Robert Raver
Crystal Lake, Illinois
Robert’s Pegaso 54mm Italian knight was his “first serious attempt at non-metallic metal.” He used a custom template for masks to paint the shield, and finished the figure with acrylic colors.
Lance Noltemeyer
Waunakee, Wisconsin
Only 10 parts of Lance’s Tamiya 1/24 scale Mazda RX-7 were not modified, and he called this his biggest scale modeling project thus far. What parts he didn’t customize by hand, he replaced with 3D-printed pieces. He finished his ultra-detailed build with automotive lacquers.
Mario “Shadow” Mendiola
Chicago, Illinois
A champagne base coat laid the foundation for the pagan gold, red, green, and tangerine colors on Shadow’s AMT 1/25 scale 1967 Impala Super Sport. Flames and geometric patterns overlay and interplay with each other in the finish, with the trim picked out using Bare-Metal Foil and Hoppin’ Hydros tires and wheels tucked underneath this tasty lowrider.
Kevin Pletch
Woodstock, Illinois
Kevin dressed his Tamiya 1/48 scale McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II as a Vietnam-era “MiG magnet” — painted in bright colors so enemy fighters would remember who shot them down, if they survived. He built the kit out of the box and painted the model with Tamiya and Vallejo acrylics over Mr. Surfacer 1500 primer. Kevin used masks on the canopies and post-shaded for heightened visual interest.
Matt Key
Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
Matt transformed a Revell 1/24 scale Dodge Dart into a Trans Am racer with a fictional SCCA livery. He layered Tamiya lacquers over primer with a Badger Crescendo airbrush and then polished for a suitable sparkle.
Terry Hallquist
Elgin, Illinois
Terry’s Revell 1/25 scale 1955 Chevy Bel Air gasser has an all-custom interior. In front, he plumbed and wired the engine, and the body wears Testors enamels.
Thorsten Herbes
North Barrington, Illinois
Tamiya’s 1/35 scale Tiger I wears Tamiya Zimmerit and runs on Friulmodel tracks. Thorsten applied acrylics, enamels, and artist oils to get a suitable look to place the German tank in the field during World War II.
Kenneth Kellner
McHenry, Illinois
With a JoHan body and an AMT chassis and parts, Kenneth built a 1970 AMC Hornet. He cut out the hood to show the engine, ran hoses and brake and fuel lines, and added shock towers and a wiper motor, among other details. Kenneth airbrushed his ‘70 Hornet canary yellow over white Tamiya Primer to match his 1/1 1972 Hornet with only 39,000 original miles.
Bryan Gill
Lowell, Indiana
This is Bryan’s first armor model, and it’s a doozey. He built an Academy 1/35 scale IDF M-51 Super Sherman serving in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War in the Golan Heights. He employed Tamiya and Real Color paints, mixing a custom IDF Sinai gray that went over oxide red Tamiya Primer. Bryan weathered with artist oils and AK Interactive pigments.
Bill Cook
Janesville, Wisconsin
The CSS Teaser was originally a tug purchased by Virginia that became part of the Confederate navy during the U.S. Civil War. It served as a recon-balloon transport and is credited as an early aircraft carrier. Bill built it using the hull, cannon, and lifeboat from a Flagship Models 1/192 scale kit, but scratchbuilt the wooden deck and deck furniture. The cannon carriages were constructed from plastic and wire, and the smoke funnel is aluminum tubing. Bill fabricated the hot-air balloon from a ping pong ball, a caulking tube nozzle, and piano wire.
Phil Kirchmeier
West Allis, Wisconsin
Phil’s Tamiya 1/35 scale Type 97 Chi-ha tank and crew rest on a custom base among palm trees with fronds made from feathers. He detailed the tank’s exhaust with photo-etched metal and painted the scene with Vallejo Model Air acrylics.
Mike Kellner
Marengo, Illinois
“Nothing fit,” Mike said of the Bat Project 1/72 scale Boeing 307 kit. Despite the challenges, he built the model out of the box and painted it with Testors Metalizer Non-buffing Aluminum sprayed through a Paasche airbrush over Tamiya Primer.
Mark Spalding
Cumberland, Indiana
To model a P-39L from the 80th Fighter Group stationed in Tunisia, 1943, Mark built a Special Hobby 1/32 kit, adding a Kitty Hawk interior and engine for better detail. He airbrushed the camouflage freehand with acrylic paints, and weathered with artist-oil washes and pastels.
Tim Shelton
Plano, Illinois
Tim isn’t sure who manufactured the kit for his 1/72 scale Me 163 Komet, but he scratchbuilt the interior and hand-painted the fuselage with three shades of thinned Ceramcoat red acrylic. He made the base from foam core and a frame with a painted styrene nameplate. Tim made the raised letters on the nameplate with white glue. The exhaust is dryer lint structured around and glued to styrene tubing.
Bill Wedeward
Waterloo, Wisconsin
Bill built the AMT/Ertl 1/48 scale Corporate Alliance Droid kit to depict his Techno-Union NR-N99 Persuader. Built out of the box, he made a special base with the villainous alliance’s logo.
