Table of contents for November/December 2025 in FineScale Modeler

As a long-time Star Wars fan and model builder, I had my eye on the Bandai Perfect Grade 1/72 scale Star Wars Millennium Falcon (No. 2375614) from the moment I’d heard about it. Honestly, I lusted after it. As someone who loves photography, I knew if I ever added it to my collection, I’d want to photograph it — and that meant wiring custom lighting. Before the kit arrived, I researched how I might light it, studying reference photos and poring over builds on the internet. It was clear the kit instructions would be little help, and I’d have to make many modifications myself. Bandai based its Falcon on the original Star Wars (1977) 5-foot filming miniature, so the kit’s lighting handled the engines, landing gear wells, cockpit wall, and…

Every once in a while you’ll run across something that inspires you, something that captures your imagination, and you think to yourself, “I want to build a model of that someday.” That’s what happened to me about 10 years ago when I was attending the Grand National Roadster Show in Southern California. Parked out front was a 1932 Ford AA Gilmore gasoline tanker truck. It wasn’t restored, but it wasn’t hotrodded either, and it had a lot of cool patina. Obviously it wasn’t a working tanker, it’s just one someone drives around for the fun of it! Can you imagine the looks this truck gets as it’s driving down the boulevard? I fell in love with it the second I saw it. I took about a dozen pictures of it…

The new Arma Hobby 1/48 scale P-39 Airacobra Recon plastic model kit includes three gray and one clear plastic sprue, die-cut Kabuki tape canopy masks, nose weights, and 3D-printed nose vents, camera lenses, and scribing template. Arma provides a QR code in the instructions that links to STL files for you to print a pilot’s seat with harness, cockpit levers, gun barrels, and exhaust pipes if you have a 3D printer. Surface detail was excellent, however flash, soft cockpit detail, and larger than average sprue gates reveal the kit’s short-run nature. I pre-painted most of the interior parts before starting assembly. First, you have to twist the nose-gun receivers into place. I snapped one off in the process. I then lost Part A7 to “the Carpet Monster” when adding it…

Nicknamed the “Turkey” because of its ungainly appearance, the TBM Avenger was more of an able bird of prey when on the attack, serving as a torpedo bomber during World War II. The new HobbyBoss 1/72 scale TBM-3 Avenger plastic model kit offers a highly detailed model of the most common Avenger. The crisp and beautifully detailed parts present numerous options, like multiple armament loadouts and folding wings. The kit also includes a handful of photoetched metal (PE) and a set of pre-cut adhesive masks, although most are slightly oversized. Only a closed canopy is supplied. A fully detailed turret that requires careful assembly and painting rounds out the complicated interior. Be aware that you need to paint the turret prior to fuselage assembly because it can’t be added after…

Arguably, in many ways, you can’t beat Tamiya kits. Even older kits, like the 1/35 scale Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf L (No. 35215), which has been on the market for decades, are nicely tooled, a pleasure to build, and allow inexperienced modelers to achieve satisfactory results. However, sometimes you want a challenge, and I found myself thinking about what I could do with the Panzer III kit. How about modify it into an Ausf J command tank? The L and J versions were practically identical, but not visually striking. That sounded less interesting at first. On the other hand, the antennas and additional radio equipment would add visual interest. I could add armor and upgrade kit components with aftermarket parts, brass aerials, and a turned-metal gun barrel from my spares. That…

After years of building World War II aircraft — Bf 109s, P-51s, Spitfires, Focke-Wulfs — I realized my shelves lacked a single Japanese fighter. As I turned 50, it was time to change that. However, I wanted to make it a notable model, which meant large scale and not a Zero. Hasegawa offers several great kits in 1/32 scale, and I chose its Nakajima Ki-84 Type 4 Hayate (“gale” in English). Known as “Frank” among Allies, the Ki-84 was widely recognized as Japan’s best mass-produced fighter, armed with 30mm and 20mm cannons and powered by a rugged radial engine. While researching possible markings, looking for something that would include Japanese characters on the fuselage, I came across the aircraft of 2nd Lt. Tetsujiró Karasawa, who flew a kamikaze mission over…

