Doug Webb
Slidell, Louisiana
Doug painted a 3D-printed model of Spider-Man with AK Interactive Real Color lacquers and black Tamiya Panel Line Accent and modified the base using debris from balsa, spackle, rocks, and cat litter. He added I-beams to the destroyed wall. More paint from AK finished the base, and Doug weather with pastel chalks and Flory washes.
Jeffrey Maciejewski
Omaha, Nebraska
Jeffrey added scratchbuilt exhaust tips and antennas to finish a Revell 1/24 scale Ford GT Le Mans race car. “It's my second scale model after taking a 45-year break from the hobby!” he says. “My, how things have changed — all the new paints, solvents, and glues. Of course, one thing that hasn't changed is being patient and being able to exercise the fine art of leaving things well enough alone.” He painted the race car with Testors Extreme lacquers. “I love being back in the hobby!”
Jonathan Eby
Mary Esther, Florida
Using Kits-world decals, Jonathan marked Tamiya’s 1/32 scale Spitfire Mk.VIII as a Royal Australian Air Force fighter. He painted the model with Tamiya acrylics and Testors Model Master enamels, building the colors up in layers and combining salt for chipping and 1000-grit sandpaper for paint fading.
Luk Vanstappen
Mechelen, Antwerp, Belgium
“I bought this MiniArt 1/35 scale German tractor and trailer for the abundance of figures that came with it — 10 in all!” says Luk. “I had good fun building this, although some of the very small parts gave me trouble.” He painted the vehicles and troops with Tamiya acrylics and staged the scene on plaster groundwork with grass and shrubs from BSM. He made the fence from toothpicks and strips of window screen for barbwire.
Michael Hunt
Kurunjang, Victoria, Australia
Michael modeled USS Missouri firing a broadside in July 1945 using a Tamiya 1/350 scale kit. The gun blasts are a combination of cotton wool, styrene foam, and a mix of various paints and orange hair dye; he added the shockwaves on the water by lightly spraying white paint.
Mike Walsh
Dundee, Oregon
Mike converted a Hasegawa 1/72 scale Lockheed SP2-H Neptune into a firebomber operated by Aero Union Corporation with a scratchbuilt retardant tank. Aero Union had the jets on the wings removed and painted over the plexiglass nose, according to Mike. He painted the model with Testors Model Master Model Master Chevrolet Engine Red and used Draw Decals markings for an Aero Union P-3 Orion tanker. “They are the perfect size for the Neptune,” he says.
Rob Schmitt
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Dream Gear is a new kit maker, and its first kit is a 1/3000 scale Arkhitect Advanced Research Colonizer (ARC), a spacecraft based on the Iwata HP-C Plus airbrush. The kit includes a USB-powered lighting system. Using his Iwata brush, Rob painted the ship with various Tamiya grays, them flowed on Vallejo washes to pop details. “To add contrast, I painted the reactor core and rings copper,” Rob says. “I replaced the lit base with a Polar Lights dome base painted to look like a nebula.”
Alan Wingeier
Niles, Michigan
Nile built Planet V's 1/72 scale resin Tron Game Tank with two-part epoxy and hand-painted it with Testors and Model Master enamels. He says he’s loved the vehicle since he first saw the movie in 1982. “In 2019, I found this model,” he says. “My brother asked what I wanted for my birthday. I said this model, and he got it for me.”
Julius Dano
Woodland Hills, California
After upping the detail of a Kittyhawk 1/32 scale OV-10D Bronco with Eduard photo-etched metal, Julius painted it with Vallejo and Tamiya acrylics.
Andrew Taylor
Las Cruces, New Mexico
Andrew backdated Dragon’s 1/35 scale M1 AIM to an early M1A1 with Trumpeter T156 tracks, an RB 120mm M256 barrel, and AFV Club anti-reflection coating on the optics. He added customized decals to represent an Abrams from the 4th Battalion, 2-35 Armor Regiment, 4th Infantry Division in the 1990s. “The tank was made as an Army retirement gift for a friend who was so tall that the maximum height regulations were changed after him,” Andrew says.