Techniques | Armor | 1/35 Scale | PDF tutorial | July 2020

Building the Trumpeter BTM 3 (high speed trench digging vehicle) #09502 1/35 scale

By Pablo Raggi
The BTM is a specialized vehicle of the engineering corps, based on the ATT artillery tractor, which in turn was built over the T-54 hull tank, using the cabin of the ZIS-150 truck. Not only did the BTM derive from this project, but there were at least 4 other designs, all for a specific use, including a version for Antarctic exploration.

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Techniques | Other | Motorcycles | 1/12 Scale | PDF tutorial | May 2020

Building and customizing the Tamiya Kawasaki Ninja H2R #14131 1/12 scale

By Ricardo Gonzalez
I decided to build, superdetail and customize this Tamiya kit, due to this subject beautifulness. A stunning futuristic motorcycle where great part of the engine and other structures are exposed which allow modelers show all those details we spent many hours on without the frustration that later will be hidden under the fairing. Thus, it’s possible to present the built model showing all the work made without having to separate the body to appreciate all the details added during the construction.

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Techniques | Formula One | Cars | 1/12 Scale | PDF tutorial

Kitbashing the Tamiya Ferrari 641 1/12 scale

By Mark Laird
I got this model back in the 90s for less than 100 US dollars. Although I do not have the “Perfect Parts” detail set for this model, I purchased the Thunder Valley Essentials detail set, which is two photo etched frets, a resin airbox, aluminum funnels, a pack of different pieces of aluminum, clear tubing and shrink tubing....

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Techniques | Formula One | Cars | 1/20 Scale | PDF tutorial

Superdetailing the Aoshima / Beemax McLaren MP4/2 1/20 scale

By Antonio Busciglio
In this article, I want to share how I detailed the 1/20 McLaren MP4/2 as ran (and won) the 1984 F1 championship. The car I wanted to reproduce is the Lauda’s, only driver to have won the championship after a retirement and a subsequent coming back to the races (notably, Lauda is also the only driver that won a world championship after receiving the last rites, after its terrible accident in 1976).

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Techniques | Armor | 1/16 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the IDF Tiran 5 (Israeli-modified version of the Russian T-55 tank) from Hooben kit for R/C 1/16 scale

By Mario Covalski
The aim of this tutorial is to share with the reader the modifications made on the 1/16 T-55 from the firm Hooben, to convert it into a Tiran 5 of the IDF (Israeli defence forces), a small modelling project that I wanted to do since several years ago. Besides to help the reader, especially to those who has never built a Hooben T55, to solve the problems I had to deal with, alert them to several problems that appears after some use, like it happened to me with the one built in 2011 (the old kit version). As I said before, I built a regular T-55 of the Russian army and the IDF Tiran 5, but in the basic assembly steps, I’ll concentrate in the general points. So here you will see pictures of different models, about the same topic.

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Techniques | Armor | 1/35 Scale | PDF tutorial

Painting the Academy M1A2 Tusk II 1/35 scale

By ByeongeoSoo Kim
There are lots of reviews of this Academy new kit and many of them include construction details, so I’ll focus myself on the paint and the weathering as aim for this tutorial, using images as visual guide.

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Techniques | Cars | 1/24 Scale | PDF tutorial

Customizing and improving the Tamiya Morris Mini Cooper Mk.1 1966 "Gulf" #24048 1/24 scale

By Edwing E. Merlo Paredes
In this tutorial I’ve made a road vehicle version with own elements of a rally car, and decorated with the Gulf emblems and colors. The kit used to build this model is the Tamiya 1/24 that ran in Monte Carlo rally 1967 (#24048). It’s cheap and is being manufacturing from time to time and can be easily purchased in many online shops

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Techniques | Airplanes | 1/48 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Meng P-51D Mustang #LS-006 1/48 scale

By Gary Wickham
There has been quite a buzz around this release for one simple reason. Its a "Snap Tite" kit. Ok, so MENG refer to it as "Cement-Free Assembly" but whatever you call it, you are meant to assemble it without the need for glue. Normally this type of engineering is reserved for the basic, beginner style kits to make it easier for novices to construct their first model without making a mess with all that pesky glue. We have come to expect such kits to be very basic, often lacking detail with low part counts, to suite beginners.

