Maritime Hobbies & Crafts

Full disclosure: I don’t Unilocal a lot, but I’m so tired of the hit-​and-​miss customer service here, that it’s prompted me to sign up.
I myself have been modeling for close to 30 years, and have been to stores across North America, from the hole-​in-​the-​wall shops on the back roads of Connecticut, to the Cadillac daddies of them all, so I’m not coming to this party as a greenhorn. I’ve also been a patron off-​and-​on there for about 20 years, dropping in whenever in town. In short, my ‘cred’ is unassailable.
I’ve seen one or 2 reviews here with the words «taciturn» and «short». Let me add to this a bit, however, by summing it up this way: the service can be OK at times (if you catch them in a good mood), but when it’s bad? It’s god-​awful.
Supply wise, the place is great; whoever handles the ordering has their act together. There are all types of supplies from project beginning to end: paint, putty, sanding material, polystyrene, etc. and the store caters to a wide variety of enthusiasts. Model ships are their biggest strength when it comes to variety, although if you miss getting the rare one that’s in stock, you miss out all together. Armor and planes are ok, and cars are fairly standard stock rotation from the market. They have added some additional sci-​fi in the last few years, but selection remains a little weak.
The final straw came recently, however, when I dropped in on a beautiful day, about 25 minutes before close… and got glared at coming in the door. I couldn’t believe it. If I was some regular that griefed them a lot, or haggled over a return, ok, but I’m there once every month or 3. Glaring? Come on. The rest of the purchase was spent in stony silence until one of his ppl I perceived to be a regular came in to pick something up, at which point he managed to hold a full conversation _​over_​me @ the counter, physically standing between him and the regular, the only words uttered in my direction being a curt recital of the price. No thank you, no bag, zip. I simply cannot believe that, after dropping close to $ 80.00 for next to none of his effort, I was being made to feel like an inconvenience. Crazy thing is? This isn’t the 1^st time it’s happened to me here, and I don’t even know these guys! Pro Tip: if you hate working till 6, close at 5. Don’t take it out on the people paying the bills.
Another good example came while they were unaware I was nearby, browsing the lower-​level train accessories. From above, I could hear the voice of a friendly man asking to speak to someone with pointers on buying accessories for a new RC kit he had. He was directed to the elderly man at the small counter in the back where I was, who, upon hearing that he would soon be interacting with a customer, began to grumble to himself, finally muttering, «Ugh. Don’t bother me.»
«Don’t bother me?» What an inconsiderate, terrible way to treat your customers (or anyone, for that matter). In addition, the internet is now a virtual smörgåsbord of direct-​to-​your-​door model shopping; you’d have to be crazy to alienate your customers like that in this day & age. If that’s what they want, though, both me –and my money– are happy to oblige.

Miniature trains, planes, and automobiles, oh my!
Maritime Hobbies and Crafts strongly focuses on models, with a large part of their store dedicated to a large selection of kits, paints, and books. Staff are incredibly knowledgeable, and don’t mind helping out.
In order to expand their hobby scope, they do have a corner for other crafts, with small samplings of supplies for beading, bracelet making, knitting and crocheting, and even some kites.
If you’re looking to pick up a new hobby, or need to add to that ever-​growing train track in your basement, this is the place I would recommend.
Plus their display case has a scale replica of the Battlestar Galactica, so, win.

Fabulous store that focuses mainly on the needs of the model-​making and miniature railway crowd. The male staff are knowledgeable if a bit taciturn in the typical way of model specialists. The store has a good selection of scale model-​making supplies including dimensional basswood and balsa. If you need to build an architectural model or a theatre set model, this may be the place to buy your supplies. They have a small selection of specifically-​milled 1:12 scale mouldings (baseboards, picture frames). Great railway section for HO/​00 and N scale modelling. The rolling stock and locos are exclusively North American. They have a back room with used pieces for sale.
The upper floor is mostly scale models — vehicles, largely, and all the glues and paints one needs to put them together and finish them.
They’ve recently added more crafty stuff — some jewelry-​making supplies, needlecraft, candle-​making, etc. This takes up a very small part of the store, but whenever I browse it I’m really impressed by whoever has done the buying here — it’s tiny but extraordinarily comprehensive.

Let me start by saying that I love everything that has to do with creating something with your hands. That said, when I went into Maritime Hobbies & Crafts I expected a roughly equal share of different hobbies. They definitely cater more to the model enthusiasts. Only about 15% of the store is dedicated to other crafts like jewelry and random other crafts, in one corner.
I walked to the lower part of the store to explore the model trains and RC vehicles (including some pretty cool helicopters). I asked a few questions as I was interested, but with very short answers.
If you go to this store you’re better off knowing what you’re going in for.

I’ve always had a secret love of models and tiny replicas meaning Maritime Hobbies & Crafts speaks directly to my heart. The store is packed with models, supplies, toys, games, and crafts. The model train section is the best in the city. The store caters to regular folk, kids, and the advanced hobbyist.
I’ve bought some crochet stuff here and whatever they don’t have they’ll order in for you. They also take suggestions on anything you’d like them to carry they don’t already have. The prices are quite competitive compared to other places that sell the same types of things. Even if you didn’t come to buy anything in particular the store is fun to just browse. Did I mention they have kites shaped like animals? Those are pretty cool.

