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Photo by Eric Engman

Photo by Eric Engman

Photo by Eric Engman

FAIRBANKS — Wolf Humphrey is in to World War II planes. Matthew Singsaas prefers robots. Jeff Todd likes old cars.

On Saturday, all three model builders got to show off their wares at the 200 Aleutian Tigers IPMS/Fairbanks Model Show at Models Enterprises.

“I like old airplanes,” Humphrey said, standing next to a pair of World War II Corsairs that he constructed for the show — a P-40E Aleutian Tiger and an F4U-1C, both built on a 1/18th scale. “I’ve got about 70 models and they’re all World War II planes except one from the Korean War.”

What sets Humphrey apart from most model builders, though, is the fact that he takes the planes apart and then rebuilds them. He buys the planes from toy companies and dismantles them, customizing parts and pieces to make them look more authentic.

“These don’t come from a kit,” the 56-year-old Humphrey said. “When I get them, I take off everything that comes off. I cut them in half and rebuild the whole thing.”

For example, the green P-40E he had on display used to be a P-40B until Humphrey removed the machine gun from the cowling and changed the carburetor tub. In addition, he built the cockpit — complete with seat belts and rear view mirrors — from scratch, and did the same with the landing gear, wheel wells and navigation lights. He replaced the shark decal that came on the front of the plane with a hand-painted tiger. He used masking tape to pull flecks of paint off as he was painting it, giving the model a worn, battered look.

“I want it to look like the real plane shrunk down,” Humphrey said.

Clifton Coghill, owner of Models Enterprises, said Saturday’s show gave local model builders a chance to display their creations with other model builders. There were categories for car models, military vehicles, dioramas, aircraft, ships and sci-fi.

Coghill is a fan of Gundams, giant robots featured in a popular Japanese animated series.

“I’m really into robots; I don’t know why,” Coghill said. “I tried planes, ships, cars and trains, but they don’t appeal to me.”

The same goes for 14-year-old Singsaas, who was arranging the eight Gundams he had built for the show at a nearby table.

“I’ve been doing models since I was 5, and the last four years I’ve been getting into Gundams,” said Singsaas, who also likes to build radio-controlled airplanes.

He likes Gundams because “you don’t have to paint them and they snap together pretty much,” he said. “They’re pretty much like a moving toy.”

He picked up one of his models and showed how the leg could bend.

“There’s easily 150 parts in that leg,” he said.

Todd, a 33-year-old warehouse manager from Anchorage, flew to Fairbanks carrying a Rubbermaid container holding 11 models of vintage cars. The cars were secured to a Styrofoam board with pipe cleaners, which in turn were wrapped with soft, cloth towels.

Among his collection were gray and red 1968 Dodge Chargers, a Model-T Roadster with a trailer, a 1999 Chevy Silverado, an old Chevy Nova and a 1965 drag racing car he built from scratch from a picture in an old drag racing magazine. That car took him about 60 hours to build, as did the Charger, he said.

“I’ve got about 10 hours of research in on that one alone,” he said of the gray Charger.

Todd’s father was a drag racer, and he said cars have always been a big part of his life.

“I was raised around cars my whole life,” he said. “We had five Camaros at one time, ranging from a 1968 to a 1995.”

Todd buys old drag racing magazines on eBay and does research on the Internet to help make the models look as authentic as possible. On the Charger, for example, he built his own fuel lines, distribution block and battery cables. The engine alone took him several hours to build.

Painting the cars also is a painstaking process. Todd uses an air brush to paint the cars and applies several coats, sanding each coat as he goes. Some cars require as many as six coats, he said.

Todd can’t explain his passion for model cars or why he’s willing to invest so much time into it.

“My friends don’t understand me when it come to this,” he admitted.

It’s a hobby that Humphrey, who has been building models since he was a kid, doesn’t plan on giving up anytime soon.

“As long as these fingers work, I’ll be building models,” he said.