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Techniques | Armor | 1/16 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the RC Leopard 2A4 1/16 scale

By Mario Covalski
A couple of years ago, I discover  www.Ludwigs-Hobby-Seite.de, a web site where Christian Ludwig offers his kits mostly made of  plastic, cut with the CNC technology. So, I found a kit to convert a Heng Long 2A6 to the 2A4, that is to say a previous version.

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Techniques | Armor | 1/35 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Dragon Panzerkampfwagen Panther II #6027 1/35 scale

By Michael Mandau
There is always this one kind of projects that you ever wanted to build and pops up in your mind once in a while. This was it for me: In my mind I saw a gantry style signal tower in a fighting scene and under which a panther is positioned. This kept me fascinated for a long time, until I finally decided to build it. I always had an inclination for railway scenes; probably back from the days when I played with the model railroad at my grandfather’s house. So, tracks need to be on the diorama, that’s for sure and as well as something track bound.

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Techniques | Cars | 1/24 Scale | PDF tutorial

Superdetailing the Hasegawa Lancia 037 1/24 scale

By Antonio Busciglio
The model I wanted to build was the version that ran on the Tour de Corse in 1984 season, driven by Attilio Bettega (who lost its life in the same car during the 1985 season) with Cresto as a co driver. The Martini livery makes this car absolutely stunning, but also quite demanding for the modeler. Moreover, the only plastic kit available on the market is the not so recent Hasegawa kit. In my opinion It’s quite well designed, easy to assemble parts, good general fitting, good materials quality. However...

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Techniques | Formula One | 1/20 Scale | PDF tutorial

Superdetailing the Tamiya Honda RA272 1/20 scale

By Antonio Busciglio
The model nicely reproduces the shape of the car, but most of the details are missing, or oversimplified due to production and technology issues. On this basis, I decided to build this model adding as much detail as possible for my skills. As an additional difficulty, there are nearly no detail sets for this kit, so it would be necessary to add them from scratch. In particular, I used a large number of resin rivets and bolts, some turned bolts, leftover photoetched from my spare box and a lot of scratch-building. In this tutorial I’ll describe all the building process in detail. I hope you’ll enjoy building this model as I did.

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Techniques | Armor | 1/35 Scale | PDF tutorial

The Birds are gone diorama. Building the Dragon Sd.Kfz 138/2 Hetzer #6030 early version 1/35 scale

By Michael Mandau
I was always fascinated by those tiny tanks with their unique and compact design and I had planned to build one for quite a while. Recently I got an old 1/35 scale Dragon #6030 Hetzer early version. This kit is almost 13 years old and you can clearly see some missing details but in overall it’s a good  model. For some additional details I bought the Eduard 35385 Hetzer photoetched set which would be used. For me it’s a big inducement to use the old despised kits with minor additional parts and show what still could be done out of it. Together with the etch-set the total price was below 20€ and therefore also something for modelers with an economical budget.

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Techniques | Cars | 1/12 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Italeri Fiat 500F 1/12 scale

By Fabrice Marechal
Certainly, Italeri offer us a kit that, once finished, is really a beautiful and shocking model due to its size, we are not accustomed to seeing a Fiat 500 in 1/12 scale. There is very little to be changed or improved to make the most of it. Unfortunately, some construction steps are not easy to understand and instructions are not always clear. In this respect, Italeri did nothing to facilitate the modelers’ work, and assembling the headlights, window frames, bodywork, etc., are a bit complicated. I built the model almost out of the box, enhancing the painting and assembling was correct and error free as far as possible, and I think it will be an excellent guide for those who want to face this project, having in advance the difficulties you’ll have to face and a good painting guide.

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Techniques | Airplanes | 1/48 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the spanish F/A 18A for novices, using the Hobby Boss kit 1/48 scale

By Jose Angel García Martin
The aircraft I’m representing here belonged to the Cyclons of the US Navy and I considered to build it due to its attractive camouflage even the radar cone what makes it very interesting for the modeler. Its yellow and sand colors weathering and “washes” were the final push that made me take the decision of choosing this version. My idea was to represent the aircraft in its first stages of the Ejercito del Aire. The aim of this tutorial is to share with the reader the work, with simple techniques and materials available to all, it can be easily reproduced by a less experienced modeller.

