Brion has been fiddling with miniatures and model-building since he was 6 years old. A native of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, he grew up in Arizona and New Mexico, where he developed theatrical and design skills as an artist and in stagecraft...skills that are apparent in his freelance designs of model work and model railroad layout design. An accomplished illustrator and artist, his work reflects his sculptor/painter father's flair for the subtletly dramatic; colorful, evocative, balanced. While a well-rounded historian and capable of rendering subjects with great attention to accuracy and detail, he most enjoys the freedom of "imagineering" with his "mind's eye" creating subjects that "might have" or "could have" been.

 

This is no more evident than his prized personal piece, a 4-foot long, 1/40th scale turn-of-the century fictional Mississipi River gunboat of a fictional 1920's-era Confederate Navy, CSS SHILOH. Detailed down to sandwiches in the Galley icebox, she is complete, inside and out, "wow"-ing crowds wherever she goes and winning "Best In Show", "People's Choice" and "First Place" in numerous contests. This labor of love extends to the many models he has built for his exclusive clientele, from monstrous steam locomotives to the lowly caboose, from large-scale tugboats to HO scale soda shops, catering to the needs of the hobbyist, collector and loved ones wanting that "special, one-of-a-kind" gift. 

 

While an avid builder thru his teens, he continued honing his skills at custom-building while at sea, serving 20 years in the US Navy as a Navigator before settling down in Virginia, in the outskirts of Washington, DC. He found an eager base of customers for his modeling skills while maintaining a repair and custom-paint service in the back of a local hobby shop, gaining more reknown by word of mouth. When the hobby shop closed it's doors for the last time, he moved his business to a small backyard shop, where he works today.

 

In addition to the work that he does there, he has traveled all over the United States for work on several dozen model railroad layouts and museum dioramas. He has done commissioned work and repairs for a number of government and local businesses, including the FBI, FAA, U.S. Park Service, Boy Scouts, retailers, travel and transportation agencies and schools. 

 

He has been called upon for everything from reproducing ancient artifacts to set design...and whatever you see in YOUR mind's eye!