The SAAF Forum

A colleague is wanting to purchase a Revell 1/32 FW190, but the local hobby shops seem to be out of stock.

His wife does all the ordering as he's not active on the internet, but she's hesitant to use her credit card on the internet. Anyone ordering anything soon and she can share in the postage?

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How come every time my ship comes in, I'm at the airport?

I would think her credit card company would cover the card for fraudulent use as long as the owner does not make it available to criminals?
I understand her fear, when I can, I use PayPal.

I'm not sure about Lucky Hobby but I did order a Tamiya kit from Hobby Easy a couple of years ago and had no problems.

After placing the purchase, my bank actually called me to verify that this was a purchase I did but it was purely because I've never done an overseas purchase before.

2 weeks later my parcel arrived at the local Post Office.

First, ensure you are ordering from a legitimate, reputable company. PayPal is an excellent system. Here in SA we are faced with a huge problem; theft by SAPO. Recently, using Amazon, I ordered a rare book from the USA. It travelled right across the States, only to be immediately stolen when it arrived in the hands of the our Post Office. I spoke with them and was told I should get a tracking number. This was done when shipping a book from Australia and everything worked fine, so be sure to use that option.

Dont know if this will help , but Esswex have a Hassgawa FW190 in 1/32

http://www.esswex.co.za/product-info.php?pid1567.html

Thanks Drifter, but both Esswex and TAS are out of stock ... even though they list it on their websites.

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How come every time my ship comes in, I'm at the airport?

Darn, sorry. If I spot one locally, I will update here.

As Geoff01 said, tracking number is important when a packages goes threw turbulent postal airspace where lightning strikes packages out of the air.
Usually tracing numbered items are covered if they go missing.
Not something I'm worried about where I am, you don't want to fork out big bucks and it never arrives.

What about asking Esswex when they will restock?
Or anyone else that has carried this item.

Me and a bloke at work order from Luckymodel. Absolutely no issues. They provide a tracking number. I recently ordered two Kinetic 48th Mirage IIIEs and they arrived in country in less than two weeks. Then they sat at Witspos for another five weeks before getting to my local post office. No fault of the supplier. They also list the package as originating somewhere in the Carribean, I guess for duty purposes. SA Postoffice levies duties on the package which can vary from R50 to R300. Seems to be no consistency. I've also ordered from Hobbyeasy. No issues. I tend to only order kits like Kinetic from overseas as local hobby shops don't tend to stock them. I'll support Jix and the other local guys on Airfix, Trumpy and Revell as they get regular consignments. If you're worried about your credit card and bank account details like I am, open a separate cheque account and keep a minimum balance. Prior to buying on the web, place funds in account as required. Do your internet transaction in comfort . If they scam your card, you don't lose much.

Thanks for all the feedback. As friend is in no hurry to commence the actual build, they will order from one of the local shops and wait until it arrives.

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How come every time my ship comes in, I'm at the airport?

I get most of my stuff from LuckyModels without any issue, either with credit card, packaging or delivery. They are very good.

I'm placing an order this week so I can get the kit and post it on - let me know.

the problem here is the SAPO, when they do not strike 3 months of the year the latest excuse is that they do not have fuel for the delivery trucks
I am still waiting for the slippy that says my decals I have already collected 2 weeks ago is at my local PO