Dylan Borgman
New York, New York
“This was my first attempt at doing some interior lighting and it was a great adventure with a soldering iron,” says Dylan. He illuminated Moebius’ 1/350 scale Star Trek USS Franklin with LEDs in the nacelles and primary hull; fiber optics carry the light to the position lights. To make it look like the derelict ship seen in Star Trek Beyond, he weathered with dust and dirt.
George Clover
Catheys Valley, California
George finished Hasegawa’s 1/48 sale F-86 with Alclad II lacquers for the natural-metal skin and Mission Models acrylics for other colors. He improved the detail with Eduard cockpit and wheel sets and applied aftermarket decals to replicate MiG Poison, a Sabre flown by U.S. Air Force ace James Hagerstrom during the Korean War.
Scott Glatstein
Minnetonka, Minnesota
Scott not only built Hubley’s classic 1/18 scale metal 1932 Duesenberg SJ Phaeton, but he piled on improvements including functioning hinges to display the hood open or closed, photo-etched metal screens in the hood panels, scratchbuilt tribar headlamps and rearview mirrors, a plumbed and wired engine, wood accents on the roof struts, and chrome trim on the fenders. The interior is upholstered with real leather, and Scott scratchbuilt the trunk using wood covered with red leather and added scratchbuilt hinges and clasps. He painted tis luxury ride with Splash Tungsten Silver and Gravity Ferrari Rosso Mugello topped with Splash 2K clear.
Tom Roylance
Tampa, Florida
Using a set from Modelwerks, Tom converted Bandai’s 1/72 scale TIE fighter to the TIE/rb or “Brute” seen in Solo: A Star Wars Story. After painting the cockpit panels to simulate an overhead light source, he added a brace to secure the Bandai cockpit within the new body. “After the conversion halves were glued in place, the access hatch didn’t sit right,” he says. He cast a duplicate of the fragile hatch, sanded it to shape, and glued it in place. “I also decided to replace the supplied upper viewports with my own,” he says. “The new piece was fabricated from styrene and cast in clear resin.” He replaced the heavy blasters with brass tube. Over a base coat of Archive X Stormy Sea Blue, Tom modulated the finish with lighter and darker blues, then weathered with sponge chipping, pinwashes, artist-oil filters, and Ammo by Mig Jimenez Shaders.
Razman bin Rahmad
Tangkak, Johor, Malaysia
Razman built HobbyBoss’ 1/48 scale BAE Hawk as a Mk.208 with 6 Squadron of the Malaysian air force.
Joe Salamida
Clark Mills, New York
Using epoxy putty, Joe converted a Verlinden bust of Banastre Tarleton into an officer of the British 16th Light Dragoons during the American Revolution. He finished the piece with Jo Sonja and Vallejo acrylics and Humbrol enamels.
Larry C. Brown
Trenton, Ohio
Larry’s diorama depicts Ruptured Duck, one of the B-25s that took part in the Doolittle raid over Tokyo in 1942, just after it had been spotted on the deck of the USS Hornet. “One of the plane handlers is starting to tie her down and the crew chief/gunner is trying to help, but mostly just getting in the way,” Larry says. “Ted Lawson (the pilot) can be seen to the left side of the plane, shaking his head at how strange his bird looks on the deck of a U.S. Navy carrier.” Larry built the Accurate Miniatures B-25B out of the box and painted it with Tamiya acrylics. Except for the pilot, the figures come from two Verlinden sets and were painted with Vallejo paints. “Not sure where I pulled the pilot from, but I did have to extend his pants over bloused boots so he'd look like a USAAF officer,” Larry says. “Notice that the deck crewman wears black shoes while the air crew wears brown. I believe there was light-hearted banter about the brown shoe Navy types on board the Hornet during the voyage.” He acquired the laser-cut carrier deck from Ukraine via eBay and painted it with Tamiya and Vallejo acrylics and artist oils.
Andy Cooper
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
FSM author and fan of Hobart’s Funnies — special-purpose engineering vehicles built on tanks — converted AFV Club’s 1/35 scale Churchill Mk.III AVRE to a Bobbin Mk.II Type C with a Resicast Mk.IV turret and deep-wading trunk. The Bobbin carrier frame was scratchbuilt from styrene rod and profiles, and the carpet drum was fabricated from an old plastic cable drum insert with styrene sheet ends cut with a compass cutter. The carpet is thin packaging foam that new electronic equipment, such as DVD players, is often wrapped in. He finished the model as a near new vehicle about to be loaded aboard a ship bound for Normandy with Tamiya acrylics and artist-oil washes.
Benjamin Konczal
Brookfield, Illinois
After enhancing Dragon’s 1/350 scale USS Independence with Eduard photo-etched metal and painting the ship, including most of the markings with Model Master enamels, Benjamin beefed up the air wing with extra Wildcats from Trumpeter. “The figures?” he says. “What a fiasco! In the end, mostly what you see are 1/350 scale figures from North Star Models and Tamiya. I believe there are around a 100 or so on the ship. Honestly, it took so much work to get them painted and in place, I have no idea how many are on deck. So, if you are looking for a specific number, roughly, a lot, is my answer.”
William Horton
West Hartford, Connecticut
The French AuF1 self-propelled gun mounts a 155mm gun in a new turret in the AMX-30 chassis. William built Meng’s 1/35 scale kit out of the box and painted it with Tamiya and Ammo by Mig Jimenez acrylics. “I’ve wanted to build this kit since it came out,” he says. “The turret interior is very well done and looks real. You can tell this one is a real beast!”