John Graham
Bull Valley, Illinois
Working with Trumpeter’s 1/350 scale liberty ship. John modeled the liberty ship, SS Jeremiah O’Brien, as it appeared while transporting vehicles to Europe during World War II. The decks are crowded with DUKWs, 2½-ton trucks, jeeps, Shermans, and M8 motor gun carriages from GHQ Models. He painted the vessel with Tamiya acrylics and weathered it with black-ink washes, Flory pigments, Winsor & Newton oils, and artist pastels.
Matthew Stowell
Huntley, Illinois
Matthew doesn’t know who made this 1/4 scale bust of Batman, but he painted the Caped Crusader with Tamiya acrylics over Rust-Oleum primer. He airbrushed the cowl and cape and hand-painted the eyes and face. Pastels shaded flesh and dry-brushing accentuated the cape’s leather texture. To build the base, Matthew laminated two pieces of aspen and shaped them with a bandsaw using the logo as a guide.
Scott Weir
Monroe Center, Illinois
Building Hasegawa’s 1/72 scale Bristol Beaufighter out of the box as a Mk.VIF night-fighter, Scott painted the North African camouflage using Testors and Floquil enamels and lacquers.
Charles Schlom
Algonquin, Illinois
To replicate an Aeroflot Mi-4 “Hound” serving with the Soviet air force in the Northern Polar Region in 1964, Charles built Trumpeter’s 1/35 scale kit and painted it with Testors Model Master colors mixed to match Soviet arctic orange. A fine mechanical pencil and pastels darkened panels lines and the snowy groundwork is actually brown sugar painted white.
Scott Weir
Monroe Center, Illinois
Scott’s out-of-the-box build of Fujimi’s 1/72 scale MiG-21SMT is finished with Testors Model Master Metalizer Buffable Aluminum Plate and water-based washes.
Bob Sheehan
Elmwood Park, Illinois
Bob airbrushed black and white pre-shading before hand-painting Nuts Planet’s 1/10 scale shield maiden with various acrylics.
Elliot Doering
West Allis, Wisconsin
Elliot turned AMT’s 1/25 scale 1956 Ford into a NASCAR competitor driven by Curtis Turner by gutting the interior, adding a roll bar, seat belt and shoulder harness, and racing wheels and tires. He painted it with Testors enamels and Model Master Metalizer lacquers, and lightly weathered the engine, frame, and radiator.
Bob Sheehan
Elmwood Park, Illinois
After picking up this 1/6 scale garage kit of Wanda Maximoff on eBay, Bob painted it with acrylics over Tamiya white primer and black pre-shading; pastels softened the shading on the jacket. An LED powers the young Scarlet Witch’s chaos magic.
Mark Box
Waukesha, Wisconsin
In 1/144 scale, Eduard’s Fw 190D is less than 2 inches long. But that didn’t deter Mark who scratchbuilt gun barrels with brass tubes and added antennas made from brass tube and wire. He painted the Luftwaffe fighter with Tamiya lacquers and acrylics, then weathered it with AK Interactive washes and oil stains. To pose it flying, he added papier-mâché trees to a wooden block and painted a pattern of fields.
Terry Miesle
East Dundee, Illinois
Short of scratchbuilding, if you want a model of the Ghost from Star Wars Rebels, you can improve the miniature from the game X-wing. That’s exactly what Terry did. After priming, filling, and correcting surface details, he painted a custom scheme on the transport and the Phantom shuttle using Vallejo acrylics. Watercolor washes and pencils weathered the craft.
John Healy
Chicago, Illinois
Looking for alternative markings for AMG’s 1/48 scale Hawker Hart, John found decals for an Irish Air Corps Hawker Hind, a simple conversion that involved adding a tailwheel. He painted the camouflage with Xtracolor and Humbrol enamels masking with Silly Putty and tape.
Gary Rockey
Woodstock, Illinois
Gary built Tamiya’s 1/12 scale Tyrell P34 Formula 1 car out of the box and painted it with three layers of Dupont acrylics for the look of the classic six-wheeler.
David Fussichen
Oak Park, Illinois
David amazed attendees with his superdetailed and lighted Tamiya 1/32 scale F-15E. He loaded the big Strike Eagle with plenty of aftermarket and scratchbuilt parts; the lights come from Magic Scale Modeling. Over a black base coat, he layered on the camouflage in modulated layers of mostly MRP lacquers and weathered with artist oils and pencils. The wooden base topped with a styrene tarmac hides the power supply that is connected to the LEDs through connections in the landing gear.
