A shop to be placed firmly in the "how the heck did I not know about this place" tray.
Based in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter, Parabellum has been open for 21 years. OK, it's only open Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but only a minutes walk from the station, I must have passed it on a previous visit.
Anyway, you enter and this is what you find:
A lot of plastic kits. Stacked on shelves floor to ceiling. All subjects, scales and manufacturers. Nothing railway, unless you could 1:32 static models of German military trains, but pretty much everything else.
There's also paint - Humbrol, Game, Xtracrylix, Tamiya and Vallejo, tools, plastics, glues, detailing stuff. You have to dig a bit, but then that's very much my sort of shop.
The owner is knowledgeable and happy to chat about modelling. I guess you don't keep a shop open for over 2 decades if all you do is grunt at customers and can't put your hand on a specific kit when they ask for it.
Well worth a look for any modeller, even if you don't think you like plastic kits, the chances are there will be something to tempt you!
Visit the Parabellum website.
"Nothing railway, unless you count 1:32 static models of German military trains, but pretty much everything else."
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many people see this statement as a potential challenge.
OK - this might sound like a strange comment - but there's madness in my method (or should that be the other way round?).
Over the years, a number of kits have been produced of the Ford Model T - which is interesting, because this vehicle formed the basis of a number of railmotors and inspection cars.
Meanwhile, various manufacturers offer "military" kits of Gaz AA, AAA and MM trucks, in a range of scales.
At this point, I could imagine some people wondering how this could possibly be of interest to anyone. Well, these vehicles were effectively Ford AA trucks, built under licence in Russia.
Again, there's the possibility of using these kits to build railmotors and railtrucks - but how about 2 front ends, with a lightweight chassis and a boxy passenger body between them? For your pleasure, I present to you ... a Hannover type Wismar railbus.
Meanwhile, if you're looking for railtruck or "critter" shaped inspiration, I'd recommend visiting American model railroad sites, such as RR Line, or FreeRails (where one of the moderators also converted an Airfix "London B Type Bus kit into a railbus).
Yes , a good shop tucked away, might be a bit over stocked if you are a bit large but a lot of those useful paints and tools.
ReplyDeleteWell worth searching out
Robert