Bob Steinbrunn
Phelps, Wisconsin
Bob’s not sure who made the kit his tugboat Angels Gate is based on, but his extensive modifications include surgically re-shaping the stern with canted-in bulwarks and tumblehome, adding rubbing strakes to the hull with half-round styrene strip, replacing the incorrect propeller, adding a life raft, installing brass portholes from Harbor Models, scratchbuilding the masts from brass tubing and railings from brass wire, and fitting cap rails and buffalo rails to the bulwarks. He painted the tug, which started as an Army vessel in World War II and spent nearly 50 years in civilian service with the Port of Los Angeles before becoming a museum boat, with Tamiya acrylics mixed with Tamiya lacquer thinner.
Dan Pacholski
South Elgin, Illinois
“It’s a 1902 seine fishing schooner heading to mackerel waters off New England to fill up for the Fulton Fish Market [in New York City],” Dan says about his 1/48 scale Benjamin M. Latham. He made a few modifications to the Model Shipways kit, including scale barrels on deck, netting sourced from a fabric store and stained tan, and hand-sewn sails. The ship and its boat were hand-painted with Model Shipways acrylics.
Ervin Paulin Sr.
Newton, Wisconsin
“This model was scratchbuilt by my grandfather in the late 1950s and early ’60s,” says Andrew Paulin who brought the roughly 1/46 scale metal model of the U.S.C.G.C. Escanaba (WBG-77) to the show. Built in Bay City, Michigan in 1934, the Algonquin-class cutter sailed the Great Lakes until World War II, when it was assigned to convoy duty in the Atlantic. The crew rescued 132 men from a stricken transport in February 1943, but the ship was sunk by a U-boat four months later with the loss of all but two crew.
Dwight Workinger
West Allis, Wisconsin
Despite the diminutive dimensions of Trumpeter’s 1/350 scale S-100 Schnellboot —less than 4 inches long — Dwight added depth charges with a rack scratchbuilt from wire to the rear deck. He hand-painted the German World War II torpedo boat with Model Master enamels using a magnifying visor and controlled breathing.
Dan Cicero
Aurora, Illinois
Half-hulls like this were used by ship builders in the 18th and 19th centuries to model actual ships, according to Dan. This 1/48 scale kit was designed by the Nautical Research Guild, a ship modeling group, to teach proper planking and spiling, but Dan added a deck, base, and frame for a more attractive display. “ I used different stains for the hull, deck, wales, and base for contrast and visual interest,” he says.
Keith Zeilenga
Oak Lawn, Illinois
Working from an Artensania Latina 1/75 scale kit, Keith built Bluenose II, a replica of the original Canadian fishing schooner Bluenose that won many races from 1921 to 1938. The wooden model was built without power tools, and the sails were hand-sewn.
Thomas Sheley
Two Rivers, Wisconsin
Referring to photos of the gunboat’s wreck in 300 feet of water in Lake Champlain, Thomas converted a Model Expo 1/24 scale USS Philadelphia into the USS Spitfire, including adding a keel. The original boat was unpainted, so he coated the vessel with tung oil rather than paint and picked out details with a black permanent marker.
James A. Huebener
Minneapolis, Minnesota
James spent 599½ hours building a Mantua-Panart 1/47 scale HMY Royal Caroline out of the box. He painted the splendid royal yacht with acrylics.
George Plew
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
George started the Model Shipways 1/76 scale Mayflower in 1987 and worked on it on and off for about 20 years, building other ships along the way. Last year, he decided it was time to finish it and is making progress with both scratchbuilt and aftermarket parts on the plank-over-solid-hull model. It is colored with acrylic and enamel paint as well as shoe polish.
Jeff Moses
McGregor, Iowa
Jeff’s large diorama of a 1955 Pilger Marine Chris-Craft dealer display included several 1/8 scale models of Chris-Craft boats including this 1955 Cobra. He modified an H2O remote-controlled kit using plank-on-frame construction for the wooden hull followed by eight hand-brushed coats of varnish smoothed with 1000-grit sandpaper used wet and rubbed with Simichrome polish. Shiny!
Mike Schmitz
Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin
A fan of World War II battleships, Mike sailed in with a Tamiya 1/350 scale HMS King George V. He detailed it with Tom’s Modelworks photo-etched metal railings, ladders, boat cranes, radar screens, gun directors, and smokestack tops. He also bored out the muzzles on the 14-inch main guns and drilled open portholes that he filled with Microscale Kristal Klear before finishing the ship with Tamiya acrylics.
Gary Kosiorek
Appleton, Wisconsin
There’s a ton of added detail in Gary’s Trumpeter 1/200 scale USS Arizona, including Eduard photo-etched metal railings, cranes, and catapults; a wooden deck; enhanced 5-inch antiaircraft guns; OS2U Kingfishers; motorboats; launches; superstructure; rigging for the masts and bow paravane; and a bunch of aftermarket figures. He painted it with Tamiya acrylics to show how the ill-fated battleship appeared shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor.