I'm looking for a scale model shops in Seoul. Many thanks for the addresses!

Been a few years since I lived in Seoul.... but there were always Academy kits available in toy stores. There is a Tamiya store in the Mall above Yongsan station I have been meaning to check out. Here is someones blog link that list a bunch for ya. http://raphadano.blogspot.kr/2015/05/gunpla-in-korea.html Enjoy Korea while you're here.
Dan

Hi Rafaltoman,

I been to Korea a couple of times and I noted some GPS/KML locations (Google earth) which could help finding shops, I know that their are more shops in the erea but I "lost" the locations, if you find more shops please share as i'm going October back to Seoul, thanks

Seoul
37.571122 127.014973 http://www.finehobby.com/
37.572131 127.015561 http://www.finehobby.com/ Parking for the Fine hobby shop
37.507016 126.890313 http://joyhobby.co.kr/mall/main.asp?siteid=joyhobby
37.50771 126.964592 http://www.newhobby.net/ 8-32 heukseokdong Dongjak-gu, Seoel, 2nd Floor


You never know where you end up.
Deaugu, 2 Academy shops
35.855394 128.604077 www.academy.co.kr/
35.860541 128.611163 www.academy.co.kr/

And my favorite in Cheongju, why because you get a huge discount if you buy a couple (more then every other shop) and the old couple running the shop will get a big smile after a panic attac when they see westerns entering their shop, location 36°38'38" N 127°29'23" E

Sometime last year I posted directions and some photos of a place not far from Yongan station. It is between the Korean War Memorial Museum and the iPark Mall. It's a small place, but filled to overflowing with kits. With my corn fed American shoulders I need to turn sideways just to pass between the aisles. I plan to go there this week so perhaps I'll take some photos. Much more of a selection than what you see in the mall, although the mall is still well worth the visit.
If your search mojo is up to speed you may find the old post.

Many thanks for your help!
Now I got the details and am ready to go
Cheers!

Here's how to get to the place near the iPark Mall.
Get off the number 4 subway and exit by the Yongsan Fire station. As you exit, if you see this, execute an about face and walk 50 meters:



After 50 meters you'll see the sign below. Execute a right face and walk 50 meters again:



Now look over your left shoulder. You should see this:



You're there!
They don't sell Academy here, but you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a place that does.

FWIW, back in 2006, there was a hobby shop in the COEX mall that sold Academy kits at MSRP. They also had Tamiya Enamel paints and Gundam kits.

I also recall the Samgakii shop was on the second floor of a different building near the subway exit (#6 of . But they may have a early closing time.

Indeed, it was. About two shorts blocks from the one above. No longer there however, although signs of it remain.

Well, the brick work is sort of familiar.

Many, many thanks again! ))

Anyone have good directions to the shop near Samgakji station? I would be walking form Yongsan garrison.

I found the places in iParc mall and the gift shop at the War Museum has a good selection (for the corner the model kits are in) and good prices.

When I was stationed there in 2002, the closest shop was about 5-6 blocks south of Seoul station, and about 8-9 blocks west of Yangson. The shop was on the second floor-- I think one of the posts above describes it. From Yongsan garrison-- let's say south post, you'd go out the gate and head left (west), all the way down the main drag, past the National War Museum and memorial (which should be across the street on your right), then down to the major highway-- (it's the one running north and south from Seoul station) Cross that main multi lane street (can't remember the name, its been 14 years now), and when you get to the other side, there should be a shop in the area, with a set of stairs to the second floor, there's the standard "Academy" sign, but its got much more than Academy. Many folks don't realize this, but you can almost walk into any Mom and Pop corner grocery in ROK, and they will have a stack of Academy or other Korean kits, dirt cheap. Most of the large cities (I was stationed for 2 years in Taegu) have modeling clubs which import kits from all over for the members, then open a store front to sell surplus kits to fund the club. I frequented the one in downtown Taegu, they were only about 8 feet wide, but the shelve were crammed with stuff. (still kicking myself for not picking up a no-name brand, Japanese made, see thru Gee-Bee racer in 1/32 scale with a complete detailed interior in brass PE). One of the modelers in the club painted the most realistic figures I'd ever seen anywhere before--or since. They usually love visitors to come by. You can also find the standard Academy Hobby shops of which every major city has at least one-- as westerners, we sometimes put Academy down, but these shops carry a full line of Academy tools, import paints, and of course Academy kits. When I was there, Tamiya and Academy kits were fairly cheap in the Mom/Pop stores, about 1/3 the cost or less of US shops, but they were seldom first run kits--I used to buy from a Tailor Shop in Taegu that carried hobby kits! Good luck and have fun, Korea is an amazing place.
VR, Russ

