Look closely at this custom AMT 1/25 scale 1961 Mercury Monterey by Rick Papp. It’s got T-bird front and rear end treatments that appear so natural you may not notice. On the other hand, that asymmetrical windshield is very custom and very hard to miss. The classy finish is now-discontinued Model Master Dark Cherry Metallic.
Mike Leland detailed his AMT 1/25 scale ’58 Impala lowrider with fuel and brake lines and added Ken’s Fuzzy Fur to the interior. The finish combines Tamiya and Fast Kolor Flake paints over Dupli-Color primer. It’s impressive that Mike turned out the cool lowrider in two weeks.
This sharp, little JoHan Pinto Funny Car is the work of Chester Marzec. He achieved the proper stance by lowering the body on the frame, and Chester swapped out the kit Halibrand front wheels for American spindle-mount five-spokes per his research. The glowing red finish is Spazstix Candy Apple Red, and the graphics come from Slixx decals.
Never underestimate Bob Huard’s ability to create the unusual. Here we have a severely bobbed Jimmy Flintstone ’40 Ford powered by a setback 426 Hemi. Bob was intentionally going for “short and squirrelly,” so he added a full roll cage to keep things safe.
Gary Besler submits that POTUS (President of the United States) needs an all-terrain vehicle equivalent to Air Force One. He built this stretched Suburban from Revell ’76 Chevy and GMC pickups and a resin Suburban body. The interior is fitted with a radar-equipped position for the commander-in-chief and a gun emplacement in the rear for protection. The engine is a Detroit Diesel 6V71 from a GMC semi-truck kit upgraded with twin turbos.
A love of the old Formula One cars inspired Kirt Scammell to build the Tamiya Ferrari 312T driven by the late Niki Lauda. It’s mostly box stock as the 1/12 scale kit has plenty of detail designed in. Kirt’s only upgrades are spark plugs, hoses, and valve stems. Tamiya also supplied the Pure White and Italian Red paints.
This JoHan Olds 442 Funny Car was entered in the Box Stock category, and it properly had the original instruction sheet with it, copyright 1969! Jeff Bundy is an Oldsmobile fan and owns several of the make’s full-size cars. He’s also a body-shop owner and knows about paint. The model was shot with Sherwin Williams ATX GM code 75 Matador Red and protected by 2K clear. The decals are original, too.
Junior modeler Levi Herod, 9, entered this build of the classic AMT 1/25 scale Ala Kart. The custom roadster pickup looks great with or without the soft top in place, and it features interesting custom design cues from the ’60s, like louvered panels and exterior tuck-and-roll trim.
Weathering techniques have gained popularity in the model car world over recent years, starting with junkyard dioramas, rat rods, and rally cars. Brandon Hoffman took a different road with his weathering by applying the Tamiya Snow Effect on this AMT/Ertl 1996 Ford Explorer Eddie Baur Edition. The Ford is intended to look like a family hauler on a road trip to a Northern Michigan ski resort. To complete the theme, Brandon added a roof box from Fujimi and custom-3D-printed stuff inside, like a McDonald’s fast-food bag. “Dad, are we there yet?”
I’ll bet the competitors in Box Stock breathed a sigh of relief when they saw John Kryta had entered his Monogram 1969 GTO Judge as “display only.” John really knows his Pontiacs — he owns several of the full-sized cars. The suspension and driveshaft of the model have factory paint marks, and the body was finished with leftover paint from his full-scale restorations!
Box art is important, and that inspired James “Rudy” Rudolph to build his version of the Moebius Models 1/25 scale 1970 Ford F-100 Custom. He went with the six-cylinder engine in this sharp two-tone pickup box-stock build painted with discontinued Model Master Lime Green and White.
The late Jim Clark was an exceptionally skilled driver, and Tony Buglione’s build contemplates the possibility of Clark driving a midget racer. This V8-60 version of Revell’s Kurtis Midget has been done in British Racing Green and Yellow from Tamiya, like the Lotus Formula One cars Clark actually drove. Tony added the number roundels to pay homage to the Type 33 Lotus, along with the red-painted steering wheel.
