“GP250” … Above is the model requested by the A24 team for the newly released “Marty Supreme” Film.
PHOTOS PROVIDED / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
“ROMEO HELLFIRE MISSILE” … Pictured above is one of Matt’s personal favorites, who states it’s a “pretty impressive piece.”
By: Brenna White
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
For most of his life, Matt Huard has been drawn to the machinery and history of wartime aviation.
That interest eventually led him to an unusual and highly specialized career: creating historically accurate replica bombs and missiles for museums, military training, private collectors, and even major film productions.
In a nondescript workshop just off of U.S. Route 127, he created the hidden gem of the community – Bombs Away LLC, a small company specializing in highly detailed, lightweight replica ordnance.
A Montpelier native, Matt graduated from Montpelier High School in 1984 and completed two years of electronics coursework at Four County Career Center.
His early exposure to technical work came from his father, who was a well-known, self-employed television repairman. Although Matt initially expected to follow that same path, he ultimately found himself drawn elsewhere.
Freshly 18 and out of high school, Matt entered the factory machining field. At the same time, he nurtured a long-standing love of history, particularly involving military aircraft. As a teenager, he would build scale models of trucks, cars, and airplanes.
That interest became something more tangible in the late 1990s after a visit to the Toledo Air Show, where he encountered a B-17 Bomber on display. The aircraft left a lasting impression.
Through that experience, he connected with the Yankee Air Museum, now renamed the Michigan Flight Museum, at the Willow Run Airport. Volunteers were actively restoring and maintaining historic aircraft.
Matt began traveling there twice a month, helping however he could – fabricating small parts, learning the aircraft systems, and eventually joining the aircrew!
Spending time around the aircraft only furthered his interest in history. As visitors toured the planes, questions came up repeatedly: What did these aircraft carry? Where were the bombs? Why weren’t there replicas on display?
At the time, Matt realized no one was making them. “You know, I had an idea,” he smiles. “Clear back in 1998, with the Yankee Air Museum permission, they allowed me to take a 500-pound bomb home with me.
“Another gentleman and I made a mold – my replica weighing about 50 pounds. It had all the detail, all the numbers stamped on them, the welding marks. When you’re done, and it’s painted up, you can’t tell the difference,” he recounts.
That first replica led to others. “After the 500-pound, how about a 250-pound?” he says. Matt followed the same process with a 250-pound bomb, returning the original, newly restored ordnance to the museum alongside an exact replica.
Some of his replicas were installed directly on the aircraft, while others became permanent museum displays.
In 2003, his work had grown into a full business. Today, he produces approximately a dozen different replica designs and estimates he has created as many as 400 pieces over the years.
He partners with businesses in the Northwest Ohio area and Indiana for specialized metal work, while handling the molding, painting, and assembly himself.
Matt’s replicas are not only used for displays. They are often ordered as military training aids, with pieces supplied domestically and internationally, including Germany and Australia’s Royal Air Force.
They provide a hands-on experience for soldiers to identify what bombs they may face while on the battlefield.
He relies on extensive research for each project, gathering reference photos online and documenting original pieces at airshows and aviation museums, often photographing lettering and markings to ensure accuracy.
“I can take pictures of the lettering, the verbiage on the missile,” he explains. “It’s a lot of heavy research online.”
Matt’s hard work has also found its way to Hollywood. In October 2024, he received a call from the prestigious film company A24 Studios. They requested a replica bomb for their newly released film, Marty Supreme.
The replica appears briefly in a flashback scene depicting a bomb-disarming moment in a prison camp. Though on screen momentarily, the moment was meaningful for Huard, who later watched the film with his wife.
Marty Supreme was officially released on December 25, 2025, starring famous actors such as Timothee Chalamet alongside Gwyneth Paltrow, Fran Drescher, Tyler the Creator, and numerous cameos. The film has already received significant industry recognition, including Critics’ Choice and AFI Honors.
However, this is not Matt’s first brush with the big screen. His replicas have previously appeared in the 2019 war film Midway, the Amazon Series The Man in the High Castle, and episodes of the critically-acclaimed series MacGyver.
Among his most labor-intensive projects are missile replicas, including the Sidewinder missile, which measures roughly nine feet long and requires at least 18 individually machined or welded components.
Matt described it as his favorite piece due to its complexity and visual impact, with the Hellfire missile ranking close behind.
“It’s a pretty impressive piece,” he comments. Several recent projects are bound for museum display in California.
Looking back, Matt credits faith and persistence for sustaining his work. “I would say at one point, when I first started this business, around 2000, I was making these replicas and thinking, ‘What do I do with this?’
“So, I prayed about it, and God said, ‘If you make them, I’ll sell them.’ I thought, ‘Okay, I’ll just keep making them.’ I started making extra ones, and God has continually sold them,” he affirms.
In the early days, he largely relied on word of mouth and airshows to find clients. Over time, as demand continued to grow, it led to the development of a formal product line and website.
More than two decades later, Matt Huard continues to build replicas that preserve history. Even in the small, rural corner of Williams County, stories like his serve as a reminder that remarkable work often happens quietly, far from the spotlight.
From museum displays and military training aids to major motion pictures, his craftsmanship has reached well beyond Northwest Ohio, all while remaining rooted in the place he calls home.
It’s proof that passion, persistence, and a love for history can turn a local workshop into something extraordinary, and that some of the most impressive stories are still being made right here in our own backyard.