Steve Hilby
Issaquah, Washington
Don’t look for a kit of the Bleriot-Voisin Perambulothopter. Steve scratchbuilt the 1/35 scale rescue walker using a styrene sheet with model railroad windows and an engine from a 1/48 scale Fokker Dr.I. He placed it on a base of epoxy groundwork covered with debris and explains that the Perambulothopter was used for hurricane relief along the Gulf Coast in the early 20th century.
Scott Scariot
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
After hollowing out some parts of JPG Productions’ resin 1/350 scale Radiant VII, Scott ran wiring to light the Consular-class cruiser seen in Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. After priming with Citadel Chaos Black, he painted the ship with Testors Model Master enamels using salt masking to distress the finish.
Scott Washington
Fairburn, Georgia
Scott’s scratchbuilt insectoid model, appropriately named “The Bug”, is a three-man surveillance vehicle he describes as “an advanced version of a helicopter that operates with antigrav technology.” He painted the Bug with Tamiya acrylics.
Steve Shaffer
Hastings, Minnesota
Working with two sets of 3D files, Steve reproduced the moment that a Rebel Hammerhead Corvette slams into the side of an Imperial Star Destroyer at the end of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. He cut the Star Destroyer section from a larger file. He base-coated the vessels with Tamiya Primer before painting them with MRP acrylics.
Annya Shetinina
Fridley, Minnesota
Annya painted a 3D-printed bust of Sylvie from Loki by online designer Wicked with airbrushed acrylic base coats and pastel shading and hand-painted details. “I used Rub ’n Buff for all of the metal parts,” she says.
Steven Carricato
Colorado Springs, Colorado
For an accurate 1/1000 scale Deep Space Station K-7, Steve vacuum-formed the domes and window cones, then connected the components with PVC pipes. Shapeways 3D-printed shuttlecraft fill the bay and the whole thing slowly rotates on a stand and is lighted with LEDs.
Steve Coykendall
Honeoye Falls, New York
Death has never looked as good as it does in Steve’s 1/6 scale figure he calls “Not-So-Grim Reaper” that he sculpted from Aves Apoxie Sculpt, styrene, foam, brass, and cheesecloth. “I was playing with the illusion of floating,” he says. “She’s supported by a brass structure in the scythe through her arm, and into her torso.”
Paul Keefe
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
In Paul’s SF3D diorama entitled “Katz and Maus,” an Imperial German Krote drone walker is engaging Polish gunships while a half-submerged sapper prepares to destroy them with a magnetic mine. He modified a Nitto 1/35 scale kit of the mecha, sculpted the figure, scratchbuilt the base and frozen river, and hand-painted everything with craft acrylics.
Dina Amber Arzapalo
Largo, Florida
This pink ship is a Space Wolf fighter flown by Kei Yuki in Captain Harlock. Dina painted the 1/72 scale Hasegawa model with Tamiya and Vallejo acrylics, including a custom pink mix. “The decals were horrible and tore, so I had to paint over much of the off-white decals with Hr. Hobby Off-White acrylic.”
Dakota Leker
North Little Rock, Arkansas
Dakota scratchbuilt this 1/35 scale Walking Holographic Projector Unit and cast the figure in clear resin so that LEDs in the base make it look like a projection. “It represents a synthetic consciousness strolling down a street oblivious to the destruction around it,” Dakota says.
Kenny Haverly
Bardstown, Kentucky
Fascinated by a starfighter on the cover of Ammo by Mig Jimenez’s Star Defenders paint set, Kenny scratchbuilt it using styrene and Aves Apoxie Sculpt. He painted it with Vallejo, Ammo, Apple Barrel, and Pactra acrylics and marked it as a fighter from the Battletech universe with decals from Hasegawa and Fighting Pirhana Graphics.
Roy A. Baril
Martinez, California
Roy primed Gillman Productions’ 1/4 scale bust of MacReady, Kurt Russell’s character from John Carpenter’s The Thing with Testors Flat Black before dry-brushing on Tamiya, Pollyscale, and Vallejo acrylics for color and shading. To pop the ice on the base, he layered dark and clear blues before moving to lighter blue and white.
Lou Dalmaso
Raleigh, North Carolina
After building a StannArts 1/12 scale “The Search for Luke” that depicts Han Solo on a Tauntaun out of the box, Lou painted it with Tamiya acrylics, including plenty of dry-brushing to layer lighter shades over dark.