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Techniques | Airplanes | 1/48 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Czech Model Messerschmitt Me-263 V-1 1/48 scale

By Jaime Pastor Pueyo
I bought this kit years ago but, as usual, it ended up in the shelves close to dozens of boxes. However, someday I found a photo in a book, and I remembered where the kit was stored. When I opened the box, I could not put it away again.

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Techniques | Formula One | 1/20 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Tamiya Leyton House CG 901B: a guide for novices 1/20 scale

By Antonio Busciglio
This tutorial aims at sharing the building process for the Tamiya kit. The Leyton House is a typical Tamiya kit of the nineties, with good quality and details, but with several fitting issues. I wanted to build a curbside model, focusing on the car shape and livery, rather than the inner mechanical details. It would be an almost OOB build, with modifications only when they were necessary to achieve a better fit and / or to increase the overall realism.

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Techniques | Airplanes | 1/32 Scale | PDF tutorial

Improving the Fokker Dr.1 - Roden 1/32 scale

By Claudio Kalicinski
The kit was manufactured by the Ukrainian company, Roden and without doubt is the best Fokker Dr.1 kit in 1/32. Regrettably, it perpetuates some mistakes common to previous models of the Fokker Dr.1 because all of them have been based on Ian Stair's scale drawings published in the Fokker Dr.1 Special by Albatros Publications. These scale drawings, although are correct in dimensions, have some mistakes like the absence of the opening for the oil filling on the starboard side of the front decking and the lower panel where is located an access hatch to the engine and the incorporation of a detachable axle wing, correct for some versions of the Fokker D.VII, but not for the Dr.1 which its axle wing was fixed.....

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Techniques | Cars | 1/24 Scale | PDF tutorial

Customizing and improving the Tamiya Fiat Abarth 695SS #89675 1/24 scale

By Edwing E. Merlo Paredes
The Fiat Abarth 695 ‘esseesse’, classic, is one of the most popular European sport cars in automotive history. Its tiny size and body are among its main identity and attractive features. As was to be expected, Tamiya was one of the brands that offered the icon with Italian accent, creating a simple and funny kit with good details and lot of possibilities for modifications with improvements sets and/or scratch. The version presented in this tutorial is a road car with sport details and customized. It’s a type of vehicle that can be found today in concentrations or classic cars rallies.

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Techniques | Formula One | 1/20 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Minardi M193 Ford: step by step Tamiya Lotus 107B Conversion 1/20 scale

By William Chan
Minardi was one of the F1 privateer teams that had never won any grand prix and they were often missed because most of the attention are put on big name teams. Although the team often run with limited budget, Minardi team's strong determination made them on the F1 grid for almost 15 years. None of the major model manufacturers makes Minardi F1. So far I only see Modelers' M198, Club M's M197, Wolf's PS-01 and AMC M193. I found that M193 shape is pretty close to Lotus 107B and McLaren MP4/8. So I bought an AMC M193 decal and tried out the conversion. After more than 15 months of on and off building, the car is finally completed. The result is not perfect, but I am still satisfied with the result. I like to thank my friend Todd for providing me the AMC M193 instruction sheet, so that I have better idea where to place the decal logo, and Johnson Tang for providing me tips of using Gunze lacquer clear coat.

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Techniques | Cars | 1/24 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Aston Martin DBS Ultimate Edition from the Tamiya kit #24316 1/24 scale

By Fabrice Marechal
This project is the result of a request a Dutch collector made me. They sent me the Tamiya kit, an Aber PE dashboard , new wheels, several accessories not necessarily useful and a booklet that shows the differences between a DBS and a DBS Ultimate Edition one.

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Techniques | Armor | 1/16 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Hooben Russian T-55 for R/C 1/16 scale (included both versions)

By Mario Covalski
The aim of this tutorial is to help the reader, especially to those who has never built a Hooben T55, to solve the problems I had to deal with, alert them to several problems that appears after some use, like it happened to me with the one built in 2011. As I said before, I built a regular T-55 of the Russian army and the IDF Tiran 5, but in the assembly steps, I’ll concentrate in the general points. Then in a later tutorial I will offer, it will show the variants needed for the Tiran 5. So here you will see pictures of different models, about the same topic.

