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Washington City Paper: Can you discuss and explain the particular aspect of comic work that do you do?
DW: I assemble and paint model kits. The majority of these kits consist of Marvel and D.C. superheroes. I also assemble and paint kits of supernatural beings (classics such as Frankenstein, Dracula, and Wolfman). Another category that I dabble with are female kits. I work with vinyl, plastic, resin and porcelain. On many kits, I add my own personal touches, like eyeballs, claws and weapons. When I can’t find a specific character, I will convert a kit to a different character. For family and friends and for an occasional business, I also repair existing statues and figurines.
WCP: Do you know anyone else who builds models the way you do?
DW: No. I use to enter a model contest once a year, but it was mostly for cars and planes. There were a few categories for figures, but mine were generally the only one of its kind.
WCP: How long does it take to do an “average” model?
DW: With a full time job and family, I average 2-4 months to complete one kit. Sometimes I start and can’t stop until it’s finished; sometimes I walk away for a week before I return to it. It’s easy for time to get away from me when I start working on a model. I’ll tell myself I only have an hour to work, but when I look at the clock, four hours have passed.
DW: 1956 in Norfolk, Va.
WCP: Why are you in Washington now? What neighborhood or area do you live in?
DW: My father’s job brought my family to Northern Virginia in 1966. I currently reside in Fairfax with my wife, and three teenage children.
WCP: How did you get into doing these types of models?
DW: When I was a kid, I assembled and painted the old Aurora plastic monster model kits. I grew out of it (or so I thought). Then on my birthday in 1992, my wife took me to a Star Trek convention in D.C. where I bought The Enterprise model and assembled my first model in many years. As a kid I also was very much into comics and superheroes, which kind of carried over into adulthood. I met someone who introduced me to the wonderful world of vinyl model kits by a company called Horizon, and I’ve been assembling and painting ever since. I painted exclusively for two years for a man who sold my work on eBay.
DW: I get a lot of compliments on my female figures and have won first place in the IPMS convention for The Mummy and The Creature.
WCP: What work are you most proud of?
DW: I pour a lot of myself into each kit that I do and am proud of every piece that I complete, so I can’t really identify one piece that I’m most proud of as each is special in its own way to me.
WCP: What would you like to do or work on in the future?
DW: I would like to paint for a model company and be that artist who assembled and painted the model that is displayed on the box. I also would like to do special orders for people. My dream would be to work with a production company building models to scale of movie scenes and such.
WCP: What’s your favorite thing about D.C.?
DW: My favorite thing about Washington is the museums. When I was younger, it was the nightlife and riding bikes around town.
DW: Finding parking and getting parking tickets.
WCP: What monument or museum do you take most out-of-town guests to?
DW: Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
WCP: Do you have a website or blog?
DW: I’m in the process of putting some of my models on a friend’s website. He’s a comic book dealer, Greg Reece.