Hobby shops gone,Art stores gone what next?

[Lucky 1]

I drove 50 miles to my favorite hobby store named Hobby Town in Petaluma, Ca.,.
I got a real scare because it looked dark inside and a crew was repainting the front of the store.

I thought  No,no please don't be going out of business!

I went up to the door and they WERE open still and still in business but the store was all re arranged
and it had a lot of children's plastic toys like animals and stuffed toys etc.,. The hobby supplies were there but diminished.
They were changing the name of the store to "Fundamonium" a new owner too.

Many art stores I used to buy supplies at are now gone.
Many hobby shops sell model planes and other models already assembled and painted.
It is so scary now that America's kids cannot make anything or build anything.
Just thinking about what is happening in the country.

[shinyribs]

Same thing around here. Seems nobody wants to learn or build anything these days. It's sad to see. Even the guys I grew up with ( scrounging junk yards,building mutt cars,etc) are now just clicking online to buy bolt-on parts.  I hate to see it.

[Lucky 1]

This week I did see one young guy building a chopper on The Yamaha forum and on club
chopper doing something creative.

I will post the link.
http://www.yamahamotorcycleforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40254

You may have to register etc.,.
It is the Yamaha V star 1100  classic and custom forum section and the title is Chopper Build.

He changed that front end since this photo and removed that
heavy looking weldment off of the front end.

[MarkPBG]

It really does depend on the area you're in. As an artist and an active member of our local art community, I have found just by looking around that there are really only four big art/creative areas in our state. I'm lucky I'm in one of them. We've got 4 hobby shops and a dozen art stores within a half-hour of me and it seems like another opens every year. The hobby stores have almost everything, and the art stores are so big, they've got things I've never even seen online yet! It's one of the reasons if I ever do move, an active art community is going to be a necessity in choosing a location. We've also got a half dozen shops that sell raw materials for the architectural crowd. Exotic metal panels, high density and colored plastics, et.

[Lucky 1]

Yes..Florida has a lot of retirees. That would make sense.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Growing up, my town had two Hobby shops where we bought planes, trains, and automobiles static and powered models. Then they were both gone but I could drive 30 miles to the closest city and have 3 Hobby shops at our service... now only one of them is left and it is a major city in Indiana

[seestheday]

I don't think they're gone, they've just moved online.

People will always be interested in making stuff, but what they want to make also changes.

When I was a kid I was soldering simple circut boards, writing simple software on my commodore 64, messing with the phone system...

Look up the maker movement (http://makezine.com/).  Look up what an arduino (http://www.arduino.cc/)  is or a raspberry pi (http://www.raspberrypi.org/).  Check out what kids are doing with simple 3D printers.

I could have only dreamed of having access to this when I was a kid.

[Lucky 1]

Nope I will have some real rasberry pie that is warm and smells good and has fresh ingredients.
A nice flakey crust.
Not junk from the micro wave. Might as well throw in a pop tart.
rasberries in it.

OH, Don't waste/invest your time on that Japanese toolbox.
It is no better than a womans purse. Constant digging (wasted time) to find a tool.
There are much better designs.


Toolboxes:

[Hoosier Daddy]

Remeber "Heathkit"?

[seestheday]

Damn, that Heathkit stuff looks cool.

I learned basic electronics and soldering by my desire to have a working guitar amp.

I was given a broken one.  I had no money when I was a kid and wanted to start a band (jobs were very difficult to come by in the small town I lived in).  I scavenged parts on heavy garbage pickup day and figured out how to rewire the amplifier head from some books I got from the library.  Good times.

Lucky - Japanese toolbox?  Wha...?

[seestheday]

I had to dig around, but I guess you're referring to this project on the make magazine site: http://makezine.com/projects/make-34/japanese-toolbox/

Ya, I agree there are better toolbox designs.  Lots of the stuff on that site is downright silly.  I'm not saying it all makes sense, just that there are still lots of people building hobby type stuff.

[TOOLS1]

As you probably know I am actually a carpenter by trade, and where I come from we call that a shipping crate.
TOOLS

[icerigger]

I LOVED Heatkit!!! I built all kinds of stuff, sillyscopes, wave generators and a nasty kickaxe stereo.  Good times.

[Beekeeper]

I'm kinda partial to hobby shops myself.    Here are a couple of my flying models.  Kinda partial to WWII warbirds, but I have an SE 5, an AD H 1 that I scratch built (Vietnam era and only single engine aircraft registered to deliver atomic weapon) and a slug of others.  It's like a disease.







I actually have a large Super Stearman, PT 17, which is the civilian version of the aircraft on the poster that Tools posted.

[TOOLS1]

Those are some cool planes. The other day I was at the "Cowtown Ballroom" which is the "Cowtown Mallroom" now, and a guy had a very large model air plane, a box with at least 5 engines (very big engines) with mufflers, fuel tanks, starters, servos, and at least 2 controllers. He wanted $350.00 for all of it. However I did not have enough disposable money to buy it.
TOOLS

[Beekeeper]

Sounds like a good opportunity missed there.  Especially if the motors were 4 strokes.   I was going to migrate over to much larger birds, and gas motors, but came to my senses.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Beekeeper wrote

Sounds like a good opportunity missed there.  Especially if the motors were 4 strokes.   I was going to migrate over to much larger birds, and gas motors, but came to my senses.

No doubt... I think I payed close to that for one of my engines alone! So those planes you posted are electric? or are they nitro and you're talking BIG planes with Gasoline engines?

I dabbled in about everything they sell in a hobby shop for a while. Like most kids I started out with plastic models, trains, slot cars, and then R/C... but living on a small 25 acre lake, I went with Boats. Built 5 over the years, Here is couple that I have pics of.


Here is my f/glass .60 (10) Microburst monohull good for about 45 MPH



 


My stick built .45 (7.5) nitro White-Heat hydro. She'll do 60MPH on a glass smooth day

[Beekeeper]

HD.  Very nice boats!  I have never tried those.  The AD H1 is electric, but most of my stuff is 90 to 125 four strokes, and 63 to 80 inch spans.  I was working toward the 60 to 100 CC aircraft with 90 to 120 inch spans, but decided I enjoyed the 60 size warbirds the most.  Probably a good thing I don't have a lake nearby, or I would probably have a giant Cub or Beaver on floats!  Guess I'll go load up old faithful (70 inch span with an OS 91 that practically flys itself) and head to the field.  I'm embarrassed to say, I have over 20 flyable aircraft, and more than a few kits still to be built.

[shinyribs]

Awesome stuff guys. I admire y'alls patience to build stuff like that.