This former Hollywood prop master’s how-to videos are like Captain Kangaroo on acid, going solo without the support of Mr. Green Jeans and Bunny Rabbit

Courtesy of Simon Mercs

Those who pay up to $60,000 for one of his models look at Mercs not as a basket case but more as a demigod. Dan Rosen, former Warner Bros. production head and executive at Digital Domain, was all to happy to sing Mercs’ praises. “Simon has produced a couple of models for me, a Martian War Machine and the Disneyland TWA Moonliner,” he said. “His attention to detail is simply unequaled. In my time in the movie industry, I have had occasion to deal with many model makers. They were all excellent, but I rarely saw a model produced on the first try that was exactly what was asked for.”

You don’t need a big wallet to appreciate Mercs’ completed models. Watching him build a model, and sitting through his incessant parade of characters doesn’t cost anything — and it sure beats the hell out of today’s network and cable reality television fare.

Mercs, who had one leg amputated after a freak accident, does reality TV one better. His YouTube channel continues to grow with new subscribers and fans who rabidly wait until the next installment. He doesn’t demonstrate how to make a flambé, he doesn’t pimp rides, he doesn’t flip houses. What he does is flip reality into a realm that seems attainable by us all, step by step.

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