When it comes to a steady hand and an impeccable attention to detail, David Damek’s model making skills rival brain surgeons when it comes to the precision of his work. His YouTube channel is full of lengthy videos detailing his wonderfully detailed builds, but be forewarned if you’re racing towards a deadline at work, you don’t want to get sucked down this rabbit hole.
His ability to realistically weather a WWII-era fighter like the Fw-190 Focke-Wulf A-8/R2 Eduard will make you wonder if the tiny replica has actually spent hundreds of hours prowling the skies over 1940s Europe.
But then Damek turns around and puts a clean, glossy finish on a 1:48-scale replica of a Rokaf-50B used by the Black Eagles, a South Korean aerobatics team.
The airbrush work perfectly recreating the engine exhaust stains on this Boeing B-17’s wings is a work of art. You could stick this 1:72-scale model in the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum and tourists would still snap photos of it, despite it being less than two feet long.
If you’re feeling embarrassed about the poorly painted and sloppily glued models you built as a kid — you should be.