Hub Hobby Shop

Hub Hobby Shop Plastic Model kits of Tanks, Planes, Cars, and Ships-Model Rockets-HO Scale trains, Tools. Paint "We started to add hobby supplies.

Specialties:

Plastic Model kits of Model Tanks, Planes, Cars, and Ships

HO and N Scale Model Trains and Scenery Material

Books on Military Subjects

Pinewood Derby Supplies - - - Model Rockets
Modeling Tools, Paints, and Glues - - Basswood, balsa, chipboard, plastics sheets, shapes, & strips



History:

Hub Hobby Shop started in a plain commercial block of South Broad Avenue in New Orleans bet

ween Washington and Pumping Station #1. (It is called Pumping Station #1 because it was the first pumping station in the city having been installed in approximately 1896. It was built there because it is the lowest part of the city at minus six feet). The hobby shop’s name comes from its Broadmoor location - near the center of the city's proverbial saucer. Looking at a map, the streets radiate outward like spokes in a wheel. "We bought the business in 1951, when it was a radio-repair shop and sold small appliances," once remarked Jerry Kelly, co-founder of the Hub. Very soon, they began to eclipse the radio and appliance repair business, so we got out of that quickly." The stock comprises a virtual candy-box of Lilliputian train accessories, plastic models of airplanes, cars and ships, and a host of oddities. Elaborate model planes hang from the ceiling. Racks of paint and books on military aircraft line the wall. Diminutive shrubs and trees are also available for architecture students, model railroaders and school projects. August, 2005 brought Hurricane Katrina and seven feet of water to the Hub. The roof was completely gone, which allowed Hurricane Rita to dump six inches of rain in through the top three weeks later. In the spring of 2006, the shop re-opened in its present location on Airline Drive in Metairie about five miles from its old location.

Helldiver:Shane Trosclair built this 1/48 Revell-Monogram Pro Modeler SB2C-4 Helldiver. Its markings are from VB-85 flyi...
08/10/2026

Helldiver:

Shane Trosclair built this 1/48 Revell-Monogram Pro Modeler SB2C-4 Helldiver. Its markings are from VB-85 flying off of the USS Shangri-La CV-38. It was involved in the Tokyo raids in February 1945. He used Tamiya AS-8 Navy Blue to paint it.

Some trains today . . . . . .
08/07/2026

Some trains today . . . . . .

Some gundams. . . . . pre-built airplanes . . . . some airplanes you glue together . . . some scenery . . . .
07/31/2026

Some gundams. . . . . pre-built airplanes . . . . some airplanes you glue together . . . some scenery . . . .

DraMi:For those who haven’t heard, here’s part of the Dragon-Zimi press release:“Dragon Models Ltd. and Zimi Model Techn...
07/29/2026

DraMi:

For those who haven’t heard, here’s part of the Dragon-Zimi press release:

“Dragon Models Ltd. and Zimi Model Technology Co., Ltd. are pleased to announce that Zimi Model has acquired selected scale model kit mould assets from Dragon Models Ltd.”

In celebration (?) of this, we’ve red-tagged the Dragon kits in these photos at 25% off.

Tales of Broad Street: Camouflage PaintIt is fairly common for customers to ask for help in selecting paint for their mo...
07/28/2026

Tales of Broad Street: Camouflage Paint

It is fairly common for customers to ask for help in selecting paint for their models. One such request came from a modeler looking for tropical camouflage for a Spitfire. I selected the colors and put them on the counter.

He looked at them and said that’s not what he was looking for. He added that he wanted the type of paint where all of the colors were in one bottle so that the correct camo scheme would appear as he brushed it on.

The photo accompanying this post is of a model made by Jack Hollander, who used individual bottles of paint instead of the yet-to-be invented 3-in-1 camo paint.

Of his model Jack says:
“The colors that I used on this 1/32 Hasegawa Bf 109 G6 are Testors Model Masters RLM74, 75, and 76. I had to lighten the shade of the Grau Violet.

The Bare Metal Foil that I used on the landing struts looks like they’ve been chromed. One of the more challenging things on this kit was putting the ‘swirl’ decal on the nose. Micro-Sol helped in the process. The chevron indicates that the plane belongs to a squadron commander.”

Chinese Junk:Jake Groby built this Chinese Junk. Of it, he says:“Another piece of ‘JUNK’ saved from the mud of Katrina. ...
07/25/2026

Chinese Junk:

Jake Groby built this Chinese Junk. Of it, he says:

“Another piece of ‘JUNK’ saved from the mud of Katrina. This model lived in a plastic box for the past 20+ years. I picked up the kit back in ’89 I think from Toys-R-US in the Lake Forest Plaza (way back time Machine).

The Instructions were toast, but all the parts survived the ages. Painting the sail bamboo reeds was a bit time consuming, but the weathering of the model and sails blended together nicely. The paint used was all Enamels from my Katrina Stash. The Bamboo was painted using Floquil Water Base Spanish Yellow so the paint would not bleed into the Floquil enamel Boxcar Red. I replaced all the out of scale blocks with wooden blocks closer to the proper scale as well.

