Stephen Wellman
Ellenton, Florida
Masterpiece Models’ resin “16" 20K Submarine” bears an uncanny resemblance to the Nautilus in the 1954 Disney film “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” Stephen says, “The kit is simple to assemble, but what makes it unique is the painting. I went by the guidelines from Bob Martin of www.nautilusdrydocks.com with a few differences of my own.” Leaving off the windows and wheelhouse for painting, he primed with Rust-Oleum dark steel primer, let it dry for two days, then flowed Testors Model Master flat black into the plate lines. “The next step was a real leap of faith,” he says. “I used Modern Masters water-based Iron Reactive paint, which oxidizes and rusts on the model.” He weathered with Doc O’Brien’s weathering powders, using dirty brown, desert sand, grimy black, and grungy gray.