Chris Chapman
Northbrook, Illinois
Originally branded for Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean attraction when released by MPC in the 1970s, Chris’ dreadful scene was built from Lindberg’s Hex Marks the Spot kit from the Jolly Rogers series. He improved the 1/12 scale diorama with a scratchbuilt treasure map and the crate it sits upon, then floated the raft in a sea of insulation foam topped with Woodland Scenics Water Effects. The model is painted with Vallejo and LifeColor acrylics.
John Tokarewich
Bartlett, Illinois
After dressing up Revell’s 1/48 scale PV-1 Ventura with Eduard’s comprehensive Big Ed photo-etched metal set and a resin cockpit and props from True Details, John painted it with Testors Model Master acrylics. Poster putty masks produced slightly soft transitions between the camouflage colors and Bare-Metal Foil masks kept the canopy frames crisp. He applied Bombshell decals to mark the Lockheed twin as a U.S. Navy patrol bomber in the western Pacific in late 1944.
Jerry Ben
Chicago, Illinois
Imagining what K2-SO, the wise-cracking Imperial security droid from Rogue One: A Star War Story, looked like before being captured and reprogrammed by the Rebels, Jerry painted Bandai’s 1/12 scale kit with Mr. Hobby, Tamiya, and Vallejo acrylics. To base the robot, he covered foam with Durham’s Rock-Hard Water Putty and gravel.
Jerry Ben
Chicago, Illinois
Jerry built HobbyBoss’ 1/35 scale Škoda PA-2 Turtle out of the box and hand-painted the sharp 1930s camouflage with Vallejo acrylics. To weather the armored car, he applied artist-oil washes to panel lines and pastels mostly focused around the lower hull. The model sits a foam base with a styrene sidewalk and a street of cobblestones carved from Durham’s Rock-Hard Water Putty.
Jeremy Olsen
Milton, Wisconsin
Snowplows take a beating in Wisconsin winters as Jeremy’s model shows. His modifications to Revell’s 1/24 scale ’78 GMC pickup snowplow include scratchbuilt window cranks, door handles inside and out, key plate, CB radio antenna, new plow chain and hydraulic lines, acetate rear and side windows, and details in the bed. After layering on red oxide and black Krylon primers, he sprayed the body with hairspray so he could effectively “chip” the subsequent coat of Tamiya acrylic with water on a stiff paintbrush. More weathering was done with artist oils for the extensive rust and dirt and exhaust stains at the back.
John Clancy
Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin
Believe it or not, John’s 1/48 scale A-wing is a paper model. He added lights to the Star Wars fighter.
Berry Rawson
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
Barry added brass bullets to the machine-gun on Italeri’s 1/9 scale BMW R75 with sidecar and airbrushed the camouflage freehand with acrylics.
Troy Deal
Montello, Wisconsin
To model a truck hauling wrecked vehicles to the junkyard, Troy weathered the heck out of AMT’s 1/25 scale Junkyard Dog ’67 Mack Truck and Flatbed Trailer. But the real magic is in the cars on the trailer, a Revell ’68 Dodge Charger and JoHan ’70 AMC Rebel. He replaced panels with a single layer of kitchen tinfoil so he could easily represent damage. Bits of foam padding on the seat replicated ruptured upholstery.
Robert Raver
Crystal Lake, Illinois
Robert built Italeri’s 1/9 scale Harley-Davidson 1942 WLA motorcycle out of the box for a friend who owns a real one. The U.S. Army camouflage was applied with Tamiya acrylics.
Anthony Lichwa
Allenton, Wisconsin
Making his build of Revell’s 1/72 scale PT boat a little different, Anthony painted it as PT-167 in dazzle camouflage that was applied to disrupt enemy angle and speed calculations. He finished the model with Testors Model Master enamels with extensive masking. White started the process, followed by black, then green for the decks. The last was applied over hairspray so it could be chipped to reveal the wood base coat.
Ed Nowak
Buffalo Grove, Illinois
After superdetailing the cockpit and wheel wells of Hasegawa’s 1/48 scale P-40E, Ed painted in with Mr. Hobby acrylics. Weathering was applied with a combination of artist oils and pastel chalks. The model replicates a Warhawk flown by Dallas Clinger in China in 1943.
Matthew Dillon
Aurora, Colorado
Just having some fun building The Paddy Wagon, a classic Tom Daniels design from Monogram, Matthew painted it with enamels.
Robert Raver
Crystal Lake, Illinois
“This is just a dirty vehicle that was a lot of fun to paint,” says Robert of his out-of-the-box build of the HobbyBoss 1/35 scale M35 Mittlere Panzerwagen ADGZ-Steyr. To show the armored car in winter, he used hairspray under white and a wet brush to selectively remove the white and reveal the standard German gray camouflage. Artist oils and pigments added more wear and tear.
