Scott Samo
Patuxent River, Maryland
Scott built Monogram’s 1/48 scale OA-4M Skyhawk out of the box, painted it with Mr. Hobby acrylics, and weathered it with artist-oil washes. “Good old Monogram kit,” he says. “A little bit of filling and sanding here and there but, the fit was decent. I love these old Monogram kits!”
Ed Kimpel
Clifton, Idaho
A life-long fan of Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Ed scratchbuilt a 1/72 scale Nautilus. The 31-inch hull is balsa and basswood over a frame and the gaps were filled with drywall spackling compound. He purchased the raker teeth, skiff, propeller, and speed screw from VulcaniaVolunteers.com, but Ed made details using brass wire, styrene sheet, and artist board. “I simulated deck gratings using Plastruct styrene siding cut and laid out in the proper patterns,” he says. “The thousands of rivets were created by applying droplets of Formula 560 Canopy glue with a toothpick.” The finish is Model Master Burnt Iron Metalizer over a coat of Krylon Ruddy Brown Primer, followed by several thin coats of Pledge Floor Gloss. “I wanted the sub to look new, so I did minimal weathering using MIG Rubble Dust & Gunmetal pigments,” he says.
Alvaro Lino
Belo, Minas Gerais, Brazil
“The kit’s fit is amazing, and there was almost no need for putty,” Alvaro says of Tamiya’s 1/48 scale A6M3 Model 22 Zero. “Some parts fit even without glue!” His only additions were a pitot tube and seat belts from a Tamiya Detail-Up set. After painting field-applied camouflage with Mr. Hobby acrylics, he masked and airbrushed the insignia and wing leading-edge ID markings. The other markings for a 582nd Kokutai fighter at Buin in April 1943 came from Berna Decals. After applying a sludge wash, he added weathering and fluid stains with Tamiya Weathering Master Set pastels.
Tim Vercoutere
West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
Tim built Italeri’s 1/24 scale Mercedes-Benz 2238 S 6x4 truck for a retired friend, detailing it with wiring, air lines, a fuel pipes.
Jay Luschenat
Flemington, New Jersey
“I’ve built and painted almost every type of kit — aircraft, armor, ships — but I always seem to return to my monsters and dinosaurs,” Jay says. Those go-to subjects included a Screamin’ 1/6 scale vinyl Pinhead from the 1987 film Hellraiser that Jay airbrushed with Tamiya and Liquitex acrylics and a lot of dry-brushing. “I didn’t use any black straight from the bottle,” he says. “It’s all shades of gray.”
Kelly Quirk
Kearney, Missouri
As a fan of two-seat Hornets, Kelly was primed to build Hasegawa’s 1/48 scale F/A-18D. He replaced the kit cockpit with resin from Black Box and added thermal-protective coating to the bombs with Mr. Surfacer 500 stippled with a stiff brush. For the camouflage, he airbrushed Testors Model Master enamels and weathered with oil washes and pastels.
Paulo Ayres Muselli de Mendonça
Porto Trombetas, Pará, Brazil
Armed to the teeth describes EX-178, a Meltoria-class battlecruiser of the Garmillas Astrofleet from the anime series, Space Battleship Yamato. Paulo built Bandai’s 1/1000 scale kit.
Csaba Magyar
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
To paint the unique camouflage on Trumpeter’s 1/35 scale BTR-70, Csaba dipped the flat end of a wooden skewer in color and touched it to the model.
Dean Summers
Keller, Texas
Dean said building the full interior of Takom’s 1/35 scale King Tiger was challenging and it seemed a shame to seal it up. But the big exterior gave him a chance to try some of the techniques he read in FSM about acrylics. “I had just read the September 2017 issue, and the article by Adam Wilder showing step-by-step instructions on how he achieved such a fantastic finish on his T-26 tank inspired me,” says Dean. So, I tried to emulate his techniques on this tank. I was happy with the results and have learned some valuable techniques in the process.”
Marcelo Pablo Visintin
Pianella, Pescara, Italy
Marcelo painted Italeri’s 1/48 scale SH-60 Sea Hawk for Japanese navy service with Mr. Hobby acrylics. He scratchbuilt the deck and added Flightpath photoetched-metal tiedowns.