Worth the three hour drive! These guys were sadly overlooked due to some confusion about their product selection. What a mistake! Able to answer some airbrush questions from a non-​pretentious perspective. They had lots of trains and miniatures info for my ‘man’ and a larger than standard tatting shuttle and a pretty wicked Ed Roth model for myself. I could’ve spent a couple hundred more easily, and the gents left such an impression the Man went back today before we left town. These guys know their stuff and are more than willing to share. Best customer service I’ve had in a while.

If you have kids this is a place to go when you want something fun and interesting and even educational. Taking my son there when he was smaller we purchased many items from this location and he still have two of these today.
This is a store that is for the Hobbyist. Not only do they have games for kids they have fun and interesting they have hobby kits for adults. Ship making kits was something that was very interesting. Puzzles and paints fill the walls and ready for that little one to make something special from.
Honestly this is a store that is different and unique and a must see for all to enjoy and learn. Can you honestly put a price on education? This store is a bit pricey but like I said my son still has two of the games and he is 22.

As a avid hobby and plastic multimedia scale miniature builder Maritime was on the check list of stops for my first trip to Halifax. Great location in the scenic downtown area. The selection of kits was excellent including rare resin cast figures and ships. Was a bit disappointed the staff never had better information of model contests or at least a flier of up coming shows. The Canadian content was excellent as they had resin ships made in Canada of Canadian subjects including a selection of Ultra decals for Canadian aircraft. Its the shop in Nova Scotia for serious model builders and has a large train area as well. Will defiantly stop in again when I need a few supplies.

Poor planning had me visiting this store three times within a 90 minute period, which I felt silly about but didn’t really mind. It’s full of fun stuff to look at and learn about. Take a walk through the model train section, for example, and get a lesson in the many ways you can create tiny, fake landscapes. This is definitely your go-​to spot in Halifax for all of your tunnel, fake tree and water-​imitating resin needs. Provided that your needs come in 1:87 scale.
Models — including trains, ships, cars, military and other — take up most of the floor space here, but there is plenty of other stuff, too. Fibre artists: take advantage of the wide selection of embroidery floss, stored in tiny drawers. Or pick up a cross stitch kit, beading supplies, vials of glitter, the necessities for candle making or any type of balsa wood or dowel that you’re in need of.
A great place to wander in if you’re walking by, or to head if you’re in need of supplies.

There is not much else to say about this store except it is pretty special!
Ditto to all the other reviews and comments.
It really is a place you have to go for yourself. I do not think there is once spec of room left in the store to put anything. It is jammed packed!
The staff are great and friendly. We went there to look for a few of the games we like.
It is true, most people probably walk by not knowing what is on the other side.

This place is like a super-​fun hidden secret. The storefront, if you can even call it that, is so unobtrusive that you more or less forget there’s a store in there. But once you walk in — cool! Tons of hobby and craft supplies. Big emphasis on modelmaking. If you do anything crafty at all, you’ll love this place. And if you don’t, it might make you wish you were a little craftier.

Best Model, Hobby and Craft store in the city!
Maritime Hobbies & Crafts has it all! Every kind of model airplane, ship, submarine, space shuttle I could think of and more! Toy trains, actual flying airplanes and a few, ultra realistic flight simulator games. I could tell you more about their selection but just believe me when I say its the largest in the city and they have anything you need if you are a Model or craft person.
The staff are quiet but friendly and they are definitely fans of model building as well. They are very knowledgeable and helpful. No particular situation stood out for me as far as staff friendliness goes but that is most likely due to the fact that every time I go, I have a great time.
I wish the pricing for their models was about five dollars less. But I understand their pricing, especially in this day and age where video games are all the rage. Model building is looking more and more like a specialty hobby more now than ever.
This store is conveniently placed in downtown Halifax. Their staff are great and they have a very, very impressive selection of models. Plastic, metal, wooden, whatever you are looking for they have it. If they don’t, they can order it in. So if you have an interest in models this is definitely the store for you!

Maritime Hobbies & Crafts is one of those great little finds that you stumble upon occasionally. The men running this great little hobby-​mart have customer service down to a science. Perhaps they’re used to students coming in with a wide variety of unusual requests, (Nova Scotia College of Art and Design has its main campuses blocks away) but I was impressed.
My goal in venturing into Maritime Hobbies & Crafts was to find a square piece of cork board that I could then use to display/​organize my earrings by hanging them on push pins. The proprietor informed me that he didn’t have square pieces but showed me where the model train set section was, where I was able to find oblong narrow pieces of cork tracking. Perfect! He then directed me to their vast array of push pins. I know I could have found push pins at the dollar store but I just really liked the friendly gentleman helping me.
I really can’t remember a time that I was treated so well in a store. The proprietor/​employees were genuinely happy to just have me look around. I recommend checking Maritime Hobbies & Crafts out for their array of puzzles, gift ideas, minor hardware and hobby materials. These guys are great!