Chuck Thomas
Burns Harbor, Indiana
Chuck says the scale of Meng Toon Tank M4A1 Sherman is 1/60 scale and who are we to argue. He took the finish seriously, applying Testors Model Master Olive Drab over a base coat of black. The decals and artist-oil washes went on over a coat of Pledge Floor Gloss.
Austin Paxton
East Moline, Illinois
To animate his out-of-the-box build of Bandai’s 1/12 scale Boba Fett, Austin built a base from spare parts so he could suspend the Star Wars bounty hunter in the air over a Jawa encampment on Tatooine. He painted the scene with Vallejo and Ammo by Mig Jimenez acrylics.
Mark Box
Waukesha, Wisconsin
Mark improved Hasegawa’s 1/48 scale A-4E with a cockpit, front-wheel well, avionics bays, and air brakes from Aires, intakes from Cutting Edge, and a Quickboost refueling probe. He finished the diminutive attacker with Tamiya acrylics to replicate a Skyhawk deployed on USS Bon Homme Richard.
Jeremy Olsen
Milton, Wisconsin
Inspired by the Mad Max movies, Jeremy created this unique armored carrier around a Matchbox die-cast metal Fire Stalker. Running gear from Rubicon’s 1/56 scale Hetzer replaced the wheel, and Jeremy armed it with turrets from a couple of 1/72 scale armored fighting vehicles and fitted styrene sheet armor. After airbrushing Tamiya Orange for the main color, he picked out details with Vallejo acrylics. Acrylics washes and oil paint streaks and fading weathered the vehicle. What does Jeremy call his creation? Orange Crush. Seems right!
Phil Kirchmeier
West Allis, Wisconsin
After painting Takom’s 1/35 scale Whippet with Vallejo acrylics and weathering it with pastels, Phil placed it in a diorama to show the British World War I tank just after it ran out of gas.
Austin Paxton
East Moline, Illinois
Building Takom’s 1/35 scale M3 out of the box, Austin painted it with Ammo by Mig Jimenez and Vallejo acrylics as a Lee on prewar maneuvers.
James Palicka
Aurora, Illinois
James’ only addition to Revell’s 1/24 scale Volkswagen T1 Samba Bus was wiring the engine. He painted the classic van with Testors Hugger Orange and Wimbledon White and place it on a base with a classic VW billboard.
John Werwie
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
The curious hellos from a couple of Russian children can’t distract the Soviet troops in the SU-76M from their mission in John’s 1/35 scale diorama. He painted the Tamiya self-propelled gun with Vallejo acrylics. The house was built using wooden coffee stirrers with an aluminum-foil gutter hung with stretched sprue coated with Woodland Scenics Water Effects for icicles. He collected vegetation for the shore of Lake Michigan to add foliage to the scene; the snow comes from Hudson & Allen Studios.
Randal Dieck
West Bend, Wisconsin
Inspired by the striking nose art, Randal built Trumpeter’s 1/32 scale F-84 as a Korean War fighter. He dressed up the cockpit with a photo-etched metal seat belt, then painted the Thunderjet with hand-mixed silver and Testors Model Master enamels. A sludge wash and pastels weathered the model.
Bob Clift
Milton, Wisconsin
Bob painted his out-of-the-box build of Tamiya’s 1/35 scale Universal Carrier with Tamiya acrylics, post-shading the camouflage for fading. Artist-oil washes, dot-filters, and pastel dust weathered the World War II British transport for North African service, a location reflected in the groundwork covered with gravel and dirt from Bob’s yard.
Gregory R. Waldo
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Gregory's improvements to Monogram’s 1/24 scale ’55 Ford F-100 include a photo-etched metal custom flame steering wheel, engine wiring, pulleys, and brackets, a rug on the floor, and a support for the alternator. After priming, he sprayed it with four layers of purple and three clear coats from Bob’s Lacquers.
Phil Kirchmeier
West Allis, Wisconsin
Working with a 75mm figure from FeR Miniatures, Phil painted with Vallejo acrylics to model Union hero and Medal of Honor recipient Joshua Chamberlain before the Battle of Gettysburg.
Chris Chapman
Northbrook, Illinois
Wanting to depict an abandoned Finnish tank, Chris put Tamiya’s 1/35 scale BT-42 on groundwork made from insulation foam covered with Celluclay, kitty litter, and clumps of scenic grass. He airbrushed Tamiya acrylics over Silly Putty masks for the three-color camouflage, and weathered it with artist oils, Ammo of Mig Jimenez washes, and artist pigments.
