Cruisin’ Franklin – June 2025

Hot rods come in all shapes and sizes. Virtually any vehicle can be made into the owner’s version of cool. They buy a car and start changing things up — first the wheels, then a new paint job, then modifications to the engine, and whatever else the owner dreams to create.

For most in this hobby, it often starts small — and by small, I mean 1/24th scale. Often, the first car any young person modifies is a scale model of a car they hope to own for real someday. Sometimes they signal the beginning of a father-son project. In almost all cases, it ends with owning and customizing the real thing later in life.

Seth “Wink” Killea had a love for scale model building from the early age of 5. He grew up in his grandparents’ home, and his uncle introduced him to modeling to keep the youngster out of trouble. Wink grew up to work in an auto body shop and take up custom pin striping, yet he still has a passion for those small model kits.

“Models are like puzzles that you get to assemble, twist and modify,” he shares. “You can take risks on paint colors and modifications to see your vision come become real.” He has built hundreds of models since that first one and still keeps many packed away.

His favorite is named the Kustom Kreeper, based off the Monogram Ice ‘T’ kit. He has done major modifications to the outrageous kit to make it a one-of-a-kind custom. Kits like this drew him into the “Kustom Kulture” car world. In this style, cars undergo heavy modifications such as chopped roofs, channeling the lowered body onto the frame, and sectioning the body to create a low-sitting custom like no other.

His first real vehicle was a 1948 Chevy truck that he customized in this style and added flames to the paint job. Unfortunately, years down the road Wink was forced to sell the truck to pay some bills. He sold it to a friend and says jokingly that he still gets visitation rights to see it from time to time.

The work he has done on scale models helped build his pin striping skills to customize full-sized vehicles and to give back to the community. Wink was on hand at the Indianapolis World of Wheels in May, striping panels for the Panel Jam to raise funds for juvenile diabetes — an annual event that raises thousands each year to send kids with diabetes to a special summer camp.

Growing up, Wink was a member of the Hoosier Model Car Association and entered his scale model builds into model car shows. Through the years, these shows have dwindled in popularity. “When kids start building models they grow up and go into the automotive industry, where they might design new models, customize older ones, or keep them running and safe,” Wink says with a hint of worry. With fewer shows and opportunities, he fears fewer kids will go into this important field.

He wanted to do something to engage the youth in the car culture he loves so dearly. Along with his new model car club named Chopped and Glued, Wink set out to create a new model car show to hopefully ignite the automotive passions of the younger generation.

Thus, Modelrama was created. A model car show within a larger show, the Hoosier Vintage Wheels Swap Meet & Show was held May 16 and 17 at the Johnson County Fairgrounds in Franklin. The show was not just for kids, however, as there were multiple classes including adult build classes, making it a show for all ages.

Wink’s goal was to recreate the feeling of the shows he attended as a kid, where the show was more about the car community than the competition. He continues to foster an environment where builders learn from each other and dream up new custom builds from conversations at the show. He also bought a 3D printer and has begun producing custom parts for modelers wanting to take their modifications to the next level.

Until next time, keep cruising.