An Interview with MTCo House Painter

You may have noticed the painted section, well 99% of those painted tanks and vehicles are painted by one guy, the one and only - drum roll - MTCo house painter! I figured it was time to share with you, in case you bought or are interested in buying a painted tank or vehicle, who is behind these painted miniature masterpieces.

James:  Mark and I have become great friends and Mark has been with MTCo since the beginning. So Mark, to start, what is your background. You’re retired now but what did you do as a career?

Mark: I graduated High School in 1979 and 1 month after that I started my career on the Railroad. I worked for the Davenport, Rock Island & Northwestern Ry. Co. as a Switchman. Around 1986 there was a force reduction and being the youngest in Seniority, myself and 8 others were let go. I tended bar for a friend till 1988 and then hired out as a Brakeman/Switchman on the SOO Line Railroad. I went into Engineer training in late 1990 and I became a Licensed Certified Locomotive Engineer in early 1991. Shortly thereafter the SOO Line was bought by the Canadian Pacific Railway and I worked as an Engineer there running between Davenport, Ia, Chicago, Il. and Dubuque, Ia. till 1998. I then worked at National Railway Co. as an Engineer on the shop switchengine till 2005. I moved to where I presently reside in Waterloo, IA. and took a job as an Engineer on the Iowa Northern Ry. Co. until I retired in 2016.

Mark: Well, yes it was a hectic lifestyle to say the least. I was always coming and going. You had a 2 hour call time when you had to report for duty. There was no regulation on sleep time for me. I was on call 24 hours a day.

I started modeling when I was about 12 years old. I always had a fascination for WWII. My Father was in Germany with the occupation forces when WWII ended and stayed for 1 1/2 years. My Grandfather was in France during WWI. He was a medic. When I was about 9 years old my Grandfather would take me to a Hobby Shop in Davenport, IA and buy me Airfix figures. As my Dad once told the neighbor "every war there ever was, was fought in his front yard". By the time I was 12 years old I started building 1:35th scale models of any WWII vehicle I could find. I continued with this up to today. I don't do many 1:35th scale anymore. I now do 15mm miniatures since I got into tabletop wargaming about 15 years ago. I started playing the Axis & Allies miniatures game and when they stopped producing it I started buying any aftermarket 15mm model and painting them to go with the game. We have a great game group here in Waterloo, IA who gets together every Saturday to play. The games are always a fun time for us. This has pretty much been my only hobby most of my life. Now that I'm retired and no longer pestered by the Railroad, I spend my entire day doing what I really like to do, paint miniatures. I'm by no means a professional but, I do try to be as authentic as possible with my work.

James: That is really cool! A lifetime passion now can be a full-time passion. I bet you have quite the collection now, probably many armies for AAM? Oh and what is your favorite thing to paint? Have you dabbled with any other games or just AAM?

Mark: I've been working on adding pieces to my Minor nations in AAM. I like to be able to use them as stand alone Armys for scenarios. I also like to fill gaps with pieces that were never made by AAM and fit them into the game. We don't play the standard 100 point games very often. We tend to choose a scenario of a Historical nature and build it up to a 200 to 300 point game using multiple 3" hex maps. I have many, many 3D terrain pieces and we use them whenever we can. Looks nice on the game board along with the painted minis.

I don't really have any one favorite thing to paint. I do enjoy doing camo paint jobs. Many really nice paint schemes to choose from. Painting for MTCo. has allowed me to try some I've never tried before.

Mark: Thank you James and Louise, for giving me the time to share my modeling experiences with you and your customers. Also for the opportunity to do the painting for MTCo. I love every minute of it. It's given me a chance to expand my modeling abilities.

I don't know if there is any right advice to give someone. Everybody will find their own way to model and make choices that fits them best. One thing I can say is don't be afraid to try new things. A lot of the techniques I use I've learned over the years through trial and error. Be patient with your work and don't give in to frustration. This is a hobby and is meant to be enjoyed.