Lous Rebrovic
New Bremen, Ohio
Louis primed a Cretaceous Creations of America Kentrosaurus with Krylon Almond then applied a dark brown gel most of which he wiped off. After airbrushing GarageKit.US transparent acrylics and dry-brushing highlights to the skin, he painted the stripes. He built a new base for the dinosaur using Apoxie Sculpt.
Michael Wiley
Champaign, Illinois
To model USS Enterprise NX-01 as it looked after being attacked by the Xindi at the end of the Star Trek Enterprise episode “Azati Prime,” Michael cut out sections of the hull and nacelles with a rotary tool and hobby knife on the Polar Lights 1/1000 scale kit. He detailed the damaged areas with screen-door mesh to represent structural detail.
Jeff Wehenkel
Oakland, California
Jeff painted a Billiken Ultraman with Badger Stynylrez acrylics, then placed it on a carved balsa foam base with model railroad accessories and lighting.
Rusty Creamer
Cartersville, Georgia
A Rebel X-wing is serviced and fueled in preparation for another mission in Rusty’s Star Wars diorama. He cut out a panel on a Revell kit to show a hatch open to maintenance and built a landing pad on insulating foam with kitbashed and 3D-printed equipment. The model is painted with Vallejo acrylics.
Peter Fay
London, Ontario, Canada
Peter built a Bandai Gyaos out of the box and then painted the kaiju with Vallejo and Mr. Hobby acrylics.
Russ Raney
Greenwood, Indiana
Working with Model Prisoner’s 1/4 scale bust of Candyman based on a promotional poster for the 1992 horror film of the same name, Russ painted it with Deco Hobby acrylics over automotive primer.
Brian McGinnis
Huntsville, Alabama
After painting a Bandai 1/72 scale TIE fighter with grays and blacks like a standard Imperial ship, Brian used Tamiya tape to mask the solar panels and a vinyl cutter to create another mask to finish it as the TIE flown by Sabine Wren in Star Wars Rebels.
Ken Spriggs
Muncie, Indiana
Ken says his N-1 Starfighter, as seen in The Mandalorian, was 3D-printed from a file at Gambody.com detailed with vacuum-formed canopies and clear printed engine parts for lighting, and it is approximately 1/35 scale. After base-coating it with black, he painted it with Alclad II Chrome, then launched it into a canyon scratchbuilt from foam, air-dry clay, and scenic sand and rocks.
Eric Gonzalez
Hialeah, Florida
To improve GeoMetric’s 1/4 scale bust of the Invisible Man, Eric hollowed out his head and removed the molded-on glasses to make way for scratchbuilt replacements. He painted the depiction of the Claude Rains character with Tamiya, Testors Model Master, and Vallejo acrylics. “I’m just glad his head didn’t explode while I was Dremeling it out!” Eric says.
Barry Gordon
Clarksville, Tennessee
"The Apocalypse Ghost", created by YouTube star Jazza, depicts a post-apocalyptic man visiting the grave of a lost love, only to be visited by her spirit at the same time. Barry painted it with acrylics, starting with gray primer, then blocking in the base colors, followed by washes and dry-brushing before picking out details.
Ross Waddell
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
After building Monster Shop USA’s 1/6 scale Wolf Man out of the box, Ross painted it with Golden Fluid acrylics over Badger Stynylrez primer with Parafilm-M masks. He shaded the clothing with pastels and the fur and base with paint glazes.
Jim James
Winter Garden, Florida
Jim painted JPG Productions USS Swinetrek, the starship that carried the Muppets’ Pigs in Space on their less-than-stellar but joke-filled adventures, with enamels and added polyfill exhaust plumes.
Bryan Powell
St. Petersburg, Florida
At the climax of the 1963 Japanese film Atragon, the deity Manda envelops and attempts to crush the submarine Gotengo. Bryan built an Asai kit of the incident and painted it with Tamiya, Ammo by Mig Jimenez, and Vallejo acrylics.
Alex Silvia
Little Rock, Arkansas
Alex added parts from other kits to a Bandai 1/144 scale RMS-116H and painted the Gundam mobile suit with Tamiya spray-can lacquers and Vallejo acrylics. He says he painted it in NASCAR colors to show a mobile suit modified for paintball games.
James King
Las Vegas, Nevada
Brass tube and rod replaced the kit guns on James’ build of Revell’s 1/100 scale U-wing before he painted it in a digital camouflage pattern with three shades of gray and lots of masking. “The ship is called The Gray Ghost and is part of the Special Operations Branch of the Rebel Alliance known as the Gray Legion, whose job it was to gather intelligence without the Empire knowing,” James says.