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Techniques | Armor | 1/16 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Leopard 2A7 R/C from the Tamiya kit 1/16 scale

By Mario Covalski
The goal of this short tutorial is to share with the reader the construction of the 1/16 RC Leopard 2A7, based on the Tamiya 2A6 and trying to copy the Meng 1/35 kit, which is an excellent reproduction of the real tank. To avoid creating false expectations about this tutorial, I’ll not make any reference to the assembly of the Tamiya kit, or the painting of the model, I just will focus on the modifications. During the construction I took some artistic license (as I use to do).  

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Techniques | Cars | 1/24 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Revell Porsche Panamera Turbo #7034 1/24 scale

By Fabrice Marechal
Revell have going on offering Super cars and luxury reproductions in 1/24 scale, this article will be about the Porsche Panamera Turbo. I’ll not extend in a complete kit review , however every time I open a Revell box, the first things I examine are: the bodywork, the brakes and wheels. For these last ones, it must be recognized that Revell have improved them. The wheels size is correct and not undersized as it happened at times, besides they are molded in a single part. What still doesn’t’ like me is the chromed they’re provided with, lack of realism and adds extra work to the modeller. Unfortunately, the brakes are not well represented. This tutorial aims at showing with images the steps I followed to correct the problems and get the finished model.

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Techniques | Armor | 1/16 Scale | PDF tutorial

Converting the Trumpeter T-72 MBT to RC 1/16 scale

By Mario Covalski
To improve the Heng Long T-90 I read some books and gathered information/photos from the web. This little research made me know more about these compact Russian tanks T-72/T-90, and so it grew my interest in them. So I bought the 1/16 T-72 Trumpeter kit. This kit was designed not only for static but also for RC. The static version has some extra details and modifications, reminds me the, T-34 from WSN, a brand with which Trumpeter sold the T-34 RC. The philosophy of the T-72 is the same, I still believe that the T-34 gearbox with its motors, would fit in the hull. Perfectly.  

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Techniques | Formula One | 1/12 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building and improving the Italeri / Protar Alfa Romeo 179 1980 1/12 scale

By Mario Covalski
In May 2001 I wrote a brief preview on the Protar's 1/12 Alfa Romeo 179. This wonderful Formula One was one of the few cars in modern F1 history which chassis and engine were the same brand. Is this model really difficult? This is the key question for this model, and the answer is NO. If it were a Tamiya model, that is to say the same matrix but injected with Tamiya plastic and having the quality control of this huge Japanese company, I would say that this is one of the most delicious models I have ever built. Unfortunately, it has some flaws, mainly due to its poor quality than to the work of the Protar craftsmen.

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Techniques | Formula One | 1/12 Scale | PDF tutorial

Ultimate guide for the Tamiya Ferrari 641 1/12 scale (revised with new pictures)

By Mario Covalski
This article will be useful to anybody who wants to pursue this project, I decided to write it in the form of an instruction manual, following the steps set forth in the Tamiya's instruction manual, but also indicating all modifications to be made in order to insert the "Perfect Parts" metal parts, along with suggestions and advice on my experience with this model on every stage of the construction. All general recommendations on the use of CA and handling of metal and photoetched parts can be found in the previous articles.  

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Techniques | Armor | 1/35 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building a modified Dragon E-100 #6011 1/35 scale

By Michael Mandau
Because of the unbelievable size and the never completed prototype-phase, this vehicle was always on my wish list to build. But I just didn’t wanted to build a regular E-100 that have been seen plenty of times before I like dirty paper-panzer with unusual features. So I decided to create a 1947 E-100 Aus. C fantasy tank in a “what-if” scenario. Therefore I was able to get the early Dragon 1/35 #6011 quite a while ago. Due to the fact that this kit celebrated its 20th birthday this year, my expectations into detail and quality were not too high. Nevertheless, Dragon made a got job two decades ago, but some parts had to be exchanged and complemented.

