War Dog Modeling offers a line of stands for holding various types of models (aircraft, ships, etc.) for painting and detailing. I was given the opportunity to try out the model car stand.

The stand itself appears to be 3D printed. All the parts are solid and strong, and it feels well-made. Mine came in an unmarked box, unassembled, with no instructions or photos. It was relatively easy to figure out how it all went together from the photos on their web site, but a photo or a simple exploded drawing in the box would have been appreciated. All the parts went together very easily, and no tools were required.

Each bracket is completely individually adjustable. The main brackets slide back and forth along the entire length of the stand. The mounting brackets adjust to fit the width of the car body, and they can also be tilted to around a 45-degree angle in either direction. All the lock knobs have sturdy “wings” to give you the leverage you need for tightening and loosening the screws. All the brackets lock down solidly and hold their positions well. The main brackets fit a bit snugly in the slot on the base, but all the other brackets slide and tilt easily when loosened.

The stand appears to be designed primarily for 1:24 and 1:25 scale kits. Some 1:32 scale kits will also fit, but other won’t, depending on whether they body is wide enough to fit on the mounting brackets when they are pushed together as far as they can go. Nothing smaller than that will work. The stand might also work with 1:20 scale kits, but it will definitely not work with any kits larger than that because the brackets can only spread so far apart.

There are O-rings on the mounting brackets to hold the body in place. The O-rings are definitely gentle on the model body, but I think I would have preferred if they were a little grippier. Unless you press them outward against the inside of the body hard enough to slightly deform it, they tend to slip if you bump or press on the body a little too hard.

I used the stand for both spray painting and detailing my model. As a spray-painting stand, I found it a little awkward to use. The base of the stand tended to get in the way when I needed to paint the bottom edges or inside of the body, and I ended up spraying my hand more than a few times. Overspray also got on the knobs and brackets; this could become a problem as the overspray builds up over time. The brackets do allow you to tilt the body from side to side, but doing this during a painting session could easily lead to accidentally touching the freshly painted car body; I kept mine “locked and in the upright position” while painting. The stand also has a hole in the bottom to allow you to mount it on a Tamiya paint stand. While this would help keep your hands out of the way of the overspray while allowing you to rotate the body, it probably wouldn’t help much with getting in underneath.

As a detailing stand, I found this stand to be quite helpful. It is stable and heavy enough to stay put while my hands are busy trying to position a decal or a piece of Bare Metal Foil. Being able to tilt the body makes working on the body sides much easier. And If I need to pick up and hold the model, I can hold the stand and keep my grubby fingers off of my nice paint job.

I find there are only two real drawbacks to this stand. The first is the adjustability (which is also one of its strengths). Because the mounting brackets adjust independently, it is almost impossible to adjust the position of the model without removing it from the stand first. The brackets inevitably get misaligned, the body twists on the mounts, and it comes loose. The second drawback is that the mounting brackets’ width adjustment screws and angle adjustment screws are so close to each other that they are difficult to grasp when a model body is mounted on them.

Despite its flaws, I like this stand. For me, it doesn’t work well for spray-painting, but it is great for detail work. My thanks to War Dog Modeling for letting me try it out.