Mike Klessig’s 1/24 scale Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/3 shouted, “Look at me!” in its Cobra Colors Diablo Red and Tamiya Orange livery. He finished the Scale Designs resin kit as the 1971 Targa Florio winner, building it box stock and priming with Plastikote.
For NNL Milwaukee’s show theme, Matthew Key went with an all-American array, building an AMT 1/25 scale Ford LN8000 race car hauler and loading it with an MPC Ghost Rider Corvette finished in matching USA livery. Matt opened the storage area on the truck, hinged the door, and outfitted the interior.
A pillar of the Milwaukee-area scale modeling scene, Al Stout never disappoints with his replicas. Faced with choosing from among many delectables, we picked his 1/25 scale 1937 Ford van. Al calls it a different kind of street rod, with a Jimmy Flintstone box and wheels and tires from a Revell ’32 Ford Tudor.
This Monogram 1/25 scale 1950 Ford pickup has a 1997 Ford drivetrain from a Lindberg kit and has been converted to a 4x4 with aftermarket parts from Iceman and Fireball Modelworks. Its owner, John McMillion painted with Tamiya spray cans and weathered with pastels, washes, and real rust made with steel wool.
Mike Kollver’s Revell 1/24 scale 1968 Pontiac Firebird features spark-plug wires, battery cables, a heater hose, and a dipstick. He converted the front suspension to allow the wheels to be posed — a signature modification for Mike — and painted with lacquers from Bob’s Paint.
Revell’s 1/25 scale 1971 Olds 442 W-30 goes custom under Chris Juno’s skilled hands. He replaced the wheels and shoes with aftermarket upgrades from Z-man and deepened the grille. The colors for the stunning paint job are all Testors lacquers.
“What you finking?” Mark Koch’s 1/25 scale Rat Fink Fire Department custom combines a Jimmy Flintstone resin body with a Lindberg Dodge Little Red Wagon kit. He airbrushed Createx Silver over white Tamiya primer, layered Candy2O Blood Red on top, and ghosted flames into the finish.
It is always gratifying to see what scale modelers can do with spray paint. Case in point, Robert Pedersen finished his Revell 1/25 scale 1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass with green metallic paint and a clear coat straight from the can. Then he masked and airbrushed the window trim and wheel openings.
“Just a typical slammer on the street,” said John Pawlowski of his Tamiya 1/24 scale Ford Mustang GT4. He painted with Barbados Rex Blackened Blue, masked for the Tamiya White stripe, and clear coated with lacquer from Bob’s Paint.
What’s a model car show without a ’57 Chevy? Building Revell’s 1/25 scale Black Widow kit, Ben Barth went to an SVT Lightning kit for new wheels and tires and installed a pre-wired distributor under the hood. In case you were wondering, this replicates Ben’s 1/1 street rod!
Leaning into the NNL Milwaukee show theme, Haulin’ Stuff, here’s Tom Koch’s 1/25 scale International Transtar with a Great Dane 40-foot van. He made a custom drop visor for the AMT kit, added a new bumper, and stretched the frame. The colors are Testors Competition Orange and White.
Coming out of retirement, Wayne Puffer built his first scale car model in 30 years with this Monogram 1/24 scale 1970 Plymouth GTX. He detailed the engine and interior, opened and equipped the trunk, ran solder fuel lines, and painted with factory-correct frost green lacquer. The stripes on the side are 20-year-old Fred Cady decals.
Mark Ackermann combined Revell, AMT, and MPC kits to create his 1/25 scale Sunoco 1965 Chevy ramp truck and 1968 Chevy Camaro. Beyond kitbashing, he removed the chrome from the truck bumpers and grille and painted them to match the overall blue and yellow scheme.
Inspired by his 1/1 Beetle, Joe Quiles went to work on a Revell 1/25 scale ’68 V-dub. He lowered the suspension and cambered the wheels, scratchbuilt bumper flares, and wired the engine. He weathered with AK Interactive pigments and powdered rust from his real car!
Imagining someone wanted a T-bucket but had a jeep to work with, Troy Henk back-halved the frame on an MPC 1/25 scale Willys flat-fender and lowered it, too. Powered by a V6 from an Opel GT kit, Troy had to replace the jeep’s front suspension and scratchbuilt the windshield frame, shifter, and exhaust.
What if Norm Nelson had built a race truck in 1972 for the USCA competition? Ken Boyer thought about it and came up with his answer based on a Moebius Models 1/25 scale 1972 Ford Sport Custom with the chassis, drivetrain, and interior from a Revell NASCAR kit. He painted the livery colors and used decals for the sponsor markings.
Bob Maderich II’s Revell 1/24 scale 1960 Volkswagen Type 1 van in Jägermeister green and orange was a must photograph. Bob explains it’s a race car support vehicle that he built box stock, other than wiring the motor, and airbrushed with Tamiya colors.
Known for his exceptionally detailed and clean builds, John Zweber took the time to decal his Fujimi 2008 Porsche GT3 in Goodsmile Racing livery. Beyond that daunting task, he wired the interior, lowered the suspension, and detailed with Hobby Design photo-etched metal parts. The paint under the decals is Splash and Vallejo with Splash 2K clear sealing everything.
Jesse Boyajian removed the door handles and locks from his Revell 1/25 scale 1971 Oldsmobile 442, opened the grille for photo-etched metal detail, replaced the stock engine with a resin mill, and went with aftermarket parts for the seats, steering wheel, and ground grabbers, too.
Starting with a JoHan 1/25 scale kit, Stew Edwards added flares from a resin kit, carved out the molded-in rear end and replaced it with a Mustang tail and suspension, replaced the front suspension, and finished with aftermarket wheels and decals to model his 1970 Penske Javelin Trans Am race car.
Victor Demichei scratchbuilds, drawing inspiration from all around him. This is his drag car concept. You won’t find a kit of this anywhere because he imagined the whole thing. The engine and drive components came from Victor’s spares box; the colors are Tamiya paints.
A pro-touring 1968 Road Runner is what Jared Carlson had in mind when he cracked open an AMT 1/25 scale model kit. That meant a Viper V10 powerplant, brakes, seats, and steering wheel. Photo-etched metal seat belts provide a bit of safety, as does a scratchbuilt roll cage made from a welding rod. The wheels and tires came from Aoshima.
An immense talent and masterful modeler, Steve Cerka, sadly, is no longer with us. However, his work survives, and this is his second detailed drag build, the 1970 IHRA Pro Mod Mustang Chicago Blues. The model took Steve two years to complete. Starting it in 1988 with a Monogram 1/24 scale Mustang, the only stock parts to remain are the body, one bumper, and the hood (modified, of course).
Ryan Rice converted a Revell 1/25 scale 1968 Corvette convertible to a ’69. How? He filled the backup lights and door buttons, switched interiors with a ’69 coupe, detailed with photo-etched metal from Model Car Garage, and dropped a small-block 350 under the hood. It’s a replica of his father’s Corvette, bought in 1971, and still in his garage.
Ronald Neuendorf floored us with his take on a landmark 007 scene in The Spy Who Loved Me, replacing the famous submersible Lotus with a ’71 Cuda. He made the engines from a highlighter, LEGO steering wheels, and new taillights from real light lenses. Delightful!
A 1/25 scale GMC Astro 35 semi catches a ride on a big, green Kenworth transport tractor. Built by Mike Krueger, both these AMT kits were built box stock, Mike marked the hauler for Bret’s Towing in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, using custom decals and painting the flames with stencils.
Mitch Rockey dressed up his AMT 1/25 scale 1955 Chevy Cameo with aftermarket rims and tires, and that back end is anything but stock. Imagining what he’d like a Cameo of his own to look like, he painted with Rust-Oleum Orchid Blue enamel from the spray can.
How do you capture everything in a model this complex? Easy answer: You don’t! Chris Krueger paired a Moebius Models 1/25 scale 1972 Ford pickup with an Iceman Collections camper and then went to town — or is that camping? — detailing the truck engine and interior, new wheels and tires, custom console, and racing seats. The camper is chock full of vacation necessities including food and beverages. The paint is all custom with Tropical Glitz colors, and to top it all off, Chris lighted the whole dang thing.
Tony Hartjes started this curbside, ’96 Chevy Tahoe project 30 years ago. Then, three years ago, he uncovered it and decided to finish it. The base is an AMT 1/25 scale kit with massive, 1/24 scale wheels and tires from a die-cast model. He scratchbuilt the touchscreen stereo inside. The two-tone paint job is Model Master Fiery Red and Diamond Dust Silver.
“I wanted to depict a “What if?” Don Garlits streamliner,” Rick Shepard says of this 1/25 scale quarter-mile terror. He combined a Drag City Castings body with a Garlits dragster, modifying the chassis to fit. The header came from Rick’s spares box, he hand-laced the front wheels and painted the model with Tamiya Black and automotive clear.
John Gagliano proves you can find a model and rehabilitate it. At a swap meet, he found an AMT 1/25 scale ’54 Ford pickup already assembled. John improved the truck with parts from his spares, scratchbuilt the camper on the back, and made the two men share a fire from racing figure kits.
