Stella Kienetz, 10, was the first NNL Milwaukee modeler to bring her car over for a photo this year. Her subject, a JoHan 1/25 scale 1962 AMC Rambler, wears Folk Art Lilac and White acrylic paint sprayed through a Grex airbrush. “This is my first solo build and two-tone interior,” she said. Great job!
It’s no surprise that Tim Kasper won the show’s People’s Choice Award with his custom 1/25 scale 1955 Pontiac Starchief. Using a JoHan promo body, Tim scratchbuilt everything else, including the car’s brass frame, cantilever rear suspension, and seats. He began painting with a gold base, topped it with Bob’s Paints Candy Brandywine, masked, and then finished with Champagne on the top. Of course, Tim’s Starchief has working lights and doors, a trunk lid, and a hood that opens. A showstopper in every way!
This creative monster truck comes from the imagination of Bennett Boyajian, 13. Aptly naming his creation “Frankenstein,” he built it entirely with parts from his spares box except for the chassis, which came from a Big Foot kit. He airbrushed a variety of paints, weathered the beast with rusty colors, and set it loose on the world!
Perhaps one of the most unique models at this year’s NNL Milwaukee came from Chad Truss: his Aoshima 1/24 scale Sprinter Trueno. It took guts to paint his model to look like a car brought to life from the Initial D anime. After white and black primer, Chad painted with Tamiya acrylics and drew speed lines on the foam-board base with Sharpie markers.
While not common, it’s not unheard of to see slot cars at model shows, either. This year, Bryan Thompson brought his completely scratchbuilt 1/25 scale top fuel dragster slot car to show off. Finished with House of Kolor paint, Bryan says his model has seen its fair share of crashes. He just picks it up, puts it on the track, and runs it again.
Howard Quednau won the “Cool as Hell” award for his collection of unusual Revell 1/16 scale BMW Isetta models in famous racing liveries. Here is one from the batch, dressed in Vaillant colors and markings that are perhaps more at home on a Porsche 911. Howard added a 1/12 motorcycle engine and 1/24 scale Porsche intake to up the ante on his Isetta. The color is Tamiya Cobalt Green from the spray can, and the markings came from Indycals.
Victor Demichei never fails to bring his unique perspective and surprised attendees this year with his “ball-wheel drive” concept car. He scratchbuilt what he calls a 1/25 scale Bubble Drift Car entirely from his own designs and painted it with Tamiya lacquers.
At 1/43 scale, Mike Klessig’s tiny Provence Moulage replica of the Team Oreca Dallara SP1 made big noise at the show. Powered by a Judd 4-liter GV4 V10, the car came in fifth at the 24 hours of Le Mans in 2002. Mike airbrushed with Tamiya Mica Blue, and the markings are decals that he coaxed down with lots of setting solution and heat. Another car for Mike’s ever-growing Le Mans collection!
John McMillian grew up in northern Wisconsin. “Logging is a way of life up there,” he says. “This model represents a local logger’s ride.” John built, beat up, and weathered an AMT 1/25 scale ’93 Ford pickup and converted it into a 4x4. The load of firewood in the truck’s bed is made of actual twigs that he sawed and split.
Tamiya spray lacquer from the can was all Chris Vick used on his box-stock build of Tamiya’s 1/12 scale Yamaha MotoGP race bike. His process? Remove all body flaws, prime, paint, clear coat, wet-sand, buff. Chris marked his racer with aftermarket decals.
Cisco Rosander displayed a number of his asphalt-modified racers. This 1/25 scale ’40 Ford modified comes from an AMT kit. He smoothed the body and painted with Testors enamels from the spray can.
Starting with an AMT 1/25 scale kit, Mike Kollver set himself the task of modeling a factory-stock 1971 Ford Mustang Mach I. He cut open the hood vents and replaced the engine with one from a NASCAR kit. The ‘stang wears colors from Bob’s Paint under two coats of PPG automotive clear.
Torben Rothgeb has made an art form of building NASCAR models. Among his latest builds is this Salvinos JR 1/24 scale 2022 NASCAR champion Joey Logano Ford Mustang. Torben painted the model with Tamiya lacquers, sanded with pads ranging from 3600- to 12000-grit, and polished with Meguiar’s M105 Mirror Glaze.
The classic AMT 1/25 scale Ala-Kart comes to life at the hands of Russ Collins. He provided rubber radiator hoses, plug wires, gold Bare-Metal Foil, front brake lines, and brass rods for radiator supports. He airbrushed Tamiya White on the plastic, applied decals, clear coated, and then touched up the brightwork with a chrome pen.
Building an original 1965 MPC 1/25 scale Wilhelm’s Wonder kit, Robert Shebilske decided to put his own modern spin on the car. He installed an induction system from a 1967 Cougar 3-in-1 and headers from a Monogram 1/24 scale Tom Daniel’s Beer Wagon. Robert airbrushed the body Createx Pearl White.
Hot, hot, hot! Extensive bodywork went into Mario “Shadow” Mendiola’s Revell 1/25 scale 1940 Ford coupe. He base-coated with House of Kolor White Pearl and followed up with Pagan Gold, Tangerine, and four clear coats. Shadow says his inspirations are Joe Bailon, Bill Humes, George Barris, and Tom Daniels.
Easton Numerdor, 10, proudly showed off his first model car, a 1/25 scale police interceptor. He built the Lindberg kit out of the box.
“I wanted to build a replica of a street outlaw car or truck that you see on TV,” Michael Krueger says. He’s done it with his 1/25 scale Ford F-100 pro street. Michael employed many Detail Master parts on the AMT base kit and an AMT 1970 Coronet kit for the chassis and motor. He airbrushed with automotive colors and clear, masking for the menacing red fire-and-black two-tone scheme.
Matt Key finished a Revell 1/25 scale Ford GT40 Mk.I with Tamiya acrylic paints and Fred Cady decals to model the first GT40 to race. A box-stock build except for the markings, he kept the model clean and opened up the front and rear to display the detailed interior.
A fixture of the Milwaukee model car scene, Al Stout always brings quite a selection of vehicles to the show. This year, he featured a 1935 Ford pickup in blue Testors lacquer and three coats of Wet Look clear. The pickup is a 1/25 scale Revell kit with wheels and tires from a Revell ’32 Ford coupe. Al painted the colors with an Aztek airbrush and clear coated with a Grex.
Greg Schmidt built and lighted a Moebius Models 1/25 scale Tumbler from Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” movie trilogy. He says, “Every part in the kit was modified, detailed, or scratchbuilt.” Greg primed with Dupli-Color White, applied three shades of black lacquer to get the proper volume and appearance, and finished with Tamiya Panel Line Accent Color and AK Interactive Paneliner.
Chris Krueger concocted this eye-catching candy green and yellow scheme, painted over silver and under a urethane clear coat. If real Mini Coopers came out of the factory looking like this Revell 1/24 scale replica, we’re sure they’d be a hit.
Replicating a build he saw on “Overhaulin’,” Bill Read’s Revell 1/25 scale Foose FD-100 wears Tamiya colors. He hand-painted the pickup’s bed to achieve the wood-grain effect but otherwise built the model out of the box.
Tyler Halliday built a Revell 1/25 scale ’29 Model A roadster for his local club’s white elephant Christmas gift exchange. He installed a 3D-printed dual-quad intake with bell air cleaners, plumbed the engine, and dressed up the interior with decals from Scale Motorsport. The hot rod rolls on AMT wheels and tires and looks tasty under cool, metallic Dupli-Color spray paint.
This 1/24 scale Porsche 935 factory car model made the trip from Minnesota with Bob Maderich II. He built a Tamiya kit straight from the box and airbrushed it with Tamiya lacquer paints.
Menacing is the word we use to describe Tom Nowak’s AMT 1/25 scale 1967 Chevelle pro street drag car. He used Chrysler Destroyer Grey automotive paint for the body, so we don’t think we’re wrong! Tom added fuel lines and fittings along with an aftermarket ignition box.
Grayson Bloomington, 8, built a pre-painted 1/24 scale 2020 Corvette die-cast metal model for his first NNL show. “It’s a car I like,” he says. There’s no better reason to build a model of it!
Mike Fischer’s box-stock build of an AMT boxing of a JoHan 1/25 scale 1969 AMX funny car could not be ignored. He primed and then airbrushed a base coat of Bob’s Paint White lacquer with fine pearl and then went over it with custom mixed yellow and green.
AMT kits, MPC kits, and “lots of scratchbuilding” went into Dan Andritsch’s 1953 Ford wrecker. He painted the classic tow truck in Sinclair colors with airbrushed enamels.
Rick Shepard’s Revell 1/25 scale 1950 Oldsmobile comes equipped with an aftermarket distributor and Pegasus wheels that are modified to fit AMT tires. He base-coated with Bob’s Paint Silver and went over it with VooDoo Purple, topping both with PPG Clearcoat.
Race cars get dirty, and Tony Hartjes leans into that fact with his Revell 1/24 scale Ford GT. Painted for the 2017 24-hours of Le Mans with Gravity Blue, Dupli-Color Red, and Tamiya White, he weathered the heck out of the race car to show its post-race appearance. It takes guts to dirty a pristine gloss finish, but Tony was up to the task.
Model Factory Hiro produces detailed kits that are notoriously difficult to assemble. John Pawlowski tackled the company’s 1/25 scale AC Cobra Coupe A98 and upped the accuracy with Hobby Design valve stems, a fire extinguisher from his spares box, and 3D-printed seat belts. He replicated the 1964 Le Mans No. 3 AC coupe with Zero Paints Jewel Mist Green and a light wash on the grille.
Nick Hartjes scratchbuilt the radiator, hood scoop, and rear window for his 1/25 scale 1968 Ford Torino GT. The front half of the body comes from an AMT kit, while the back half was taken from a resin Modelhaus production. Nick painted with Tamiya French Blue and marked the sides with stripes from Fred Cady Decals.
Mike Gherke’s long, low-slung AMT 1/25 scale 1925 Model T coupe street rod is anything but box stock. He chopped the top, installed new glass from a clear styrene sheet, made license-plate inner door panels, and popped in a pre-wired magneto. Then it was off to his spares box for the manifold, carbs, intakes, steering wheel, and hubcaps. You’d expect all this to be gleaming with gloss, but Mike went the understated route with Tamiya U.S. Navy Intermediate Blue.
Andrew Smith loves British sports cars, and it shows with his Hubley 1/25 scale Triumph TR6. He improved the basic kit with several parts from his spares box and painted it Tamiya British Racing Green.
A new face at this year’s NNL Milwaukee, Travis Steindl wowed with his 1/24 scale 1966 Chevelle made from a Monogram ’66 Malibu Street Rat kit. He opened the doors, added hinges, and ran brake lines and battery cables. He airbrushed PPG colors for the base coat and bubbles and sealed it with PPG Clearcoat.
Michael Krueger brought this piece of history to the show, the “Uncertain T.” He says: “Built by my uncle, Dan, back in 1966 for the Monogram-Testors National contest. He took second place at his local hobby shop.” Michael has had to perform only one repair in the years he has owned the model: reattaching one of the back wheels.
Bill Statler says he does so much to his models that he can’t remember all the modifications to help write the captions. No matter! We still like seeing his work, and Bill tells us he chopped, shortened, and cut off the bottom of the body for his ’39 Chevy two-door long roof. Surf’s up!
“It was a really fun build,” says Jim Kampmann of his 1/24 scale 1930 Ford Woody. He kitbashed the latest release reissue of the kit with the original Monogram release from the 1960s and upgraded with Holthaus resin tires. He airbrushed Tamiya lacquers and decorated the sides with the kit’s decals. Beautiful!