Revell’s entirely new mold of an American icon, the Chevy K5 Blazer, makes its debut as the 1/25 scale Stranger Things Jim Hopper’s ’85 Chevy K5 Blazer plastic model kit. Licensed for the hit horror/sci-fi streaming franchise, it could also serve as an excellent base for the police Blazer from the first two Jaws movies. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. As with most automotive kits, you start by building the K5’s small-block Chevy V8 engine, followed by the frame and drive-train. The engine details are great. The crisply molded parts and smart engineering retain the engine’s features and keep the assembly easy. Built as designed, you can’t position the front wheels. But it wouldn’t take much modification to make them turn. The frame and drivetrain build up quickly.…

Upon opening the box of the Atlantis Models 1/104 scale Lockheed P2V-7 Neptune plastic model kit, I got transported back 68 years to when I first built the then-Revell first issue of the Neptune. Now, thanks to Atlantis, “Neptune has arisen” in a version important to the aircraft, science, and history. This model represents the only Neptune to serve its entire life with Navy Expeditionary Squadron VX-6, through the squadron’s redesignation as VXE-6, and ending up in a private collection in Newbury, Ohio. The forward fuselage was later acquired by another private firm, hoping to restore it as a museum exhibit. A nifty addition to the Atlantis kit is a collector’s card featuring Jack Leynnwood’s beautiful box art. The kit is molded in bright blue plastic with a sprue of…

WonderFest 2025 scale model show gallery More than 1,000 models crowded the contest tables at this year’s WonderFest, held in St. Louis, Kentucky. Drawing modelers from across the U.S., the quality of work awed visitors, and the contest room was packed consistently for three days. Of course, we can’t photograph all the models, but we can share with you some of the standout entries that caught our eye. Visit FineScale.com/show-galleries and enjoy! Catch up on Scale Model Basics videos! That’s right, Scale Model Basics are back with more information to help you learn skills to improve your next modeling project. Learn about painting convincing wood grain on plastic propellers, air brushing gradients for color modulation, how to dissolve superglue, using filters to shift underlying paint colors, and so much more.…

KEN ERICKSON GRANT PARK, ILLINOIS “This ‘what if’ represents an engineering APC constructed from things acquired by a small nation’s defense forces,” Ken said. Called The Junkyard Dog, he started with the hull of a Trumpeter 1/35 scale Brazil EE-T2 Osorio and went to town adding parts from his spares box, styrene sheet, and resin-cast ERA panels. Ken painted it in the MERDC tropical scheme and decided not to weather, instead presenting a carrier ready for inspection. RICK KEASEY EDWARDSVILLE, ILLINOIS The 3D-printed 1/10 scale sculpt for Rick’s“Maverick” came from R2 Miniatures. He painted the bust’s face with artist oils and applied acrylics everywhere else — all over gray auto primer. “Kind of looks like Tom Cruise,” Rick said. Huh. Imagine that! DAVID O’CONNOR RICHMOND, KENTUCKY David built his Wingnut…

ICM has added another variation to its German halftracks, which began in 2018. This version, the ICM 1/35 scale SdKfz 251/1 Ausf B plastic model kit, is a troop carrier. The only difference between the Ausf A and B variants was that the rear vision slits in the troop compartment were eliminated for the latter. This required ICM to mold a new top half for this kit, but it includes the original Ausf A version, too. The kit’s 24-page instructions cover 103 steps. The bottom half of the kit builds from four flat pieces with positive locators that ensure a square and level base for the rest of the halftrack. Construction continues with adding the angular sides of the body, and once again, ICM provides good positive locators. While the…

The early 1960s presented extreme challenges for the Chrysler Corporation, and its late-1950s automotive design leadership veered into rather unorthodox themes for the 1961 model year. Nevertheless, the company continued to promote its car lines, including an unusual arrangement with Revell that produced a set of nearly HO-scale Chrysler replicas. A follow-up effort for 1962 involved 1/25 scale assembly kits of the Plymouth Fury and Valiant, Dodge Dart and Lancer, Chrysler Newport, and the Imperial Crown four-door hardtop. The 1962 Imperial continued an unusual design theme of free-standing headlights meant to evoke the glory days of the early 1930s Chrysler Imperial. The 1961 Imperial’s eccentric rear fins were toned down for 1962 while retaining the “gunsight” taillights that had been an Imperial design theme since the 1950s. While all other…