The Tamiya store in the ipark mall was pretty good. Selection as of 2013-2014 was good, generally seemed to have a healthy stock of literally anything Tamiya was making at the time (so a lot of the tools, as far as I could tell any/all of the paint colors). Models seems to be chiefly the newer ones (like don't go there in the hopes that you'll find a kit that's been out of production for years), but if Tamiya announced something new, it's going to be in the store pronto.

There's also a store that sells gundam models right across the way. I never went in, but imagine there's some tools/paint in there you could use too.

It wasn't especially cheap, but it wasn't eye gouging either, got all of my paint for my time in Korea there minus a few odd vallejo colors I had shipped in (I really don't like Tamiya's flesh tones, a few very specific colors for uniforms, stuff like that). Still have...I think three models I picked up there that I haven't built yet.

I still bought a lot of stuff online. I was at Camp Casey so getting into Seoul was not as easy as it is for some (also oh god optempo). If you are a GI though and get mail through an APO address though;

1. Good news! If you order anything online, it's only paying the shipping to the US. So if you find something on amazon, or a US based hobby website, it often might be a lot cheaper than getting it locally.

2. Also good news! Small amounts of acrylic type paint are totally okay to ship. I say small amounts because I don't want to crush anyone's hopes/dreams, but I ordered all of my initial batch of paints online, so like, 6 or 7 of the large tamiya bottles in a box didn't raise any eyebrows.

3. Shipping times tended to be adding 5-7 days on top of whatever the shipping was from where you ordered online. Sometimes it was a little faster (my record was four days), sometimes a lot longer (the record was a month, but a lot of that had to do with the shipper).

4. Bad news: everything must go to the US first. I ordered a Bradley I was painting for a friend online, and did not realize it was only coming from a store about 3-4 hours by tank away from my desk. It was shipped to the US by slow "free" shipping, then put through the APO system, then arrived to me three weeks later.

It all really comes down to preference. I did not often have the time to go to Seoul, so often it was just best practice to order something off amazon before going to the field, then collect my stuff when I passed through on the way back to housing after it was all over. On the other hand, going into Seoul was a blast.

Unsolicited recommendations:

1. Vato's Tacos in Itaewon. You'll find a lot of good food in Korea. I miss it all dearly. You won't find very many good tacos though which Vato's has, and it's all trendy and a good place to bring your date.

2. Do go to the Korean War Memorial museum. It's better if you can read Hangul. I can't, but the stuff on display was still cool, and there's enough English to limp by.

3. If your MWR/BOSS/whatever offers trips to the Joint Security Area, shut up and go. I kept putting it off because I had more important things to do/oh god not this weekend I'm so tired/etc and before I knew it I was going back to the US.

4. Soju will sneak up on you. Drink in moderation, or get some to knock back at your housing first to get a feel for it.

5. Do.Not.Monkey.Around.With.The.Curfew. It's one of the few solid things in Korea that'll ruin your military career in one shot.

6. Do not mess with the police. A lot of them are "draftees" basically. They just want to get back to college/working at Samsung/whatever and they really don't need you ugly Americaning in their face. Even if they're sort of wrong, just leave when they ask you too.

7. Korea, and Koreans are great. There's going to be some rocky spots, but I only spent about two years of my time in the military there, but it represents like 90% of all the good memories and stuff I look back on with nostalgia.

Maxims for folks going to Korea:

1. Soju (the National Liqour) comes in clear bottles, with a toad stamped into them-- that's because if you drink it you'll croak!

2. If you do drink Soju, the turtle ditches somehow seem a lot deeper.

I recommend sticking to the hobby shops and staying away from the Soju!

VR, Russ

Yep- I am only here TDY- so just taking advantage of the opportunity. I got 2 kits from the War Museum gift shop. So just looking for the next level- especially the harder to find/get Korean AM stuff.