Some Older Models I've Built -- All Paper

The Hubble Telescope is a very nice kit, a free download from NASA. The only glitch in the kit is that it's hard to keep the solar panels from sagging. If I were doing it again, I'd work out some kind of internal wire bracing, anchored in the internal ribs of the telescope body.

The MQ-1 kit is from PaperReplika.

I built the FlyModel MiG-15 as a cutaway for a model 

exhibit at the EAA's AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh.

I think the Me-109Z and MiG-3 (both 1/33) are 

from Modelart, but I wouldn't swear by it.

The La-5 (FlyModel?) was one of my first paper models. 

I hadn't yet worked up the courage to add the landing gear.

Emil Zarkov's H34w -- a really nice kit from Modelart in 1/33 scale

I built the 1/33-scale Zenith CH 801 STOL as a display for Medicine on the Move, a medical NGO operating in Africa. They used the CH-801 on floats to get in and out of rivers and lakes in remote areas. The digital paper kit is from Stahlhart Papercrafts, and is offered in two scales and several liveries.

 Another Modelart kit from the late Emil Zarkov

The Princeton Brewery building still stands in Princeton, WI, though it's been vacant for years. I took photos and used them to create the low-relief kit. It used to be a Freebie on Clever Models' site, but I don't see it there now. If you want it, rattle my cage. 

This is one of Marek's kits frrom ecardmodels.com -- 1/33 scale.

Three-Dimensional Paper Art - Various Scales

If you follow this blog, you know that I build a lot of HO scale buildings, mostly out of paper, using photo-realistic texture papers from Clever Models, Scalescenes, and other sources. Last summer, a visual artist friend of mine was admiring my scale models and said, "Some of your facades would look good framed and hanging on a wall." Hmm.

The results are the pieces you see here. I started with photos of buildings and layered them in cardstock to produce art pieces. Scales vary from 1:48 to 1:64. I usually work in 1:87, so the larger scales have been a nice change.

The three pieces pictured below have been accepted into a juried art exhibit at Ripon College, to open early next year. I have plans for several more similar pieces to be entered in other art shows . . . as if I don't have enough hobbies already. Good grief.

Fine Scale Miniatures' "Dexter's Dead End" Paper Model - 1:87 Scale

This is a copy of FSM's "Dexter's Dead End" in paper models at 1:87 scale. I followed the Fine Scale Miniatures plans pretty closely, adding the berm and track at the front and adding the "American Biological" building in the back corner. It's a freelanced building based one of the businesses on "Cannery Row" in John Steinbeck's novel of the same name. It replaces an auto repair shop in the original FSM scheme. \

All of the buildings are paper built from the drawings and templates in the FSM kit. Loading docks, the bridge, and other details are basswood dimensional lumber. The road is cardstock.

I was able to purchase the FSM instructions, drawings, and templates on ebay. The textures come mainly from Clever Models with a few from Scalescenes. Scenery materials are from Woodland Scenics and Scenic Express. The base and contours are foam. The diorama measures about 15x24 inches.

I tried using Berkshire Junction's "E-Z Line" for power lines. Never again. I know some modelers swear by it, but the stuff is so fine that it's nearly impossible to see, much less handle. It just goes wherever it wants to. Trying to tie a knot in it is an exercise in frustration. The few times I did get it to cooperate, it was so fine that it disappeared on the model. I ended up using sewing thread on this diorama. I've since purchased fine grey elastic thread from a craft shop. It's a bit thicker than scale but the grey color makes it less conspicuous. It's easy to work with and it stretches if you bump it, so your power poles don't get pulled over.

McKinnon Beverage Co. - 1:87-Scale Paper Model

 This is a fictional building & tenant that I built for a diorama I'm working on. I started with just the archway -- a photo of a larger-scale model that I found on the Web. I used several copies of the photo to create three-dimensional detail, then added the rest of the building to fit the space I needed. The brick walls are from Clever Models' textures. The windows and wall signs are from my "digital parts box." The window grills are from Tichy Train Group. I didn't detail the back wall because it won't be visible on the diorama.

Pinzgauer Heavy Shuttle Paper Model

This is an older build. The VT-3 Pinzgauer Heavy Shutte is a free download from Genet Models. The file includes three different color schemes. I repainted it as a United Nations vehicle and added 3-diimensional panel detail. I created a base from sci-fi textures available on the Internet. Other models on the Genet Models site provided the ground vehicle, repainted as a UN ambulance, and other details. At 1:60 scale, the shuttle model is about a foot long. It is a nice kit with an operating (or posable) cargo bay and ramp. Both models are begging for scratch-built interiors. And both files have enough resolution to be scaled up. The shuttle flight deck could be an especially interesting project.

M-25 Quad Mount with Scratchbuilt Trailer - 1:25 Scale Paper Model

The .50-caliber quad mount comes from an M16 MGMC US Halftrack paper model kit published by WAK of Poland. I scrapped the guns in the kit and scratchbuilt the .50-cals in paper from line drawings of the gun found online. I substituted my own sling seat and built the trigger post from plastic rod.

The trailer is scratchbuilt in cardstock using wheels & tires from another paper kit (the water trailer described in my earlier post). The heavy tow bar is Plastruct tube, the tow ring is brass rod, and the jacks are scratchbuilt from cardstock. Photos from Google were used as reference.

I used Photoshop to apply the "Kilroy" graffiti. At 1:25 scale, the model is 5 inches long and about 3 inches tall. Build time was about 35 hours, I think.

Midwestern Model Ships & Boats Contest - May 2025

I attended the 2025 Midwestern Model Ships & Boats Contest, held at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc. I gave a 45-minute workshop on paper scale model ships. It was well-attended and well-received.

Two and a half years ago, I convinced the contest organizers to include contest categories for paper models. They created two: for kitbuilt and for scratchbuilt.

This year, I entered three kit-built paper models in the contest:

— David Bushnell's "Turtle" from Heinkel Models

— CSS "Pioneer" from Heinkel Models (more than 600 individual rivet heads!!)

— "Molch German Midget Submarine from GPM

I took home three Gold Awards.