm in a similar situation as you: non existent 1/18 local retail, long distance and expensive shipping from US/EU and ebay sellers that do not ship intl limiting our sources even more.

I get jealous or teary eyed seeing all the free shipping offered by etailers :cry:

Re: New Member

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 10:48 am
by AMERICAN_GRENADIER
WELCOME

Re: New Member

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 2:20 pm
by CanberraPaul
Seeing all the cheap models for sale in the US and often free postage makes me want to move there. You guys are so lucky.

Re: New Member

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 2:29 pm
by Jnewboy
I sent a model to the Cape of Africa once, compared to him you have it made Paul!! :lol: