Derek Southerland
Roanoke, Virginia
“This jeep was built to represent a unit in the middle of field repairs as part of a motor pool diorama,” says Derek. He modified Tamiya’s 1/35 scale kit with Eduard photo-etched metal, scratchbuilt the left front hub and brake drum, and modified some of the engine parts so they looked like they had been removed for repairs. He also wired and plumbed the engine, drilled out the horn, and dressed up the interior with Archer Fine Transfers gauges and information placards. To paint the vehicle, he used Tamiya acrylics, Winsor & Newton oils, Tamiya Panel Line Accent Colors, and Vallejo pigments.
Doug Jacobs
Sterling, Illinois
To improve Revell’s 1/350 scale USS Missouri, Doug replaced the 20mm and 40mm guns with resin from Black Cat, the bridge and main turrets and guns with Model Monkey resin, and Eduard and Gold Medal photo-etched metal for railings and deck features. He finished the ship with Tamiya, Mr. Hobby, and Tru-Color paints.
Doug Webb
Slidell, Louisiana
Doug describes AMK’s 1/48 scale MiG-31BM “Foxhound” as excellent. He painted the Russian fighter’s camouflage with AK Interactive Real Color lacquers and weathered with Flory washes.
James De Pietro
Woodbury, New Jersey
“I chose Severax, Legions of the Black Sun, from Black Sun Miniatures mainly because he looked so cool and had great detail,” James says. He painted the 75mm resin figure with base coats of Testors and Tamiya acrylics followed by artist oils to finish.
Mike Walston
Highlands Ranch, Colorado
“In 1970, two members of the Soviet Academy of Science, Michael Vasin and Alexander Shcherbakov, wrote an article titled, ‘Is the Moon the Creation of Alien Intelligence?’” Mike says. “They speculated that the Moon was a giant hollow space station or ship, created by extraterrestrials in the distant past. So, I took that idea up a notch by kitbashing parts from a Monogram Cylon Basestar, a Lindberg Space Station, some MPC Alpha Moonbase buildings, parts from my spares box, and a couple of Zulux Moon lamps.”
Richard C. Engar
Salt Lake City, Utah
Richard bought Hasegawa’s 1/72 scale ShinMaywa SS-2 ages ago but only finished it last fall. He says, “It was not an easy model to build even with 50+ years of experience!” He painted it with Testors Model Master enamels through a Badger 350 Airbrush. “Masking certain parts of the model was particularly challenging, but the colorful paint scheme was worth the effort,” he adds.
Travis Offenberger
Columbus, Ohio
For his first 1/16 scale build, Travis tackled Das Werk’s Sturmgeschutz III and finished it as a vehicle in Finland in July 1943. “I've never built anything in this scale, and it was great considering the decrepit condition of my eyes,” he says. “I enjoyed this one from beginning to end and learned a bunch of new weathering techniques.”
Don Williams
Magill, South Australia, Australia
Don surrounded Bandai’s 1/144 scale Millenium Falcon with figures of R2-D2 and Jawas he had in his collection and placed in scratchbuilt scenery. He masked and painted all of the ships’ markings and weathered it with acrylic washes from LifeColor and Vallejo.
Brad Shinn
Hatfield, Pennsylvania
Looking to build an accurate Grumman Goose, Brad added scratchbuilt flaps to Signifier’s 1/48 scale kit and modified the nose to show its more pronounced shape. After replacing the kit parts with three-bladed props and spinners from a Testors 1/48 scale Bronco, he finished it in Alaska Airlines livery. The airline operated the flying boats from 1967 to 1972.
William Horton
West Hartford, Connecticut
As a youngster, William wanted to build Hawk’s 1/48 scale Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka but could never find the kit. He was happy to get his hands on a Fine Molds 1/48 kit, which he says is exceptionally well detailed and fits together beautifully. The only thing he added was Eduard photo-etched metal seat belts. He painted the rocket-powered kamikaze plane with AK Interactive lacquers.