John Tokarewich
Bartlett, Illinois
The USS Laffey survived five kamikaze strikes and four bomb hits off Okinawa during World War II. It is now a museum ship at Patriot’s Point, Charleston, South Carolina. John’s 1/350 scale model of DD-724 is a Dragon kit at heart with weapons, bridge equipment, anchor chain, bell, and photo-etched details from Alliance, L’Arsenal, Squadron, and Northstar sets. The mast stays are EZ Line, and the halyards are fly fishing line.
Rob Teubert
Edgerton, Wisconsin
Rob added extra netting, periscopes, and details for the steering wheels to his Master Box 1/72 Mark I Female British tank, placing it at the Somme in September 1916. He primed, base-coated, and airbrushed the camouflage freehand with AK Interactive paints.
Omer Holeston III
Brookfield, Illinois
Omer combined three different kits to make his 1967 Volkswagen flatbed tow truck. He cut apart a VW van, removed the middle, and joined the front and rear to make the truck’s extended cab. Two chassis make the tandem dual-rear axles, and Omer scratchbuilt the tow bed. To weather the Tamiya acrylic paint, he employed the salt-chipping method and custom-made washes.
William Wallace
Cary, Illinois
William built his Bandai 1/144 scale MG Wing Gundam Zero out of the box, painted the thruster nozzles silver, and painted all of the blue kit parts green.
Paul Johnston
Adell, Wisconsin
The 1984 Honda NSR500 was a test bike with the exhaust on top, where the fuel tank usually sits, and the fuel tank under the engine. Paul built his model from a Tamiya 1/12 scale kit and used aftermarket decals for the tire logos and drilled out the brake rotor lightening holes. He decanted Tamiya spray lacquers and airbrushed all of the red and blue sections, separating them with a decal for the white stripe. He also painted the yellow square on the nose.
Ronald Neuendorf
Waukesha, Wisconsin
Taking his AMT 1/25 scale 1969 Plymouth GTX to the next level, Ronald fully wired the engine, applied a wrinkle finish on the valve covers, ran fuel lines, and detailed the carburetor with a throttle linkage and return spring. But that’s not all! The model also has full brake lines and inspection markings on the chassis, engine, and rear axle. The color is Tamiya Silver Mica over Vallejo Black.
Bob Sheehan
Elmwood Park, Illinois
Bob’s Very Fire 1/350 scale USS Birmingham wears aftermarket wooden deck, radars, crane, catapult, Bofors 40mm guns, float planes, and 20mm Oerlikons. Bob used Tamiya primer and paints along with artist-oil washes and pastels for shadows and highlights.
Al Grimm
McCordsville, Indiana
Wanting something a little more special than what came out of the box for Tamiya’s 1/48 scale P-47D Thunderbolt Bubbletop, Al added Vector Resin oil coolers and intercoolers, Eduard seat belts, and ignition wires on the engine. Krylon Short Cuts served for the plane’s bare-metal skin, and he mixed Tamiya acrylic paint for the blue. The decals for Lt. Paul Church’s second aircraft, Boilermaker Pete II, came from SuperScale. He used a Prismacolor pencil for scuff marks on the prop boss and antiglare panel.
Ken Kwilinski
Burbank, Illinois
Ken hand-sculpted the base for his Pegasus 1/144 Rocketship X-M from Aves Apoxie Sculpt. He painted the rocket with Testors enamels, but didn’t weather it, instead shading it with dry-brushing.
Eli Van Helvoirt
Wrightstown, Wisconsin
Junior modeler Eli, 13, built an Academy 1/35 scale M966 Humvee during Operation Iraqi Freedom. “I used foam for the shape, cardboard for the sidewalk, and cork for the curb,” he said of the model’s base. He used putty from Tamiya for the curb and sidewalk, and AK Interactive Asphalt for the blacktop.
Kevin Koch
Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin
Kevin’s AMT 1/25 scale 1970 Dodge Coronet Super Bee street machine was primed and then painted with Testors enamels sprayed directly from the can. He added the keystone mags from his spares box and wired the engine.
Troy Deal
Montello, Wisconsin
To realize his 1/25 scale International Scout with camper, Troy used the camper top from an AMT ‘65 El Camino kit and kitbashed it with an AMT Scout kit. “I had to lower the windshield frame to allow for proper fit,” he said. To get the rear duallies, he opened up another Scout kit, detailed the engine, and added different fabrics for the camper’s interior curtains. “It’s a typical Arkansas (or maybe Wisconsin) vehicle,” Troy said. He modeled damaged trim with Bare-Metal Foil and even dressed the truck interior with reading material.
Paul LaRock
Mount Prospect, Illinois
Paul finished his Academy 1/35 scale M3 Lee as a tank riding south through Burma in 1944. He added riders and crew converted from MiniArt figures and Hornet heads. Paul placed tracks on the hull front and smoke dischargers, stowage, and rope in back. He airbrushed his model with a Paasche airbrush that his dad bought for him 50 years ago, and made a base from foam and a picture frame.