John Anton
Midlothian, Illinois
John calls this 1/25 scale beauty the Vettegatti — a vintage Bugatti with Corvette flare. He reworked an AMT Corvette kit with custom rear skirts, interior, and chassis. He tricked out the fuel-injected engine under the hood and couldn’t help but give the classic light yellow and black two-tone scheme extra spice with red accents.
John Anton
Midlothian, Illinois
John calls this 1/25 scale beauty the Vettegatti — a vintage Bugatti with Corvette flare. He reworked an AMT Corvette kit with custom rear skirts, interior, and chassis. He tricked out the fuel-injected engine under the hood and couldn’t help but give the classic light yellow and black two-tone scheme extra spice with red accents.
Mario “Shadow” Mendiola
Chicago, Illinois
House of Kolor Pagan Gold, Champaign, and Tangerine combine for a delightful finish on Shadow’s AMT 1/25 scale 1965 Buick Riviera lowrider. He replaced the kit tires and rims with new ones from Hoppin’ Hydros and detailed the interior and undercarriage. All of the graphics were airbrushed, including the mural on the trunk lid.
Michael Smith
Tremont, Illinois
Michael built the AMT 1/72 Star Wars: The Mandalorian Razor Crest box stock, which meant he could concentrate on painting and weathering. Tamiya acrylics did the job, and Michael used the hairspray technique to chip the yellow stripes rather than relying on the kit-supplied decals. He flowed black Tamiya Panel Line Accent Color into the panel lines and finished with an Ammo Dark Wash.
Ihor Hlohowskyj
Downers Grove, Illinois
A Spitfire pilot waves thankfully as a “Whaleback” RAF rescue launch sidles up to give him a lift. The scene includes an Airfix 1/72 scale launch and Spitfire on a base made of foam insulation. Ihor opened the launch’s toe rails, simulated a rescue net, added vacuum-formed turrets, and coiled rope for the deck. For his first waterborne diorama, Ihor modeled the water with Liquitex Gloss Medium and Gloss Varnish, along with craft paints and UV resin.
Chris Doppler
Hobart, Indiana
This unique Panzer II bridgelayer comes from a Bronco 1/35 scale kit. Chris bumped up the detail with a set of Friulmodel metal tracks. He primed with black Mr. Surfacer 1500 and then airbrushed Tamiya acrylics over it. Ammo washes and pigments handled weathering. The base was made of foam board with VMS Smart Mud, static grass, and tufts of vegetation from Gamers Grass.
Chris Valenti
Hawthorn Woods, Illinois
Modeling an M3 Lee in North Africa during World War II, Chris built a Tamiya 1/35 scale kit and improved it with turned-metal barrels, resin stowage, and wire cable. Vallejo and AK Interactive acrylics were airbrushed on for the camouflage and highlights, while washes heightened shadows. Pigment gave the model the appearance of driving around in blowing sands.
Scott Bischoff
Wheaton, Illinois
An artist’s illustration inspired Scott to scratchbuild his 1/16 scale Art Deco motorcycle. Plenty of care went into creating the miniature styrene masterpiece that he painted Tamiya Racing Red, Semigloss Black, and Clear. The chrome trim was hand-brushed with Revell Chrome. He painted the wooden base black and decorated the top with a checkerboard pattern.
Larry Clausen
Muscatine, Iowa
The Grohl company developed the kettenkrad tracked motorcycle used by Germany for recon and towing zeppelins and by the British in Palestine. Larry brush-painted a 1/35 scale resin model of a 1910 kettenkrad and rider with Vallejo colors and added some dirt and wear with washes and pigments.
Scott Andeen
Schaumburg, Illinois
Scott basically reworked every aspect of a Revell 1/25 scale 1969 Chevy Nova to model his Yenko Nova. He sunk a 3D-printed 572 big-block Chevy between the front wheel wells and equipped it with spark-plug wires and Pro Tech braided line. Resin rear wheels, slicks, and driver round out the aftermarket parts, and scratchbuilt wheel tubs, subframe, and traction bars complete construction. When basing the Nova, Scott wanted the viewer to feel the acceleration, so the front wheels have lifted off the pavement and the side-view mirror has come off, tumbling into the billowing tire smoke.
Scott Andeen
Schaumburg, Illinois
Scott basically reworked every aspect of a Revell 1/25 scale 1969 Chevy Nova to model his Yenko Nova. He sunk a 3D-printed 572 big-block Chevy between the front wheel wells and equipped it with spark-plug wires and Pro Tech braided line. Resin rear wheels, slicks, and driver round out the aftermarket parts, and scratchbuilt wheel tubs, subframe, and traction bars complete construction. When basing the Nova, Scott wanted the viewer to feel the acceleration, so the front wheels have lifted off the pavement and the side-view mirror has come off, tumbling into the billowing tire smoke.
Mike Oberholtzer
River Forest, Illinois
The SIAI-Marchetti SF.260M is a militarized version of the Italian-made two-seat aircraft. Mike built a Special Hobby 1/48 scale kit of the plane and decorated it for service as a trainer for the Belgian air force. Tamiya primer served a the base for MRP and Tamiya lacquers. The scheme was achieved with “lots of masking.”
Terry Hallquist
Elgin, Illinois
Terry scratchbuilt the bumpers on his AMT 1/25 scale 1934 Ford custom tow truck and wired the engine for good measure. In back, he placed accessories that you’d typically find on a wrecker. Testors enamels dress up the truck in the Sunoco blue and yellow with black fenders and running boards.
Terry Hallquist
Elgin, Illinois
Terry scratchbuilt the bumpers on his AMT 1/25 scale 1934 Ford custom tow truck and wired the engine for good measure. In back, he placed accessories that you’d typically find on a wrecker. Testors enamels dress up the truck in the Sunoco blue and yellow with black fenders and running boards.
Mike Ferguson
West Chicago, Illinois
To model a factory-fresh pickup prior to delivery to the U.S. Navy, Mike built a Revell 1/25 scale 1941 Chevy out of the box. He painted with Tamiya lacquers straight from the spray cans.
Mike Ferguson
West Chicago, Illinois
To model a factory-fresh pickup prior to delivery to the U.S. Navy, Mike built a Revell 1/25 scale 1941 Chevy out of the box. He painted with Tamiya lacquers straight from the spray cans.
Steve Pozniak
Buffalo Grove, Illinois
This mean-looking 1930 Ford Model A coupe hot rod comes from a combination of scratchbuilding and a Jimmy Flintstone resin body. Steve crafted the frame, windshield, interior tub, suspension, and headers, wired the powerplant and ran fuel lines on the tri-carb setup. For the aggressive stance, he channeled the body and Z’d the frame. Placing it in the late 1950s or early 1960s, it’s Steve’s version of what a hot rod should look like.
Richard Romaniak
Des Plaines, Illinois
HMS Sultana has the distinction of being the smallest schooner to ever be entered into the Royal Navy’s lists, and had a remarkably brief career (1768-1773) serving mostly off the North American coast before being sold at auction. Richard scratchbuilt his 1/64 scale wooden ship model. Any paint he used was acrylic and applied with a brush and a mixture of masks and freehand.
Sam Parent
Winona, Minnesota
Laughing Whale produced the wooden kit for Sam’s 1/32 scale Maine scow sloop to depict a “mom and pop” coastal vessel moving farm goods and supplies. He made the sails and flags with medical exam paper and scratchbuilt the sideboard winches and life ring assembly. Aftermarket figures and cargo man the decks and detail the deck house. Sam handled painting with Vallejo acrylics and airbrush for the ship, and a hand-brush for the figures.
Tim Shelton
Plano, Illinois
A tongue-in-cheek play on the Butch O’Hare’s ’70s theme, Tim modeled a Revell Deal’s Wheels van kit, added custom porthole windows, and dressed up the interior with a shag carpet and disco ball. Tamiya Black spray paint provided a good base for the “Love, American Style” logo Tim hand-brushed with DecoArt acrylic craft paints. “I chose the book as the base because I thought the title lent to the ’70s vibe,” Tim said.
Art Miller
Monticello, Illinois
This Tamiya 1/350 scale USS New Jersey depicts the modernized battleship after its refit in 1982. Art clad the deck in wood from Pontos, added further detail with an Eduard photo-etched metal set, upgraded the turrets with turned-metal barrels, and rigged with EZ Line. For the base, he chose a classic appearance, cutting the wood on a table saw and routing the edges for a decorative trim.
