Miniature model makers Hornby are getting business back on track in Margate

KentOnline / KMTV

The industry has had to compete with the online entertainment space, so they hope this new immersive centre will transport people back in time.

Transcript

00:00 A vintage film of the golden age of steam.

00:06 Well think again, zooming out of camera and you quickly realise this is all actually a

00:12 model.

00:13 Wonderworks in Margate is a newly opened space featuring models you can play with from the

00:17 Hornby Hobbies brand.

00:19 But in recent years Hornby has had to compete with computer games, but they say that's yet

00:25 to derail their business.

00:27 It's enormously important and I would obviously say it's very sustainable.

00:31 These brands have been building up followings and enthusiasts for years and years and years,

00:36 for decades in fact.

00:37 And actually there's one thing about them that's really important, that it's really

00:40 really nourishing, valuable, creative time away from screens.

00:44 So I think it's a really really important thing for new generations but also to continue

00:48 supporting the older generation.

00:50 And it's not just model trains, the brand is also responsible for corgi, scalelectrics

00:55 and airfix.

00:56 The new space tells their story and they even have experts on hand to help you get in to

01:02 the hobby.

01:03 Well I think more than that it's even more sort of therapeutic and really rewarding to

01:07 do.

01:08 They've gotten smaller since I used to do them when I was younger, which makes them

01:12 all the more fiddly and all the more sort of rewarding when you actually get it where

01:14 you want it to be and it's finally painted and all put together properly.

01:18 But yeah, just incredibly sort of therapeutic to paint as well I find, especially doing

01:23 it freehand.

01:23 And you can even race a car around the Margate seafront.

01:31 Let's see if I'm any better than I was when I was a child.

01:34 And your fastest lap was 11.

01:37 I'm currently at the bottom of the leaderboard but the whole point is you can have as many

01:40 goes as you want to try and build that time up and get yourself at the front in the Grand

01:43 Prix du Margate.

01:44 Yeah, the whole point of Scalelectric is that it's a family game, it's a family thing

01:48 that people can play together.

01:50 A games console for Christmas is great for one member of the family and the others just

01:53 have to watch.

01:54 So the point of Scalelectric is you can put it on the floor on Christmas Day and all of

01:58 you can play together.

01:59 It can be granddad and grandma versus the youngest in the family and they're all on

02:02 the same playing field and they can all play together.

02:04 And that's what we've got here.

02:06 Families can come and enjoy the experience as a whole.

02:08 It might be a world of miniature, but bosses here say the Wonderworks is a giant leap to

02:13 encouraging more of us to get into modelling.

02:16 Gabriel Morris for KeanTV in Margate.

02:18 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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