MODELS
MODEL CITIZEN Model maker Brian Collins has produced beautifully detailed scale reproductions of Dublin Fire Brigade vehicles.
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ockdown has meant that we are paying attention to the finer details in life, and for model maker Brian Collins, this is particularly true as he produces 1:76 scale replicas of some of Dublin’s most iconic vehicles. Recently, this has included models of a DFB ambulance and Scania fire engine that are outstanding in their attention to detail and authenticity. An importer by trade, Brian has developed his hobby and collection before embarking on his own business creating and selling them at trade fairs, through model stores and on his own website. Though he first started collecting in 1999, his interest in model vehicles goes back to his childhood.
“Like a lot of children, I was very interested in cars and trucks, but I remember having a Mercedes matchbox rigid truck with trailer, and that got me really interested,” he tells me. “Much later, when I got through school and college and started to work, that interest had stayed with me and I started buying model trucks, going to fairs and eventually looking at how I could turn my hobby into a business.”
BUSINESS The business started in 2008, with Brian showcasing his model collection for sale at fairs and building up a customer base, and he noticed a gap in the market for vehicles that would be recognised and cherished by the Irish market.
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