Bill Wedeward
Waterloo, Wisconsin
Bill built an Airfix 1/48 scale kit for his Westland Lynx HMA.8 marked for service with the Royal Navy. He airbrushed the finish with Vallejo acrylic paints and applied decals from the kit. Eduard photo-etched metal parts added details.
Ethan Smith
Waukesha, Wisconsin
Ethan built his Tamiya 1/35 scale Panzer II Ausf L straight from the box. He painted with Tamiya lacquers applied with a Grex airbrush and performed some mild weathering with an artist-oil wash and filters.
Glen Johnson
Bolingbrook, Illinois
A StuG III Ausf G in winter ... camo that is! Glen’s Takom 1/35 scale kit wears airbrushed Tamiya acrylics that have been worked with artist oils and pigments to show a vehicle long on the campaign. He placed mud, wore through the whitewash to the colors below, and modeled snow and ice clinging to the tracks.
Gary Curry
McKinney, Texas
Gary had never modeled rust or weathering before and took the plunge with his pro touring Mini Cooper. He tricked out the Hasegawa 1/24 scale body with an aftermarket wide-body kit and painted with Scale Finishes colors. For weathering, he turned to craft paint and told himself to go for what he knew exposed metal looked like.
Adam Hills
Aurora, Illinois
Adam’s Tamiya 1/48 scale F-16C wears the “Ghost” Aggressor scheme for the 64th Attack Squadron flying out of Nellis Air Force Base. To get the look, he turned to Afterburner Decals and Advanced Modeling pre-cut vinyl masks. Adam airbrushed the scheme and other details with MRP lacquers and Tamiya acrylics. A pinwash popped panel lines.
Neil Prentice
Woodstock, Illinois
The VF-4 Lightning III operated mainly in space due to minor performance issues in the atmosphere. Of course, this is all in the Macross universe, and Neil built a Wave 1/72 scale kit of the transforming mech in flight mode and outfitted it with a Hasegawa VF-1 weapon set. He primed the Lightning with Mr. Surfacer and post-shaded directly on the primer with Tamiya acrylic paints without first spraying a base coat.
Terry Miesle
East Dundee, Illinois
Whether you call it Star Blazers or Space Battleship Yamato, the anime is foundational for many reasons, not the least of which is technology and vehicle design. Terry built two Bandai 1/1000 scale EDF dreadnoughts, one Laboratory Prometheus that operates in the time fault (orange), and the other deployed to the Mars Defense Front and painted red like the planet. For the Mars dreadnought, Terry primed the hull green to add depth to the red sprayed over it. The Prometheus required a quick bit of masking. Weathering was handled with watercolors.
Sergio Barrientos
Kenosha, Wisconsin
The Y-wing rates as one of Sergio’s three favorite starships in the Star Wars universe, so it makes sense he’d want to add one to his collection. This time, he went with a Bandai 1/144 scale kit, primed and performed some basic pre-shading. He masked for the yellow line up front and then hand-painted everything else. Sergio weathered with Vallejo acrylics and used Citadel Nuln Oil wash to darken shadows.
Alex Piotrowski
Lockport, Illinois
On June 3, 1942, Patrol Squadron 44 (VP-44) spotted the Japanese fleet 500 miles off Midway Atoll. Alex modeled the first plane of the group to spot the incoming fleet from an Academy 1/72 scale PBY-5A. He primed the fuselage and wings with Mr. Surfacer 1500 Black, post-shaded with diluted Vallejo U.S. Navy colors, and then followed up with white splotches to accentuate the sun-faded appearance.
Omer Houston III
Brookfield, Illinois
Omer combined Hasegawa and AMT kits to model a custom, three-axle, extended cab Volkswagen flatbed tow truck. His journey began by cutting off the front of a VW Type 2 21-window van and joining it to the rear end for the extended cab. From there, it was rebuilding the chassis, and so on until he had a one-of-a-kind hauler. Saving himself a little worry, he turned to the aftermarket for wheels, tires, and brakes.
Nick Kerasotes
Naperville, Illinois
Nick’s 1/350 scale model depicts the Imperial Japanese Navy cruiser Yahagi as it appeared on its final voyage as part of Operation Ten-Go. He added photo-etched metal railings to the Hasegawa kit and rigged with EZ Line. He airbrushed the cruiser with Tamiya paints, masking as needed and hand-painting details.