WonderFest 2016 Show Report

Lou Dalmaso, Raleigh, North Carolina

Lou finished AMT’s 1/48 scale Eagle transporter from Space: 1999 with Tamiya and Polly Scale acrylics. Pre-shading and Aztek Dummy masks weathered the ship.

Andrew Stanicek, Hagerstown, Maryland

Aves Apoxie Sculpt augmented the body of AMT’s 1/15 scale Rancor and spilled guts from his supper, a Gamorean Guard, in Andrew’s scene from Return of the Jedi. Layers of Createx Wicked, Createx Auto-Air, and Vallejo Model Air acrylics applied with airbrush, dry-brushing, and a sponge built up the grotesque color and texture on the creature. Andrew sculpted the rock base from blue insulation foam and covered it with plaster and sand.

Tom Roylance, Tampa, Florida

Tom built Bandai’s 1/100 scale Xabungle Walker Machine Trad 11 Type with a couple of modifications, including braided wire and a new cable end for the winch, and a cab enclosed with styrene and metal mesh. Custom mixed Tamiya acrylics finished it in Caterpillar yellow; hairspray and sponge techniques combined to produce chipping and wear.

Paul Helfrich, Dayton, Ohio

Other than mounting it on a new base, Paul built MPC’s 1/94 scale B-wing fighter out of the box. It’s a 1983 kit, but he took a modern approach to finishing, pre-shading panel lines and using hairspray as a release agent to chip the paint. “I really enjoy building older kits!” he says.

Harold Wholf, Cleburne, Texas

Building Dragon’s 1/9 scale Thor out of the box, Harold painted it with enamels. He hand-painted the entire Marvel superhero except for the cape, which he sprayed with his airbrush. Pastels weathered the Prince of Asgard.

Jeff improved Skyhook Models’ resin spaceship from the 1957 giant-monster movie 20 Million Miles to Earth with brass-rod rocket engines and a little gizmology. After a coat of Tamiya gray primer, he airbrushed Floquil bright silver and shaded the leading edges with Alclad II Hot Metal sepia. The engine area received Hot Metal blue, and Payne's gray artist’s oil washes enhanced detail.

Imhotep! Joe finished Todd Rex’s 1/4 scale bust of Boris Karloff in The Mummy with latex paint, pastels, and washes.

Matt added resin parts from NeoGrade to Bandai’s 1/100 scale Master Grade Sinanju to build the mecha The Evening Star. Inspired by a photo of a winter sunset, he painted it with orange, white, and purple lacquers from GSI Creos Mr. Color, Alclad II, and Plamo Color.

Working like a dog, Jim turned Italeri’s 1/72 scale Westland Whirlwind into the British European Airlines S.55 featured in the Beatles movie A Hard Day’s Night. He primed the chopper with white, then masked and airbrushed the red and black. Homemade data stencils joined the livery from S&M Decals.

Kevin Foureman, Arcanum, Ohio

Meet Barney, proper name BRN-EE, the Steamthing. Kevin built the 1/12 scale resin bust by Artik Toys and hand-colored it with acrylics, enamels, oils, pens, colored pencils, lacquers, and pastels. He grounded Barney with a wooden base embellished with brass tube and steampunk jewelry accessories.

From the Macross animated series comes Neptune Models’ 1/1000-scale Oberth-class destroyer. Anthony modified the resin kit with aluminum-tube barrels for the laser cannons, Kotobukiya thrusters, a scratchbuilt antenna array, and open hatch for the vertical launch system. The main colors are Testors Model Master enamels with Alclad II lacquers for metal parts.

Terry Miesle, East Dundee, Illinois

“Unicorns are tasty!” says Terry. He cut the wings of Dark Sword Miniatures’ 28mm Elmore Masterworks Dragon No. 1 to the bones and replaced the flesh with paper coated with resin and blended with epoxy putty. Vallejo and Golden acrylics colored the mythical scene; washes from Vallejo and Secret Weapon provided shadows, watercolors and ink highlights.

What do you get if you cross R2-D2 with a Minion? Maybe something like Al’s 25mm HLpR bot from Bombshell Miniatures. He hand-painted the little guy with Vallejo and GarageKit.US acrylics and mounted it on a button (did we mention it’s small?) filled with Woodland Scenics ballast.

There was never a more melancholy figure than Alan’s 1/4 scale bust of famed horror author Edgar Allan Poe. He painted the Brian McGuire kit with GarageKit.US acrylics and used  washes and inks for shading. The base is a book, repainted.

Here’s Games Workshop’s 28mm Ravenwing Dark Talon built out of the box and painted with acrylics.

H. Anthony Cothern Jr., Chattanooga, Tennessee

Anthony added action to Max Factory’s 1/6 scale Bio Booster Armor Guyver by replacing the eyes with prismatic sheet from a candle to give them an insect-like appearance and illuminating them with a color-changing LED. Plumes of cotton simulate steam venting from the face mask. After priming the suit with Krylon flat black, he painted it with Testors silver and dry-brushed with Anita’s acrylics. The base includes part of a reflective street sign.

Frank hand-painted RavenStar Studios’ 1/2500 scale Romulan V-30 winged defender.

To breath life into Fatman Productions’ resin Thalosis Draconis (sea dragon), Stephen hand-painted it with Hobbycraft artist’s acrylics. A coat of Minwax dark walnut stain served as both a filter to subtly change the colors and a wash to enhance detail. Light-colored scales along the body glow in the dark to simulate bioluminescence.

To model Sea Witch, an Earth Alliance fighter seen on screen briefly in Babylon 5, Steve improved Revell’s 1/72 scale kit Starfury with replacement resin guns from Starship Modeler. After airbrushing it with Testors Model Master Acryl paints and Alclad II lacquers, he added decals from JT Graphics and weathered with powdered pastels and washes.

After beating up AMT/Ertl’s 1/2500 scale Enterprise, Rich needed something to haul it back to base. He kitbashed Revell’s 1/35 scale UDT boat with added parts to build a warp-capable Nomad-class dry-dock. “When your starship breaks down, the Corps of Engineers bails you out!” he says.

Paul Rathbun, Bothell, Washington

Taking a cue from 1950s pulp fiction covers, Paul painted Daphne’s Surprise, a 1/6 scale resin kit from Filmy’s Girls with acrylics from Garage Kits.US Colors and Createx Wicked. AK Interactive enamels finished the space explorer’s pistol and backpack. He airbrushed the suit and backpack, but the rest of the figure was hand-painted. Pastels shaded skin tones.

A Viper Mk.VII is ready to launch from the colonial Battlestar Galactica in Dave’s 1/20 scale creation. He added details to the engine bay of the kit by Frank & Moe Inc., and layered Testors Model Master Acryl colors for a faded, war-weary appearance.