Oggie Gonzalez
Del Mar, California
Oggie’s build of Faye Valentine from Cowboy Bebop started as a 3D-printed kit designed by EdyTheCross3D at CGTrader.com. He painted the 1/8 scale bounty hunter with Vallejo acrylics, airbrushing the skin tones and hand-painting the clothing and base. Artist oils added shadows and some highlights.
Crestwood, Kentucky
After building a Moebius 1/25 scale Batman Tumbler out of the box, Kip airbrushed a stealthy digital camouflage using satin black and flat black. The gloomy Gotham base is made from foam and topped with corkboard and weathered plaster Jersey barriers.
Tom Clark
Toney, Alabama
Converting Tony Cipriano’s bust of the Iron Giant into an average working robot, Tom gave it a distressed multicolor paint scheme. He painted the model by hand and used hairspray to weather the finish.
Joe Schmidt
Holland, Ohio
“This model was built in 1980 when I was 20 years old,” Joe says. “It sat in a box for almost 40 years before I pulled it out and disassembled it to be rebuilt and repainted.” In addition to a new resin bridge, navigational deflector, and photo-etched metal details, his refit of the Refit USS Enterprise from Star Trek the Motion Picture includes five colors of shimmering ink applied over white paint and masks for the distinctive Aztec surface pattern.
David Horvath
South Bend, Indiana
The main portions of this Howl’s Moving Castle model are 3D-printed, but David did extensive scratchbuilding and added photo-etched metal details. He hand-painted the anime creation with craft acrylics and artist-oil washes.
Travis Collard
Louisville, Kentucky
Look at Travis’s kitbashed cargo freighter and you can make out some of the source kits, including an M4 high-speed tractor and a couple of German tanks; he scratchbuilt the cargo boxes. The model is finished with Mission Models acrylics over Rust-Oleum primer.
Rob Schmitt
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Eschewing the kit’s color suggestion, Rob finished Atlantis’ 1/96 scale XSL-01 Moon Ship with international orange over black pre-shading. His improvements to the kit first released by Revell in the 1950s include an aerospike nose probe, rocket motors, a scratchbuilt hatch and astronaut, and lighting for the rockets and interior.
Kenneth Childres
Sherwood, Arkansas
To finish Blackheart Models’ 1/6 scale Viking, Kenneth coated the resin bust with Tamiya spray-can primer before pre-shading shadows with airbrushed black; he hit the highlights with white. Glazes applied with both paint and airbrushes shaded the clothing and hair and he painted the face with an airbrush.
Steven Mahalko
Monroe, North Carolina
It took work for Steven to turn an MPC 1/25 scale 1977 AMC Pacer X into the Wayne’s World Mirth Mobile. He sanded off body side molding and added sun visors, a licorice dispenser, and new wheels, as well as a donut box and Wayne’s World hat inside. He painted the car with Vallejo acrylics and printed custom decals.
Randy Cooper
Seymour, Tennessee
Randy designed this 1/350 scale kit of the Republic Consular gunship. After building it, he painted it with Testors colors and weathered it with acrylics and pastels.
Clif Dopson
Shreveport, Louisiana
Clif isn’t sure who made this model kit named “Take Your Time” but he added texture to the mushroom caps and finished it with acrylics, artist oils, alcohol-based inks, and pastels. “I love the expression on the girl’s face,” he says. “It’s one of tolerant acceptance as the frog talks too much. Or maybe she kissed him, and this is all she got!”
Chris Allman
Cincinnati, Ohio
Chris converted a Revell Germany 1/600 scale Klingon D-7 into a Romulan battlecruiser with scratchbuilt changes. He painted the Star Trek ship with Testors Model Master colors.
Rob McFarlane
El Segundo, California
Choosing a scheme inspired by the classic Gulf Racing team livery, Rob painted ALB-LAB’s 1/35 scale Markov Antigravity Racer with Tamiya lacquers and artist oils.
Scott Owen
Morgantown, West Virginia
To model an aquatic Gundam Mobile Suit, Scott gave a Bandai 1/144 scale MSM-07 Z’Gok camouflage inspired by great white sharks. He painted it with Tamiya acrylics using pre- and post-shading, as well as sponge chipping to make it a veteran combatant.