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Techniques | Armor | 1/16 Scale | PDF tutorial

Detailing the Heng Long T-90 MBT for RC 1/16 scale

By Mario Covalski
The aim of this tutorial is to share with the reader the work of adding some details to the plastic, with nothing more than what I had in the spare box, spending very little money in the electronics, but trying to get a model that looks like a scale model and not a toy. In order not to disappoint anybody, I’ll not going to place the emphasis in the mechanical or electronic improvements since they are widely known, but will share the simple modifications and/or additions I made which are easily reproducible. I took some artistic freedom in some areas, to my personal taste, but I indicate the way it should be.

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Techniques | Airplanes | 1/32 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Italeri Mirage IIIC #I2505 1/32 scale

By Fabrice Marechal
When I was asked to build the Italeri Mirage, I was really excited. I had dreamed since long ago with building and representing the weathering using new technologies on an aircraft. As some friends know, I’m colorblind and never could realize about the colors of an aircraft weathering. I used to build a lot of 1/72 Matchbox kits (some military vehicles) as a child , sometimes painting them. Anyway, nothing to do with the new techniques and besides, since the age of twelve, I’ve not touched a military kit.

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Techniques | Motorcycles | 1/12 Scale | PDF tutorial

Kitbashing the Yamaha YZR M-1 Moto GP 2005 - Tamiya 1/12 scale

By Jose I. Hernandez Diez
Tamiya have been offering high quality motorcycles kits very detailed and good presentation. If you add to this the modern detail sets, the result will be a superb museum piece that will look striking in any showcase, this is the case of the of the Yamaha YZR M-1 (#14104) to which I added several aftermarket. The aim of this article is to share with readers my experience in the construction of this model with these extra sets, so here I will basically refer to their use.

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Techniques | Formula One | 1/20 Scale | PDF tutorial

Superdetailing the Tamiya Jordan 191 - 1/20 scale

By Joachim Kutt
This build report is about superdetailing the 1/20 Tamiya kit and turning the Jordan 191 into Schumacher’s ride. The kit, a typical Tamiya product of the time, represents the Silverstone race version most closely, so some modifications were necessary besides adding the correct decals from Studio27.

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Techniques | Motorcycles | 1/12 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building and customizing the Tamiya Ducati Panigale S 1/12 scale

By Ricardo Gonzalez
The Ducatti Panigale is to my liking one of the most spectacular motorcycles of the past decade. Thanks to Tamiya we can have a model of it, both were the reasons why I decided to build it trying to get the most detailed model I could , taking advantage of the fact that as it was a mass production model, it would be possible for me to get a lot of references. Not only I built and superdetailed the model, but also made a slightly and own customized version, a real Panigale, as I would like to have. The aim of this article, is to show with pictures and their comments the work accomplished as a guide and to give ideas of the details that can be added or showing in some cases how to do the different tasks.

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Techniques | Airplanes | 1/48 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building and painting the Mirage 2000 D Tiger Meet 2016 Zaragoza using the Kinetic kit 1/48 scale

By Jose Angel García Martin
In the air base of Zargoza located 270 km west of Barcelona and 262 km northeast of Madrid, took place the Tiger Meet 2016 which congregated many airplanes from different air forces that have some squadron of this kind. As it’s traditional for this meeting, the planes use to have special decorations that are always in reference to the “Tiger” . In this case, one of the most spectacular and attractive was the Mirage 2000 D belonging to the French L’Armee de l’Air, showing a beautiful tiger decoration in the fuselage and Spanish flags painted in the tail and wings. Just by looking at the pictures, I told myself “I have to do it one way or another”.

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Techniques | Airplanes | 1/32 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Trumpeter Su-27 Flanker step by step guide 1/32 scale

By Masa Narita
Building step by step….day by day. As soon as I looked inside this beautiful kit, I could not hold my horse. I had to stop other projects (1/35 Hetzer, 1/32 F-15J). I decided to build this kit straight from the box because I really wanted to see the completion as soon as possible. Also this time, I will update these pages while building the kit. So let's build this wonderful giant kit!!

