Brian Jacobs
Kelayres, Pennsylvania
Built straight from the box, Brian made a Tamiya 1/48 scale M4 Sherman Early Production kit. He sprayed Tamiya lacquers and an Iwata airbrush for the camouflage. He made masks enlarged from the kit diagrams and detail painted with Tamiya acrylics.
János Velics
Szombathely, Hungary
Because of the hard-to-find and unique subject, János scratchbuilt his 1/75 scale model of the first steam-propelled vehicle, the “Fardier á Vapeur” designed in 1769 by Nicolas Joseph Cugnot. János began the build trying to use the original materials, construction, and technologies, so the boiler is made of copper sheet. He painted the copper parts with a thin dark brown and lightly wiped the surface when it was partially dry to create the patina. He made the chassis from hardwood with tongue-and-groove joints. János fashioned the wheels from wood and the iron parts from metal and plastic.
Mike Walston
Sarasota, Florida
With a unique turn of events, Mike says his model “is either 1/48 or ¼ [scale]—depending on which end of the hatchet you’re on.” He modeled the vignette, The Invaders, from an eponymous episode of The Twilight Zone written by Richard Matheson. The “Earthship” is shown here after its hacking demise at the hands of a “giant.” Mike cut open a 17 ½-inch wide plastic version of the C-57D from Forbidden Planet, then added parts from his spares box for the interior and debris.
Ryan Young
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Ryan added largely airbrushed Tamiya 1/35 scale late-war German infantry figures with hand-painted details to his AFV Club 1/35 scale SdKfz 251/22 Pakwagen scene. He painted the tank with Tamiya acrylics and added post-shading and chipping effects after airbrushing on the camouflage. Ryan used Archer dry transfers for markings. He made the base from insulation foam and styrene sheet topped with AK Interactive groundwork products and added Green Stuff World foliage to the tree made from a real branch. Ryan added a lot of stowage to depict a 6th Panzer Division vehicle outside of Vienna, Italy, in spring 1945.
Tom Dougherty
Ayer, Massachusetts
Tom built his Iron Shipwrights 1/350 scale USS Narwhal SSN-671 kit with a towed sonar deployment tube on the port side. He painted it with ModelFlex marine colors airbrushed through a Paasche VL airbrush.