I learned several things about Chinese Ship Building, such as they never adopted belaying methods for securing lines nor did they tack the sails, like square rigged ship. Chinese junks tacked by steering the boat directly through the wind; the sail's semi-rigid, battened structure automatically swung to the new side without the need for sailors to physically pull it across, adjust lines, or worry about dangerous, uncontrolled jibs.

This is the first time I’ve built a Junk Rig, rather simple.”

Man-Bat:Bart Molay just finished this 1:8 resin Man-Bat, who was a Batman villain.Reliable sources say that “Man-Bat (Dr...
07/24/2026

Man-Bat:

Bart Molay just finished this 1:8 resin Man-Bat, who was a Batman villain.

Reliable sources say that “Man-Bat (Dr. Robert Kirkland "Kirk" Langstrom) is a character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Introduced in Detective Comics #400 (June 1970) as an enemy of the superhero Batman, the character belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues’ gallery. Originally portrayed as a supervillain, later incarnations show the Man-Bat as a sympathetic villain or antihero.

Frankenstein meets the Gundams . . .
07/24/2026

Frankenstein meets the Gundams . . .

Elegy to a good model builderJoe Weathers, 1940 – 2026Part 3 of 3Joe Weathers, patient with the grain,stood where dust a...
07/23/2026

Elegy to a good model builder
Joe Weathers, 1940 – 2026
Part 3 of 3

Joe Weathers, patient with the grain,
stood where dust and daylight crossed,
and chose the quiet labor of the hand,
to make of fragile wood a second wind,
to give small wings the weight of human hope.

Not for him the ready box, the numbered parts,
the easy promise folded into kits;
he trusted lines that asked to be believed,
thin plans unfurled like maps of distant weather,
blueprints of air translated into care.

He read each measured curve the way some read
old letters from a father now long gone;
each rib and spar he coaxed from balsa sheets
became a sentence in a patient hymn,
a craft of trust, of seeing what might rise.

His knife knew tenderness. His sandpaper
could smooth a roughness without taking soul.

Glue set beneath his fingers like a vow;
the table held its breath; the frame grew true;
and somewhere in the room, a future hummed.

He knew that flight begins before the sky—
in patience, in proportions, in the will
to trust a drawn intention with your hours.

So many now would skip to finished things;
Joe loved the becoming best of all.

And if his models climbed the open air,
it was because his spirit had gone first—
out past the hedgerow of the ordinary,
out where imagination trims its course
against the crosswinds time cannot command.

Now plans lie still, and balsa keeps his touch;
the bench is quiet where his vision shone.

Yet every careful thing made from first lines,
every small craft shaped faithfully from dream,
bears Joe Weathers onward through the light.

Created by ChatGPT using the prompt:
“Write an elegy for Joe Weathers who built model airplanes using balsa wood”

Elegy to a good model builderJoe Weathers, 1940 – 2026Part 2 of 3The Corsair:Joe Weathers was an amateur aviation histor...
07/22/2026

Elegy to a good model builder
Joe Weathers, 1940 – 2026
Part 2 of 3

The Corsair:

Joe Weathers was an amateur aviation historian. Before the days of email, he’d write to Naval Aviators collecting their stories and photographs.

Ginter Publications even credited Joe in their double-sized book on the Vought SB2C Vindicator Dive Bomber saying: “This book has extensive first-person narrative from Vought test pilots and USN/USMC pilots as well as the French V-156-F commander gathered by Joe Weathers in 1966 through 1974 when their minds were still sharp and their memories strong. All of which are gone today. A truly interesting read.”

But closer to home was WWII naval aviator Robert Cosgrove with Torpedo Squadron 15, who retired as a Lt/Cmdr.

Cosgrove was an Avenger pilot whose torpedo hit the Japanese Battleship Musashi. Over the course of his career, he was awarded the Navy Cross, three Distinguished Flying Crosses, and nine Air Medals.

There is video of Cosgrove’s badly damaged Avenger being pushed over the side of the USS Essex. He eventually became Commander of the Navy base on the lakefront where LSU-NO is today.

Cosgrove let Joe borrow his logbook – and Joe lost it!

Seven years later, the logbook was found. He called Cosgrove, apologized profusely, and offered to bring it over. Cosgrove told Joe he was on his way to pick it up.

One day Joe told this story to a couple of modeling buddies he’d known for years without mentioning Cosgrove’s name.

One of the guys looked at Joe and asked, “Are you talking about Robert Cosgrove? He’s my great uncle!”

Joe built this model of the Corsair that Cosgrove flew with the New Orleans reserve unit.

Address

3829 Airline Drive
Metairie, LA
70001

Opening Hours

Monday 9:30am - 5:15pm
Tuesday 9:30am - 5:15pm
Thursday 9:30am - 5:15pm
Friday 9:30am - 5:15pm
Saturday 9:30am - 5:15pm

Telephone

+15048286868

Website

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