Dana Smith
Weaverville, North Carolina
Growing up on a dairy farm, Dana said equipment always seemed to be under repair in the field. Here, he modeled just that with a MiniArt 1/24 scale Lanz Bulldog D8500 tractor circa 1938. Dana scratchbuilt a wooden toolbox, removed the safety panel to show internal workings, and placed a newspaper from Germany, 1940. The tractor wears Tru-Earth acrylics, mostly brush-painted. Dana custom-mixed the colors, providing successively lighter shades to model faded paint and wear. He weathered with pigments, starting with the darkest areas and working toward lighter shades. The model’s foam base sits atop a rough-cut cedar plank.