Sad news, indeed.
My local branches (Nottingham and Derby) have very helpful, knowledgeable staff. Two of the assistants in the Nottingham branch know me by name…

Following TO23‘s shameless plug (;) ), a shameless endorsement from yours truly…
A few years ago, while passing, I called in to NAM. After a quick browse, I left with a 1:72 Convair B-36 under my arm. Bargain at £35.

[Pedant Mode ON]

Shouldn’t that be “elusive”? :p
[Pedant Mode OFF]

You’re quite right about elusive – I spotted it myself whilst preparing something for one of the Useful Information listings in here! It has now been added to the list of alts for when the long-overdue website update is completed!! 😉

Glad I achieved a result re your purchase – all the support we can secure ultimately benefits the collection! I’m told that yesterday some of the ‘Airshow Returnees’ had retained some funds to make a few purchases as well. 😎

On the downside apparently the Herpa Wings 1/500th scale civil aircraft items on a well-known Internet auction site aren’t attracting much interest – you win some you lose some!