Conrad Chapman
Northbrook, Illinois
Conrad, 16, painted Games Workshop’s 23mm Space Marines with Citadel and Vallejo acrylics, using an airbrush to apply the body colors and produce a zenithal lighting effect.
Thomas F. Forester
Eagle River, Wisconsin
Thomas spend 25 years building Fujimi’s 1/48 scale Messerschmitt Bf 110C and referred to it as a cursed project because something would go wrong each time he worked on it and he put it away. He improved the kit with Eduard photo-etched metal and drum magazines, AML seat belts, and True Details Fast Frames for the canopy. Airbrushed Testors Model Master acrylics and artist-oil washes finished the big fighter.
Chris Cortez
Racine, Wisconsin
After picking up a Hot Wheels rat rod Volkswagen beetle at the grocery store, Chris determined to make it better. He removed the roof rack, engine cover, and clunky details with a rotary tool. A wire brush in the same tool stripped the paint. To show off the painted interior, He replaced the windshield with thin, clear plastic. Scratchbuilt detail lift the engine and he made new springs and struts for the rear wheels using springs from a mechanical pencil and styrene rod. The rebuilt car runs on 1/64 scale wheels from Greenlight. Using chunks of sponge, he stippled several rust shades over the body before hitting it with a layer of hairspray. Next came the body color, which he wore with water on a stiff brush. Oil paints and Vallejo acrylics added more rust and dirt. Chris scratchbuilt the base on scrap wood with a 3D-printed back wall.
Thomas F. Forester Jr.
Eagle River, Wisconsin
Thomas’ heavily modified AMT 1/25 scale 1970 Dodge Coronet street racer includes a fully-wired DOHC Hemi with 8-71 supercharger and Hillborne injection and a bunch of scratchbuilt details, including plumbing, injection pump, throttle cable, brackets, NOS tank, solenoids, and plumbing, roll cage, fuel cooler, fire bottle, and wheelie bar. He finished the outlaw racer with House of Kolors paints.
Gary Rockey
Woodstock, Illinois
Gary built AMT’s classic 1/25 scale Double Dragster unmodified and painted it with Testors Model Master Lime Green Metallic.
Alan Zais
Ridott, Illinois
Alan painted Ourboros Miniatures’ bust of Cyana and her dragon with enamel basecoats shaded with artist oils.
Thomas F. Forester Jr.
Eagle River, Wisconsin
To build Verner Voss’ Albatros D.Va, Thomas dressed up Eduard’s 1/48 scale kit with EZ Line rigging connected with homemade eyes and rigging, Uschi Van Der Rosten wood panel decals for the plywood fuselage, a solder coolant lines at the front of the engine, and a resin seat. He painted the World War I fighter with Mr. Color lacquers and posed it in a maintenance scene with a scratchbuilt tail prop and stairs.
Thomas F. Forester Jr.
Eagle River, Wisconsin
Wanting to re-create a famous photo of German World War I ace Verner Voss with a prototype Fokker F.I, Thomas posed a resin figure with Eduard’s 1/48 scale triplane. He improved the kit with Aviattic camouflage decals and replacement landing gear made using brass.
Mark Danko
Valparaiso, Indiana
Mark built Dora Wings 1/48 scale Marcel Bloch MB.152 out of the box and airbrushed the camouflage with Hataka paints. Post-shading, oil washes, and inks weathered the French fighter.
Mark Danko
Valparaiso, Indiana
After detailing ICM’s 1/48 scale Junker Ju 88A-11 with Eduard pre-painted photo-etched metal and seat belts in the cockpit, Mark painted the Mediterranean Theater camouflage freehand with Mr. Hobby acrylics.
Andy Keyes
West Bend, Wisconsin
An allergy to eggs didn’t stop Andy from building Hasegawa’s egg-plane Corsair. He finished the tubby F4U with Tamiya acrylics mixed with Tamiya lacquer thinner.
Geoffrey Waller
Tinley Park, Illinois
To give Games Workshop’s 54mm Craven King an appropriately spooky finish, Geoffrey primed it with gray and airbrushed highlights before hand-brushing blending. He used acrylics throughout.
Marek Rogal
Madison, Wisconsin
Seeking to replicate a Royal Australian Air Force Wirraway from the Solomon Islands campaign in 1942, Marek airbrushed Mr. Color lacquers over Badger Stynylrez black primer. Black and brown washes and pastels weathered the 1/72 scale model from Special Hobby.