For the Star Wars subtheme, Howard Quednau displayed “Stormy Trooper on a Scooter.” He paired a resin figure with a Tamiya 1/24 scale scooter, painted with Tamiya Flat White from the spray can, and applied some “generic galactic” chipping to finish everything off.
This 1915 Stutz Bearcat has run out of fuel on its way to the Elgin Road Races! Mike Pistello’s 1/56 scale scene showcases an old Glencoe model, to which he added a monocle windshield. He airbrushed the car with Tamiya and Testors paints and weathered it with washes and pigments.
This Moebius Models 1/25 scale 1965 Plymouth Belvedere A/FX altered wheelbase racer called Melrose Missile comes from Jim Kampmann. He combined the Missile kit’s decals with markings from Moebius’ Golden Commandos and added a photo-etched metal grille. The blue stripes? All decals over white lacquer paint.
Gary Rockey built an original Monogram 1/24 scale 1926 Mack AC Bulldog kit first produced in 1976. He loaded the flatbed with real wood logs cut from trees in his backyard. Gary painted the body Testors Fiery Orange and the frame Sapphire Blue Metallic, both shot directly from the can. There was no chrome in the original kit, so Gary used a Molotow Liquid Chrome pen for those parts.
Don Molitor watched Nigel Mansell race the No. 5 Texaco car and stood in line at Plymouth, Michigan, Kmart to get the driver’s autograph. Is it any wonder he built a replica of Mansell’s Lola T93/00 Ford Indy car? Based on a Tamiya 1/20 scale kit, Don used Indycals markings.
To model the car from the 1974 Peter Fonda movie Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, Dave Tebo turned to a Revell-Monogram 1/25 scale 1969 Dodge Charger. He kitbashed the slotted aluminum wheels and tires and added the 440 stripe from his spares. The color is 1971 Citron Yella, as used in the movie.
Taking inspiration from Chip Foose, Russ Collins modified a Lindberg 1/25 scale Dodge A-100 by adding a 360 engine, clear cover, brake lines, and a flocked interior. That stunning body wears lacquers from Bob’s Paint.
Tim Kasper continues to wow audiences with his scale wonders. This year, it’s his 1/24 scale ’71 Javelin Pro Mod. He used a JoHan body, but scratchbuilt just about everything else, from the chassis on up. He airbrushed a custom mix of Bob’s Paint Pearl White, Candy Red, and Blue over Tamiya primer. If you’re wondering if the body comes off to reveal the hidden gems underneath, it does!
This unique slammer wears die-cast wheels and tires under a Testors/Jimmy Flintstone 1/25 scale Divco milk truck body. John Burnside installed 1961 Ford custom taillights and painted the model with Rust-Oleum colors.
For a bit of fun, Dennis Skrobis built the MPC Road Runner and the Beep Beep “T”. After building and painting the T, he stained and varnished the base, added a fence, street, and smoke made from cotton.
Chris Clark built his Tamiya 1/24 scale Alpine A110 out of the box except for the aftermarket wheels and wiring the engine. Growing up in France, Chris always wanted one, and he finished it in the color of his choice: Tamiya Light Metallic Blue.
Travis Steindl re-created the Independence Chevelle as seen on Vice Grip Garage on YouTube. He modified the ever-living heck out of an AMT 1/25 scale kit, like removing the deck lid, making a trunk pan and wheel tubs, and carving rust holes. This burnout car wears Tamiya paint and a PPG clear with a matting agent.
“I’ve seen several of these online, and I just had to build one,” said Bob Kremer of his Minicraft 1/16 scale 1935 Morgan three-wheeler. Nothing up his sleeves here — a box-stock build dressed in lacquer.
Bob Schmidt added a full vinyl top to his Revell 1/25 scale 1977 Monte Carlo Snap Tite kit. Inside, he added scale cassette tapes and sunglasses and replaced the kit wheels with parts from his spares box. Bob said the model is a replica of a car he owned 30 years ago — minus the rust.
It’s always fun to see what Mario “Shadow” Mendiola will come up with next. This time he combined a Lindberg 1961 Chevy Impala kit with a Pedro resin four-door body. Of course, for the killer paint, he turned to House of Kolor, choosing Teal Kandy and Oriental Blue and varying the patterns from hood to roof to trunk lid.
We’re in the era of restomods, and Mike Hartjes fully embraces it with his 1/25 scale 1971 Mustang Grande. Kitbashing AMT and MPC kits, he replaced the Mustang roof and trunk with those from a Cougar and widened the body with Iceman flares. Dupli-Color and Tamiya paints finish the body.