Brian Downing extended the cab of his AMT 1/25 scale K100 truck to be a double sleeper and chopped the top to make a really custom cabover semi-tractor. The Testors Hemi Orange paint features an orange ribbon for Children’s Leukemia Awareness. Brian’s stepdaughter, Elizabeth Murray, has been battling T-cell Leukemia since age 3, and she’s beaten it!
Elizabeth Murray, 11, is healthy and building great models! This Junior entry of a Revell 1/25 scale ’32 Ford roadster is box stock with Testors Blue from the spray can on the body and tan enamel brush-painted for the interior. Elizabeth won the kit at a previous Autorama contest, and it is the first glue kit she’s completed by herself. Elizabeth said she enjoyed the decals, especially the pinstriped bunny on the trunk lid.
Mike Garrett used Tamiya paints to re-create this striking Chrysler New York Police Department cruiser. He added Firestone tires from AMT and corrected the engine bay. The interior features scratch-made seat belts and radio wiring. Mike took second place in the Light Commercial category for his efforts.
Chrysler Concorde rims, ’32 Cadillac whitewalls, and an injected big-block Chevy add up to a race rat theme on this ’34 Ford built by Arthur Radziszewski. The body is a Jimmy Flintstone resin casting Arthur felt went well with the Can-Am mill and velocity stacks.
Chris Meacham started with the AMT 1/25 scale Iron Lady ’32 Vicky and added machined and 3D-printed parts, including the frame, lake pipes, interior panels, and seats. The body has been chopped, and there is a working, retractable cloth top. The finish is Mr. Color Super Fine Silver under a 2K clear topcoat.
Models like this are exactly why model contests have a Specialty category. It’s fun, unique, and cool. Dino Martinez shoehorned a way overscale Hemi engine into a Hot Wheels 1/18 scale die-cast TV-series Batmobile. Underpinnings include a Muscle Machines chassis and the mashup rides on wheels from a Jada Toys Dub City die-cast model. It’s great for playing chicken with a Penguin!
The Autorama contest usually has a good turnout in the Junior and Senior Classes. Senior modeler Michael Branum entered this Monogram 1/24 scale ’69 Dodge Daytona with a fully detailed interior featuring a roll cage and metal gauges. Michael was inspired by the car being a land-speed record racer.
Tom Tilton calls his pair of gold ’32 Fords the Gold Dust Twins. The fascinating design study compares the lines of an AMT ’32 Vicky with an AMT ’32 sedan. Both have the same eight-carb Desoto engine from the AMT ‘53 Ford pickup and chrome, twelve-spoke Halibrand wheels. The eye-catching gold finish is Testors discontinued
One-Coat Lacquer Gold and Wet-Look Clear.
Brishen Davis really transformed the Lindberg 1/25 scale ’61 Chevy Impala SS by making it into a convertible lowrider with 22-inch donk rims. The old-school 409 powerplant has also been updated to an LS motor from a 2009 Camaro topped with a showy chromed intake. His inspiration? It came to him in a dream.
Rod Webster regularly turns out sharp Ford 4x4 trucks. His Monogram 1/24 scale F-150 4x4 is from earlier in his modeling career. It was entered in the Box Stock category and finished as a plow truck. It’s an original issue from 1986, and he still has the instructions for it.
Model company Renwal did the Revival Series, a group of four concept cars — a Stutz, Mercer, Duesenberg, and a Packard — by Virgil Exner. Contemporary for 1966 and marketed by Renwal as “modern versions of great classic cars,” Harold Helzer restored the ’66 Packard. Upgrades included a repaint, new wheels, and plentiful engine detailing. The unique concept custom won the coveted Pfaff Design Award, presented by Murray Pfaff himself at the show.