Model shops in Spain and UK mail order suppliers.

[Enterprisingwestern]

As model shops in Spain are somewhat thin on the ground, I thought we could have a clearing house for reviews of shops, and any "how to obtain" type information.

I know for anything specifically British based then mail order from the UK is the way to go, so maybe any comments on quality of service from Uk based shops could go here also.

 

My experience of model shops over here is limited to these 2 so far.

 

http://www.mecamodel.es/

 

Located in the centre of Alicante, conveniently round the corner from El Corte Ingles as a useful partner park, this is a small shop, but has a cross section of different hobbies represented. There is quite a bit of model railway stuff, primarily Spanish obviously, (with some smaller manufacturers specialist type rolling stock, like Railtrack in England), but amazingly enough a few Bachmann EWS wagons and a half decent selection of Peco and GF N gauge items, so there must be the demand, someone is hiding out there! The stock is in a glass display cabinet, which the owner opened for me without being asked, to allow me to have a closer look, (that's where the RENFE 7700 fascination really got hold!).

A good selection of paint, glues and a few tools, brass and steel wire and tube and wood mouldings make this a useful shop, one I have used a few times.

 

 

http://www.hobbymodelismo.es/

 

This company has 2 branches, one in the Thader shopping centre, (which is near to Ikea, another good partner park!), or the other in the centre of Murcia, which is the one one I went to, as I fancied a tram ride from Nuevo Condomina. A bit larger than the Alicante shop, this shop has a larger selection of model railway stock, a single GF N gauge Pullman being the entire British outline stock. A good selection of Kibri, Vollmer etc kits, HO road vehicles and figures, and a wider selection of HO rolling stock. I was hopeful of some building sheets, but the selection was none too good, but managed to come away with some, along with some Mr Hobby glue, so always good to find a stockist of this line.

All in all, not a bad shop, but with nothing to greatly differentiate from the one above, for me, not worth the extra travel.

 

Next time, maybe turning left onto the motorway might be on the agenda, as I believe there are some decent model shops in Valencia, especially a decent railway only one.

 

Mike.

[McGomez]

Hi Mike.

Good to see you´re venturing down to Murcia now. Does that mean the house renovation is now complete?

 

When I get a moment, I´ll add some shops from further afield to the list.

The "Hobby Modelismo" shop in the Thader shopping centre doesn´t do railways, just plastic kits (Revell, Airfix, Tamiya, etc) but they do stock quite a good selection of paints, glues and tools.

Their website is up to date and they get things out of the door the same day according to what I´ve read on Spanish railway forums.

 

There is another shop, south of the river in Murcia about 400m from the railway station called KITS. It is similar in size to the shop in Thader but once again sells mainly plastic kits, paint, etc. It used to sell a bit of railway stuff but I haven´t been in there for years.

 

If you ever get down to Cartagena there is a shop called Tiempo Libre. It´s not near the touristy bits of Cartagena but it´s easy to park nearby.

The owner is a profesional model maker I believe (mainly ships) and the shop is tiny but an alladins cave.

Quite a bit of railway stuff but no British models. Seems to have stock that no-one else has but then again he charges top dollar for it although some of the wagons I´ve bought from him were not too pricey.

I don´t think he has a website but it looks like he is on Facebook. https://es-es.facebook.com/Model%C3%ADsmo-Tiempo-Libre-459529067477425/

 

In Valencia there is "Hobbies El Fallero" that I visited many moons ago and that had a decent amount of railway stuff but once again no British stuff. http://www.fallero.net/modelismo/

There are another couple of shops in Valencia, the more well known one is called "Mikado". http://www.comercialmikado.es/

The other one I´ve heard of is called "Altarriba Trenes".

http://www.altarribatrenes.com/

These last 2 I´ve never visited but once again, reading Spanish forums they do the odd deal/sale from time to time.

 

That just about covers the model shops in this eastern part of Spain. They are a bit thin on the ground unfortunately.

 

Hope that helps a bit.

Regards

Andy.

 

 

[Enterprisingwestern]

Hi Mike.

Good to see you´re venturing down to Murcia now. Does that mean the house renovation is now complete?

 

 

Mostly, but you know what Spain is like!

Is my engineering yard seat still available?, I rather enjoyed the white knuckle ride on the AP7!

 

Mike.

[McGomez]

Mostly, but you know what Spain is like!

Is my engineering yard seat still available?, I rather enjoyed the white knuckle ride on the AP7!

 

Mike.

The engineering yard seat is always available Mike. I might have to have a clear out of bad running stock that seems to inhabit the yard at the moment.

Good to hear you enjoyed the trip on the Alicante to Murcia "Mulsanne Straight". You want to try the various ring roads of Madrid.

[JerryinMadrid]

There are several shops in Madrid, as well as a "rastrillo" or market in the Delicias railway museum on the first Sunday of each month (except August), where there is also a shop  selling some modelling materials.

 

One of my favourite shops is Bazar Matey in Calle Santísima Trinidad (Metro station Iglesia) (www.bazarmatey.com). They have a huge selection of models and modelling materials- including British outline- with an online shop. A fun fact is that their logo consists of a drawing of a Terrier tank... The website's in Spanish, and I don't know if the staff speak English- but they are mostly quite young and probably do.

 

There's also trenelectrico.com, which is smaller and not so easy to find, but has a very interesting and eclectic selection- including some reliveried Graham Farish wagons produced for the Spanish market.

 

And then there's Modelos Reyna (two unconnected shops, about 100 metres apart- a long story) in the centre of town. Not such specialists, but good for materials, etc.

 

Hope this helps.  Hasta luego...

[petertg]

Hi!

My  local shop is TOT Hobbys in Vilanova i la Geltru (Province of Barcelona) bordering on the Provincve of Tarragona. As can be imagined he deals with Continental HO stuff, but has a large selection of both HO and N rolling stock also in other than Spanish liveries. He also stocks radio controlled cars and has a good collection of kits (mainly ships). He holds a limited range of decoders, including Hornby., but has a wide range of scenic accessory stuff and, in fact, I have a mixture of HO and OO material on the layout. He has an e-mail address, but I am unaware as to whether he sells on-line.

In Barcelona citty there are Palau and Rocafort which are large and seem to be well stocked (HO of course).

I have purchased on-line from ZaraTrens in Zaragoza (decoders) and from El taller del Modelista in Torrelavega (decoder tester and Kadee couplings)

I don't know whether this information will be of much use, but I offer it for what it ia worth.

[Enterprisingwestern]

Hi!

My  local shop is TOT Hobbys in Vilanova i la Geltru (Province of Barcelona) bordering on the Provincve of Tarragona. As can be imagined he deals with Continental HO stuff, but has a large selection of both HO and N rolling stock also in other than Spanish liveries. He also stocks radio controlled cars and has a good collection of kits (mainly ships). He holds a limited range of decoders, including Hornby., but has a wide range of scenic accessory stuff and, in fact, I have a mixture of HO and OO material on the layout. He has an e-mail address, but I am unaware as to whether he sells on-line.

In Barcelona citty there are Palau and Rocafort which are large and seem to be well stocked (HO of course).

I have purchased on-line from ZaraTrens in Zaragoza (decoders) and from El taller del Modelista in Torrelavega (decoder tester and Kadee couplings)

I don't know whether this information will be of much use, but I offer it for what it ia worth.

 

I'm starting with a blank page, so any information is useful, thanks.

 

Mike.

[petertg]

Hi again!

Just a bit more information relating to my previous post.

T.O.T. Hobby's (the correct spelling of the name) has e-mail address tothobbys@yahoo.es and a web page www.tot-hobbys.com (note that one has no hyphen and the other does) However he does not offer on-line sales.

El Taller del Modelista S.L. has an e-mail address: contacto@eltallerdelmodelista.com and offer on-line service.

Zaratren have a webpage www.zaratren.com and also offer on-line service

These two companies also admit PayPal as payment means, although El Taller charges a small supplement for this service.

Rocafort Modelisme in Barcelona have a web page www.rocafort.com, offer on-line service but payment is by credit card.

I was going to check on Palau in Barcelona, but it slipped my mind.

Hope all the above is of use.

Regards.

[CPW]

Hi.

I have been travelling to Spain (mostly Madrid) on average once a year for the last twenty years. 

 

In Madrid there used to be quite a few shops selling model railway equipment varying from a few lines, probably Electrotren (Spanish outline) and Marklin, to quite extensive ranges including Mabar, Ibertren (now defunct but HO range taken over by Electrotren/Hornby), K-tren, and, occasionally, Omnibus. Several have closed due to retirement and most seem to have either eliminated their railway offerings or have reduced it to only a few lines -possibly just the residual stock they haven’t sold. (I have noticed this trend elsewhere in the country as well) I now have only two shops that I try and make the effort to visit when I am in Madrid. One is Bazar Matey near the Iglesia metro, and is relatively easy to find. The other is Digital Tren out in the Las Rosas area to the east of town this is quite a trek, nearest metro is  San Blas and then it is a good walk and not entirely obvious where it is at the end! Both of the stores have websites and will do mail order. Neither seem to speak much English. I think there may be one or two other stores out to the south of the city, but I have never been in the position to go and investigate.

 

There are also three ‘table top’ mercadillo events in Madrid that I know of selling a mix of new and second hand stuff. Two are held on the last Saturday of each month - one in the hotel at Chamartin station. This is much smaller than it used to be. The other is held in the arrivals hall on the first floor of the AVE side of Atocha station. This is a bit bigger and probably the better bet of the two if you don’t have the time or inclination to do both. The third is held in the Delicias railway museum on the first Sunday of each month. You have to pay the museum entry. I haven’t been to this one for some years but from speaking to some people when I was in Madrid last month it is still worth going to.

 

I have only been to Barcelona a couple of times but there seems to be more interest in railways and model railways in Catalunia. There are several shops spread around the city, some of which have been mentioned already, and a couple more out at Terassa and Sabadell both a good ride on the FCG. I think all have some sort of web presence. Again there are ‘table top’ mercadillos, but the only ones I have found are on the first Sat and Sun in each month at Estacio Francs. The Sat event is in the cafe, but the Sunday one is out on the concourse and is much larger. Whether in shops or the events the interest struck me as being heavily biased towards Marklin.

 

Generally there will also be traders around the country who only have a web offering. Also be aware that there are hobby shops with other offerings, eg model boats, slot cars or wargaming and these may offer materials for scenery, scratchbuilding and electronics that could be useful and might even be a better selection than the railway oriented shops.

 

If you visit the mercadillos try and visit all the stands before committing to buying anything. Prices for second hand stuff can vary enormously for the same stuff between stands especially if the item is a special edition (but not necessarily rare). In all cases (shop/online/mercadillo) models of UK prototypes are as rare as rocking horse muck although there is a better likely hood of finding n gauge stuff. 

 

 

[PeterKem]

To add to this thread and update the scene in Valencia.

There are 4 model shops in Valencia that sell model railways, mainly Spanish.

Hobbies El Fallero in Russafa which does have a small selection of British 00 locos

Modelismo Lara in Carrer del Mar

Comercial Mikado in Cabanyal

Motor Hobby in the Gran Via has a small selection of railway items

 

Other model shops in the city that I have found:

Maquetas Casa Gimenez just off the Gran Via

Hobby Centro in Carrer del Músic Peydró

Altarriba Trenes mentioned in an earlier post above has just become a restaurant.

All the shops sell paint, tools and other modelling bits, all seem to have a Humbrol paint display.

 

There are two regular model railway fairs, one in Torrent just outside the city which is normally the first Saturday in the month. And in the Hotel Sercotel Sorolla which now seems to be every two months on the second Saturday in the month. They used to be on the same day, but someone has realized that was a bit silly.

The Torrent one has more second hand with some new, I have noticed some British stuff mainly in 00. The hotel has more new then second hand and normally a stall selling books and magazines (Spanish), the fair is very well attended.

If anyone would like more information please ask.

Peter