Gifts for someone who builds model railways: tools, supplies and scenery that suit any scale and any track. Picked from what modellers recommend on their forums and on Reddit after years of use.
Prices from shops in Czechia.
Leave locomotives, wagons and figures to them: those depend on the scale, era and railway they model.
Rails gather a dark film that makes trains stutter, and this rubber block rubs it off without scratching. It works on any scale and any track, and one lasts years.
CZK 250 ben-zerba.cz
A drop of light oil now and then keeps a locomotive running quietly, and the needle tip puts it right on the bearing. Safe for plastic gears; a bottle lasts years.
CZK 387 ben-zerba.cz
Holds a locomotive upside down or on its side in soft foam for servicing, with a magnetic tray for tiny screws. For H0 and TT, two common sizes of model train.
CZK 1,351.24 conrad.cz
Opening a locomotive means tiny screws that cheap drivers chew up. Twelve precision drivers with hard cross, flat, hex and Torx tips, in a pouch: a set to keep for good.
CZK 1,017.27 gabbyelectric.comHouses, stations and fences on most layouts start as plastic kits. If they build those, start here; if they mostly run trains, the other groups suit them better.
A water-thin glue for plastic kits: it runs into a joint by itself and welds it without blobs. Kit builders get through a lot of it.
CZK 99 artscale.eu
Slim, sharp nippers that cut kit parts off their frames close and clean, without crushing or whitening the plastic. For plastic only, never wire.
CZK 929 pmshop.cz
For placing figures, signs and lamp posts: fine, well-made tips that hold parts without letting them spring away, angled to reach in without knocking the scene.
CZK 296 pmshop.cz
A hand drill for tiny holes to fit handrails, lamp wires and details, where a power tool snaps the bit. It turns between the fingers; add a few fine drill bits.
CZK 449 pmshop.cz
Wiring a layout means cutting hundreds of thin wires to tracks and lamps. These small cutters snip copper and brass wire cleanly and flush. For wire, not rails or steel.
CZK 437.19 conrad.cz
Small pliers with smooth jaws, for bending wire, straightening a bent handrail or holding a tiny part without marking it. A precise step up from the hardware-store pair.
CZK 610.74 conrad.cz
Model work is tiny, and a magnifier on a headband leaves both hands free and flips up out of the way. Several lenses and its own light, and it fits over glasses.
CZK 649 pvmodel.cz
A small, precise power tool for drilling, cutting rail ends and grinding. Modellers who own both prefer it to a Dremel for fine work.
CZK 1,499 grandic.czThis is where a layout starts to look real, and neither depends on scale or era. The Gras-Master is the bigger present, for someone who builds scenery.
Soot and rust in a little case, rubbed on with a sponge, so a shiny new wagon looks like it’s worked for years. No airbrush needed, and it suits any scale or era.
€7.45 ≈ CZK 181 profimodel.cz
Makes grass that stands up like a real meadow, in any scale: the scenery tool many modellers put off buying. It charges by USB and needs grass fibres and glue as well.
CZK 3,789.26 conrad.czEverything you want in one place. We show you where each is cheapest and tell you when the price drops.
Board and card games for children from four to about eight, grouped by age: stacking and quick-spotting games, puzzles, games played as one team and first games of strategy. Picked from children’s game awards, parents’ forums and reviews.
Games players still suggest as a first modern board game, for families and friends who enjoy a game night. Picked from game awards, players’ forums and reviews.
Games keen players come back to for years, for someone who already has the classics. Picked from players’ forums and Reddit, critics’ reviews and game awards.
Gifts for someone who scuba dives, in the sea or in lakes and quarries. Based on what divers say on forums and Reddit, on tests and on years of use.
Things riders are glad to have and rarely buy for themselves. Based on riders’ forums and Reddit, the tests of the German magazine MOTORRAD and years of use.
What birders take on every walk, and a few things they rarely buy themselves. Based on birders’ forums and Reddit, binocular tests and years of use.