GEORGE TOWN, Dec. 9 -- It all began with an F-16 Fighting Falcon - a supersonic multirole fighter that first captured a young boy's imagination.

Choo Huang Ming was 12 when he bought his very first miniature modelling kit of the aircraft, paid for with money he had diligently saved.

That early spark never quite faded, but the hobby only truly took off in adulthood, when he was working in Singapore as a storyboard artist.

"I was in my late 20s then, so I would make miniature models after work and at that time, I mostly made military vehicles," he said.

He has always been fascinated by military machines, and since these were not something a civilian could ever own, miniature models became his way of bringing them into his world.

Choo a...