Here in Coventry we have a tiny LHS run by an employee/refugee from the Antics shop that closed because they were told the building was going to be demolished.
It turned out the developers changed their minds but Antics could not be arsed to keep it open.
So he has set up shop in a place called Fargo Village off Far Gosford Street and it is called “The Paint Rack”. It is much easier to support than the next nearest Mike’s Models which is 30 miles away and a PITA to get to by public transport.
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Yeah the trip from Coventry to Mike’s is going to be quite the adventure!
I’m very lucky with my location, and it’s also directly on my bus route home from work. I usually nip in a couple of times a month.
Speaking of which, I picked up this the other day.
I’m a sucker for these small scale Matchbox kits. I remember this one being a lot of fun when I built it when I was a kid. A nice little weekend nostalgia build.
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One place that is slightly easier to get to is a shop called Parabellum in Brums Jewellery Quarter.
I went there pre pandemic on the train and it is a real Alladin’s cave with the shelves heaving with stock.
Some shelves had rows of kits stacked in front of one another, so you had to pull out the stack to see what was behind it!
The “lanes” between the shelves were barely wide enough for two adults to pass each other.
Next time I go to Mordor I will have to see if they are still going.
Just found the website http://www.parabellum.co.uk/
Still has 2010 prices under Airfix!
Only way to find out is go there.
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It’s one I’ve heard of but never actually visited. To be honest, I don’t even know where the Jewellery quarter is in Birmingham! I’m not a native Brummie and only moved here a few years ago. I tend to avoid the city centre if possible. I can just about find my way to Centenary Square!
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I am a saaf London boy originally.
Only been in Coventry since 2017.
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I’m not even from that far. Walsall originally. So close we’re routinely mistaken for Brummies!
Another east London’er 
. I always had fun with that. I am originally from East London, South Africa. Then moved to east London, UK. Finally ended up in Romford area for a number of years before finally moving to the USA. Confused a lot of people when asked where I lived and where I was from!
All this love for London…
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As I mostly got money from the relatives for my birthday the other day, thought I would treat myself.
Looking forward to doing the Tiran. Never done anything Post-War Soviet and hardly any Israeli armour, so should make a nice change. I hear a lot of positive things about Tamiya’s T-55.
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A belated Happy Birthday Stephen.
The Tiran kit is nice. It is typical shake and bake Tamiya, although it is missing finer details. There are no tools provided for it. I am building this for the T54/T55 group build and have added them to mine - from spares box and scratch build:
ABER makes a great gun barrel and Grill set if you are that way inclined. I used them:
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Thanks Peter.
I’ve only had a quick look at it, but honestly I hadn’t noticed the lack of tools. I’ll have a look at your build in the campaign and do a search for references to see what I need. No doubt I have some in the spares somewhere.
Cheers.
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Thanks for the heads up on those missing. I managed to find an unused box of one of those AFV accessories that Academy makes today in the stash. Looks like it has all the required tools I’ll need. Knew I would have something lying around. Really just the cleaning rods to find out about, but can’t see that being difficult to scratch. Bit of brass wire should do the trick.
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INFIDEL!!!
A friend of mine Was selling slot cars, track and parts for many years. He decided to open a track and began struggling. Walk in traffic was slow and the distributors online price to the public was just above whole sale and the margin was too small to keep his store open. Funny to think the distributor killing off the retailer. So my friend became a distributor for a couple of companies and worked very hard to promote those brands here in the states. The cornerstone of his business is good service. He would even take care of people who had bought merchandise from his competitors and had problems with the merchandise. Then the pandemic hit, I just knew he was going to go belly up. To my pleasant surprise he has had his best year yet even with the track closed to the public due to covid. You just don’t get enough walk in customers to match the internet. Becoming a distributor is what saved him. In today’s market you have to find a niche. You need to carry brands that are good quality but hard to find. Andy’s Hobbies carries ATAK. I don’t know of many others that do. Because of that I am planning some additional purchases. There are brands that you have to order from overseas to get. Why not carry them and become the go to person. For the hobby shop to survive you need internet sales to support the walk in trade. Margins are tight so improving the service creates word of mouth advertising and repeat business that you need. No longer is it OK to retire, buy some kits, rent a store front and expect to have a working hobby shop. Being successful nowadays is a lot of work and ingenuity.
Thanks Peter, the tools in that set look a lot like those. Will do the trick.
Looking at that cleaning rod rack, I think I might even have something in the spares that will do that job. I’ll be filling that bin with stowage anyway, so assuming I can find it, it should work.
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