Jeremiah Blakley
Clarksville, Tennessee
In keeping with the black-and-white appearance of the 1954 film Creature from the Black Lagoon, Jeremiah finished Aurora’s 1/12 scale kit of the Gill-man in grayscale with black and white craft acrylics mixed into varying shades over gray automotive primer. “It was a local craft group 3-hour paint challenge,” he says. “I spent six hours cleaning up the seams beforehand!”
Brad Growden
Mandeville, Louisiana
Adding lighting and a star on the chest, Brad converted a Moebius 1/8 scale War Machine into the Iron Patriot. He painted the exo-suit with AK Interactive Xtreme Metal Chrome as a base coat for Tamiya Clear Red and Clear Blue.
Charles Haines
Indianapolis, Indiana
Charles hand-painted the black suit on this 1/6 scale 3D-printed Catwoman for a high-gloss, patent leather appearance and airbrushed the face. He placed the Gotham villain on a scratchbuilt base.
Kira Rainey
Greenwood, Indiana
Kira, 11, finished Black Heart’s Sinbaad the Dragon bust with acrylics, including color shift paints. Most of the head was airbrushed, but she picked out details by hand.
Lee Furry
Dayton, Ohio
Lee replaced the nose cannons on this studio-scale Y-wing with brass and detailed the upper gun. He painted the 3D-printed kit designed by Robert Crowley with Vallejo acrylics over automotive primer.
Matt Kay
Greenville, South Carolina
To finish Model Giants’ 1/6 scale Arkham Joker, Matt sprayed Rust-Oleum auto primer, then sponged-on base coats. After noodling around with the colors applied via airbrush, he shaded the Batman villain with pastels and transparent paints. Citadel washes and dry-brushing added extra shading.
Michael Heicken
Louisville, Kentucky
Deviating from the standard black for Star Wars power droids, Michael painted JPG Productions 1/12 scale model yellow using Vallejo acrylics. He added details with spare parts and wires. “He’s a power droid that has seen better times,” Michael says.
Carter Sandel
Okemos, Michigan
Carter’s crash scene features a scratchbuilt interior in a Bandai 1/144 scale TIE fighter. He placed it on a foam base with scenic supplies covering the groundwork and taking over the spaceship’s remains.
Chuck Homolka
Parma Heights, Ohio
Chuck says E2046’s 1/6 scale Punk Asuka was his first serious attempt to do an anime figure. He improved the model with solder bootlaces and rebuilt the guitar with his own details and strings and painted the model with Tamiya acrylics.
Kevin Foureman
Arcanum, Ohio
When Kevin got his hands on a Journeyman Miniatures 1/15 scale Road Girl bust, he wanted to make it his own, so he added skull makeup to her face, keeping with the post-apocalyptic theme. He threw a kitchen sink of finishing supplies at the figure, including layers of acrylics, artist oils, color pencils, inks, and pigments.
Naya Acosta
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Naya, 9, took top honors in the junior category with her rendition of Silver Mist from Disney’s Tinkerbell. She hand-painted the figure with acrylics over white primer.
Paul Rathbun
Bothell, Washington
Paul painted this dramatic bust of Wolverine with acrylics using pre- and post-shading and pastels to shade the Marvel superhero. Alclad II lacquers shined his adamantium claws.
Cynthia Hays
O’Fallon, Missouri
To bring a GarageKits.US bust of Spring into full bloom, Cynthia applied Golden, GarageKit.US, Vallejo, and AK Interactive acrylic base coats, then added shadows and highlights with artist oils. “This is a sculpture based on the 'Spring' painting by Alphonse Mucha, an art nouveau artist,” she says.
Christopher Hays
O’Fallon, Missouri
Working with a 1/6 scale fan-produced figure, Christopher brought an alternative version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Raphael to life. He airbrushed the hero in the half-shell with Golden acrylics base coats before detailing the body with artist oils. Alclad II gave his twin sai a realistic metal sheen.
Cal Dowling
Littleton, Colorado
“Don’t Wake Fluffy” is the name of this 28mm vignette made by Great White Shark Gaming Minis. Cal painted it with acrylics, using shading to indicate the scene is lit by the dwarf’s torch.
Timothy J. Gunderman
Florissant, Missouri
To give an AMT 1/750 scale Cardassian Galor-class cruiser the proper finish, Timothy topped the mustard base coat with custom rust mixes sprayed through homemade templates and masking. Pastels weathered the warship first seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation.