Sean Brzozowski proudly displayed a Gambody 1/16 scale ED-209 from the 1987 movie “Robocop.” He 3D printed the model, assembled it, added wires to the right arm’s machine gun, and painted the model with AK Interactive 3G acrylics. Decals were supplied from his spares.
Toby Halliday built his Meng 1/35 scale K-4386 Typhoon-VDV mostly out of the box. He added a metal barrel to the main gun and simulated armored glass with window tinting film. The base is made from Styrofoam covered with DAS clay. A white glue/water/sand mixture provided groundcover, to which Toby added static grass, rock, and grass tufts.
This 1/8 scale model of the 1917 Excelsior board track racer from Matt Minnichsoffer attracted a lot of attention this year. Matt 3D modeled and scratchbuilt the bike from photo references, designed the decals and had them professionally printed, and painted with colors from ScaleFinishes and Vallejo.
Samuel Parent’s Midwest Products 1/35 scale Chesapeake Bay “Flattie” wears flags and sails made from medical exam tissue paper. He added the figure and made a base for the wooden model from oak, a map of Chesapeake Bay, and a driftwood stick for elevation.
Allen Weaver painted his Zvezda 1/350 scale Russian navy “Borey”-class “Vladimir Monomakh” submarine with Tamiya lacquers. The base, supplied with the kit, wears different shades of Vallejo blue acrylics. Allen said it was the first time he painted water and just went for it!
What’s remarkable about Tom Hoffman’s AMT 1/25 scale 1970½ Chevy Camaro Phase III is that he built it exactly as it comes out of the box. That right! No paint, not modifications. Just the plastic and decals held together with glue. That’s as box-stock as it gets!
Steve Shaffer modeled the German Me 163B Komet captured by the British and used for testing from 1945 to 1947. He detailed the 1/32 scale Meng kit with Eduard photo-etched metal, painted with MRP lacquer, and based it on a wooden plaque he bought from an art supply store.
If you’re gonna customize, you might as well load up on the modifications. Kirby Hughes chopped the top and sectioned and channeled the body of his Revell 1/25 scale 1950 Olds. It stares at the road through ’59 Chevy headlights and slips past with a body scraped clean of brightwork and door handles. Kirby mixed Tamiya Blue and Candy Lime Green to make a — what else? — custom color.
Minicraft’s 1/144 scale AC-130H gunship benefits from a scratchbuilt interior and antennas. John Carlson pre-shaded panel lines over Tamiya primer and finished the model in AK Interactive Real Colors lacquers. He added pastels for shading.
Doug Long likes touring cars and shows his passion with a replica of Richard Rydell’s 1995 British Touring Car Championship series Volvo 850 saloon. He added seat belts and aftermarket decals to the Tamiya 1/24 scale kit and painted with Tamiya spray lacquers.
Other than wiring the engine and adding hydraulics in the trunk, Coleman Mjos built his Revell 1/24 scale 1964 Chevrolet Impala lowrider box stock. For the custom paint, he turned to Tamiya lacquers and clear over Tamiya primer. No airbrushing — just masking and spray paint.
Harold Parsons decanted Tamiya lacquers to airbrush the finish on his Tamiya 1/20 scale Lotus 99T Formula One for the 1987 season.
“Move it, Spunkmeyer. We’re rolling!” When things couldn’t get worse on LV-426, they do. But Ryan Friesen captures the “Aliens” 1/72 scale dropship from Halcyon before its fateful end. After building it in the 1990s, he stripped it down and rebuilt it from the ground up with new cockpit details. Ryan airbrushed the dropship with Vallejo paints over Tamiya primer.
This funky little plane is a Planet Models 1/72 scale Miles M.35 Libellula. Ray Smith built the rare research aircraft because of its unique appearance and airbrushed its camouflage with Model Master enamels.
Howard Quednau completed an original Aurora 1/87 scale “Wanderer” whaleship from 1966 and put it on a base to show the last of the great whalers at work. He arranged the sails to look closer to the prototype and painted with Tamiya acrylics and artist oils. Of course, Howard applied plenty of weathering with oil washes and pigments. For the base, he made the near-freezing sea from Woodland Scenics Water and modeled the pack ice from foam-core.
“I added hoses to the front of the trailer and hose hanger,” Patrick Edwards says of this AMT 1/25 scale Freightliner truck and Freuhauf trailer. He painted the entire model with a Harder & Steenbeck airbrush Tamiya and Alclad II colors and opted for vinyl stickers for the Coca-Cola logos on the van.
Patrick Bright decorated his Bandai 1/100 scale Master Grade Duel Gundam with aftermarket decals and detail parts. The finish is a combination of Vallejo Mecha Color and Model Air acrylics applied with a Harbor Freight airbrush. Patrick added visual interest with a bit of pre- and post-shading and weathered with dry-brushing and Tamiya pigments.