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Techniques | Cars | 1/24 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Revell Mercedes AMG GT #07028 1/24 scale

By Fabrice Marechal
When I received the Revell kit, I realized about its qualities but also about its weak points. And the main, is the way the vent grilles present in the front mudguards, the hood and especially on the front bumpers were represented; and the singular design of the front grille. I invite you to follow the images of this model construction, which was laborious, but with a worthwhile final result!

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Techniques | Cars | 1/8 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Pocher Lamborghini Huracan, step by step, painting guide and tips. 1/8 scale

By Mario Covalski
These are the new times of Pocher, hand in hand with Hornby, the brand that offer models which represent high technology subjects as Lamborghini cars and Ducati motorcycles. Manufactured by Ixo, the Chinese company, they are the fashion of the time, huge 1/8 scale cars with metal body and chassis, already painted (luckily!). They compete with Amalgam and other brands with less expectations but to fit any budget and if you have some experience as model builder, the result will be acceptable and even excellent. The aim of this tutorial is to share the step by step in the Lamborghini Huracán construction, the last Pocher issue explaining the work achieved so that it may be useful for less experienced modelers and collectors.

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Techniques | Armor | 1/16 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Classy Hobby Panzerkampfwagen II Ausf L Luchs Sd.Kfz12 #MC16001 R/C 1/16 scale

By Mario Covalski
When guys from 35 RC tank offered the conversion kit, I got excited and decided to buy the Classy Hobby kit and the conversion. This tutorial aims at sharing with the reader my experience in the construction of this radio controlled model, and even will be useful for those who build it as a static model, since the reviews say much about the kit but little about the problems I found.

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Techniques | Armor | 1/35 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the German T-34 Pz.Kpf.Wg. 747(r)-1 from the Tamiya kit 1/35 scale

By Mario Gabas Ruiz
During the whole WWII, the German Army captured and reused hundreds of T-34 Soviet tanks, in many cases the vehicles were used as they were captured with just only addition: the balkenkreuz on the sides. At times, the vehicles were sent to the workshops where the typical accessories of the German tanks such as Notek lights, German radios, lateral boxes for equipment and so, were added. The aim of this note is to share the work especially about painting, over a conversion of the old Tamiya kit.

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Techniques | Formula One | Cars | 1/20 Scale | PDF tutorial

Superdetailing the Tamiya McLaren MP4/4 with the Top Studio detail set 1/20 scale

By Antonio Busciglio
The Tamiya kit represents very well this icon of the 1988 season in its general shape but not regarding the mechanical parts and the cockpit area. As this is one of the F1s I like best, I decided to build it adding the superb Top Studio detail set (TS in the text) that includes resin and PE parts what makes novices to modelling feel fear. Besides, I’ve added several modifications and extra details which were necessary adding an extra effort. This article is to share my work with the hope that those who are less experienced than me, can build this model with some extra help.

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Techniques | Airplanes | 1/48 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Spanish F-4C "renaissance" from the Academy kit 1/48 scale

By Jose Angel García Martin
One of my favourite aircraft has always been the F4 Phantom. Since long ago, I wished I could make a 1/48 F4C of the Ejército del Aire (Spanish air force) but the kits available to carry out my project were too poor. It was then when this fabulous Academy kit that was the best fighter aircraft manufactured up to the moment appeared. I could not leave the opportunity of making my favourite aiplane of my beloved Ejército del Aire.

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Techniques | Cars | 1/24 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Revell Porsche 918 Spyder #7026 1/24 scale

By Fabrice Marechal
When I assembled the Mirage IIIC, I used several products from Ammo Mig. Though I was very satisfied with the result, I decided to use AK Interactive products for the 918 to have a different experience. Certainly Revell have improved the wheels quality and their design but improvements don’t always mean accuracy and I have my doubts about size accuracy of wheels, so I replaced them with the Plamoz ones. I invite you to follow this Porsche model build where I only made two changes in the body to get the result you see here.

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Techniques | Armor | 1/35 Scale | PDF tutorial

Painting the Dragon Panzer III Ausf. J 1/35 scale

By Federico Collada
Nowadays it can be a bit reiterative to write an article about the Panzer III history as there is one in every model magazine from time to time, and the web is saturated with them in every language for everyone who desires to read them. So I will concentrate in telling how I built and painted the model.