The characters from “Sand Land” and the trusty Royal Tank Corps No. 104 come to life in this Bandai 1/35 scale model built by Alex Mike. He assembled the model box stock, pre-shaded with primers, and airbrushed multiple coats of thinned yellow paint for the animated appearance. Tamiya Panel Line Accent Color, a graphite stick, and pastels appropriately weathered the tank.
Michael Hochscheidt’s FeR Miniatures 54mm Officer, Royal Horse Artillery, 1842, couldn’t help but catch our eye. He began painting by airbrushing black and white base coats to establish shading and then brush-painted acrylics from many manufacturers. Michael applied Woodland Scenics snow flocking to the hem of the officer’s coat and on the base before shading it with blue ink shot through an airbrush.
The 1968 British Grand Prix winner driven by Jo Siffert appeared at NordicCon courtesy of Bob Maderich II. He built an Ebbro 1/20 scale Lotus 49B, filled the nose gaps, and made it representative of Siffert’s chariot. He made the base out of peg board and airbrushed the race car with Testors and Alclad II paints.
Andrew Hill always shows up with the most unusual — and often attention-grabbing — models. This year, it’s his “Ecto-7” fashioned from a Polar Lights 1/32 scale “Star Trek” “Galileo” shuttle and “Ecto-1” 3D-printed parts downloaded from Gambody. “I used various parts of the Gambody ‘Ecto-1’ scaled to look correct on the ‘Galileo,’ Andrew said. He painted the body Tamiya White lacquer from the can and airbrushed the rest with acrylics and Alclad II metallic lacquers.
Resin stowage and 3D-printed figures elevate the detail of Chris Pionkowski’s Takom 1/35 scale M4A3E8 Sherman tank. Marked for the 18th Tank Battalion, 8th Armored Division, the late-model Sherman wears Tamiya and AK Interactive acrylics, washes and pigments for weathering, and an overall Testors Dullcote to flatten everything out. The hull insignia is painted on with the help of homemade stencils.
This 1971 Mustang desert racer began as a Revell 1/25 scale Boss 351. Brady Wallskog scratchbuilt the rear tub for spare tires, 3D printed a widebody kit and racing wheels, built the off-road suspension, and swapped in a 428 Cobra Jet along with a racing interior. Going for a clean, pre-race look, Brady didn’t weather the flat, nitro-yellow finish.
Brin Roach painted a figure of the Warhammer 40K inquisitor Solomon Bane from Red Pilgrim Miniatures. She used acrylic paints throughout, layering and blending the colors for the perfect look.
Wizzy the Wizard came to NordicCon with Jun-Yeong, 12. Jun painted what may be the cutest Reaper Miniatures figure by hand with acrylic paints and washes. The base is made from XPS foam.
Valereigh Chatelain, 7, brush-painted her Revell 1/25 scale 1957 Chevy Bel Air with craft paints and differently shaped brushes. She chose colors of the rainbow, and Valereigh’s favorite part of building it was applying stickers to the model—especially the flames!
Claude Rickerd modeled a 1/25 scale replica of a 1935 Auburn Boattail Speedster built by Rick Dore for James Hetfield of Metallica. Claude extensively modified a Pyro kit, what he calls “possibly the worst ever produced,” and supplemented it with 3D-printed, kitbashed, scratchbuilt, and photo-etched metal parts.
Doug Smith thought the Glencoe 1/25 scale stegosaurus was a terrible kit and wonders how he finished it. Every part had to be corrected, Doug said, down to reconfiguring the legs and skull. He pre-shaded with black, base-coated with red-brown, and then applied washes and dry-brushing for the suitably fossilized final appearance.
Kevin Rickbeil built and finished a Monogram 1/48 scale F-86F Sabre as the plane flown by Capt. R.S. Parr. He airbrushed Mr. Hobby Super Metallic paints for the bare-metal finish.
According to Sebastian Gsell, a horde of goblins have looted a spider tank and made their own special modifications. Sebastian took a Kotobukiya “Ghost in the Shell” HAW206 prototype tank and kitbashed it with many Warhammer 40K kits to come up with something completely new. He airbrushed and hand-painted his model with Vallejo acrylics and weathered with artist oil washes.
Paul Johnston built his Mitsuwa Mazda 767R box stock. The kit stripe decals disintegrated, so Paul masked and painted the whole car with Tamiya lacquers decanted from spray cans. The little ‘toon car depicts a racer that ran at the 24 hours of Daytona.
Modeling “White 112” of Schwere Panzer Abteilung 501 in Tunisia, December 1942, Steve Hustad replaced the barrel and muzzle of a Revell 1/72 scale Tiger I Ausf E/H with turned aluminum and brass. But that was only the beginning: Other modifications included replacing the forward upper hull and all of the tools, rebuilding the rear storage bin, and adding weld beads and weathering, not to mention the whole base and the figures on top.
Franklin Haws was inspired to build a U.S. jeep repurposed for civilian use on a ranch in Oklahoma after the war. He built a Tamiya 1/35 scale jeep and kitbashed a trailer for it. The many tools were either made from scratch or salvaged from MiniArt kits. He painted with Vallejo colors over chipping solution and added dirt with pigments.
To construct his 1/35 scale M1070 tank transporter hauling a D9 bulldozer, Blane Dooner combined kits from HobbyBoss, Eduard, and Meng. He added field-fabricated armor around the cab from Eduard photo-etched metal. Blane painted the behemoth exclusively with Tamiya acrylics and weathered with Ammo washes and some pastels.
Henry Skocz spruced up his Monogram 1/24 scale Oldsmobile Aerotech with spun aluminum wheel discs. He applied a base coat through his spray gun over an epoxy primer and topped it off with gloss clear.
Primarch of the Dark Angels Lion El Johnson returns after a 10,000-year slumber. John Muraski captured the moment with this Games Workshop 28mm figure and a combination of Vallejo and Citadel paint all applied by brush.
Scott Primeau combined an oval frame he found online with an Ignis Art 1/10 scale bust called Stitches. He airbrushed the background and hand-painted the rest of the bust, combining acrylics and inks to create a sheer effect on the figure’s robe.
EPS foam, AK Interactive mud, and premade grass tufts combine to support 15-year-old Gavin Rolstad’s Jadgpanther loaded onto a flatbed railroad car. He combined Dragon and Sabre kits for his model and added 3D-printed jerry cans and scratch-made tarps.
Scott Glatstein painted his Aoshima 1/24 scale 2000 Pagani Zonda C125 Gravity Ford Deep Impact Blue and Splash Paints Gunmetal. Of course, he did this “very carefully” and wouldn’t dream of spoiling the finish of such a fast car with any weathering.
To model a P-47 of the Mexican air force Escuadron 201 that took part in the U.S. attack on the Philippines in 1945, Gilberto Ojeda used an Eduard 1/48 scale kit and photo-etched details and Aztec Models decals. Alclad II lacquers represent the bare-metal finish and Tamiya acrylics handle the rest.
Aftermarket decals allowed Randall Worringer to finish his MPM 1/72 scale Douglas DC-2 in vintage American Airlines colors. Built out of the box, the plane wears Vallejo Aluminum and Orange acrylic over Alclad II Gray Primer. Randall made the plane’s windows from clear casting resin.
Flyhawk photo-etched metal parts and EZ Line rigging detail Chris Weisensel’s Aoshima 1/350 scale Japanese heavy cruiser “Atago.” The ship’s fine weathering comes from a steady hand and AK Interactive pigments used in conjunction with enamel washes.
Gary Majchrzak’s 1/35 scale scene shows a 75mm howitzer motor carriage M8 in a French bocage during World War II. He added details from a Mirage set and scratchbuilt much of the interior, including gauges, brackets, and electrical and intercom details.
Completing a club “white elephant” gift, Erik Zabel showed off his Eduard 1/48 scale P-51D decked out for the Italian Theater. No modifications to the kit, he finished with AK Interactive Xtreme Metal and Alclad II paints, post-shaded with artist oil washes, and made a base for the fighter to stand on.
Claire Olsen Crayne, 13, built a Lindberg 1/32 scale Laird-Turner RT-14 Meteor. She upgraded with photo-etched metal seat belts in the cockpit and applied three coats of Tamiya Silver lacquer before putting on the decals.
This 3D-printed 1/72 scale U.S. T1E1 light tank is tiny! Ed St. Denis added guideposts made from styrene rod to the rear hull and painted the interwar prototype with both acrylics and enamels. A black wash and pigments helped bring out the details.
Building a Ryefield 1/35 scale cutaway of a Panzer V Panther Ausf G, Dylan Lietz wanted to finish it as if it were used during the Battle of the Bulge. He added snow made from white glue and baking soda, foliage branches for camouflage, and Eduard photo-etched metal Schürzen.
Tom Crayne painted his 155mm motor carriage M40 with an Iwata airbrush and Tamiya acrylics. Pastels helped him weather and place the self-propelled gun in Vietnam with the 47th Infantry Division, 1964.
Dave Perzel built a Revell 1/48 scale Dassault Rafale B and painted and marked it as a Rafale DQ flown by Qatar. He masked the two-seater to airbrush the camouflage and finished with artist oil washes.