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Techniques | Formula One | Cars | 1/12 Scale | PDF tutorial

Detailing the Renault Re20 turbo: a guide for novices Tamiya 1/12 scale (revised with new pictures)

By Mario Covalski
During the 80’s decade Tamiya offered what was going to be their last kit in their superb collection of 1/12 F1 models, the car was the Renault Turbo RE20. After that, the modelers had to suffer a drought of 10 years, until we had the chance to see a new model in this very well known collection, the Ferrari 641/2, which was issued in 1991. This is my second attempt with this kit, the first was many years ago, and I only remember that it was “a little bit complicated”. So, I want to begin this note with three concepts which are: 1) this is a very complex kit (I will say why later), 2) objectives, and 3) planning.

COMMENTS (5)

Techniques | Armor | 1/35 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Takom WWI Heavy tank MARK IV Male #35008 1/35 scale

By Kristof Pulinckx
I’ve always been a fan of WWI armour and was just waiting for a decent kit to arrive on the market. The Mark IV was high on my wish list and with recent releases from Tamiya and Takom we have plenty of choice in high quality kits. But which one to choose? After reading several reviews on the internet I opted for the Takom ‘Male’ kit as its detail is slightly better than the Tamiya one. Although the latter would be easier to built.

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Techniques | Formula One | 1/20 Scale | PDF tutorial

Superdetailing the Tamiya / Top Studio Ferrari F1-2000 1/20 scale. Bonus: F1-2001 OOB

By Antonio Busciglio
In this article I describe the work to superdetail the Tamiya Ferrari F1-2000, the car that brought back the driver championship in Maranello with Michael Schumacher, after 21 years from the last championship. The Tamiya kit is good, but the aim is to add as much details as possible, by using the Top Studio; super detail set, and antenna set, and other aftermarket details (photo-etched bolts, rivets and so on).

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Techniques | Airplanes | 1/48 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Bristol Beaufighter Mk.Ic from the Tamiya Mk.Vic kit 1/48 scale

By Jaime Pastor Pueyo
Only Tamiya offer several versions of the Bristol Beaufighter in 1/48 scale. Nevertheless, the only way to do the Mk.Ic is to transform and correct some minor errors starting from the Mk.IV that is the most similar. The kit itself is pretty good, there’s no significant differences with others of the same brand and scale, but the scarcely detailed cockpit and well wheels called my attention since are very visible and should be improved as much as possible.

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Techniques | Armor | 1/35 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Takom French St. Chamond 1/35 scale

By Laurent Rolleri
The time that some companies started to gratify us with kits that represent vehicles of the Great War finally arrived; this is the case of Takon that began to offer the Saint Chamond in 1/35 scale.

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Techniques | Cars | 1/24 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Tamiya Mercedes 300SL #24338 1/24 scale

By Fabrice Marechal
Looking at the photos of a real 300SL body, we find out Tamiya have made an excellent work. However, it’s possible to go even further and give the body of this Mercedes an additional touch of realism. Regarding the chassis Tamiya also made a hard work with the tubular frame, very realistic indeed! besides of being quite simple to assemble. The engine and cockpit are not far behind. To paint this marvel, I chose silver that is unavoidable for this beauty. So, the aim of this article is to share with the reader the building, painting and weathering process of some parts, in such a way that they can be reproduced by a modeller with a minimum of experience.

COMMENTS

Techniques | Armor | 1/35 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Italeri Sd.kfz.232 6 Rad #6433 1/35 scale

By Michel Perez Blasco
There are only two options if you want to build a reproduction of this peculiar vehicle, the HaPM kit (Sd.Kfz.231) or this one from Italeri. Not much to think, Italeri win. Anyway, once the references were consulted, I found out that it also has errors, mainly due to the fact that the kit doesn’t represent any of the three types of six-wheel vehicles manufactured by Mercedes, Magirus and Busing Nag.

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Techniques | Cars | 1/24 Scale | PDF tutorial

Tamiya LaFerrari extreme detailed 1/24 scale

By Felice Ferriello
Tamiya offer an excellent model for Ferrari lovers, that can’t be missing in a collection. In my opinion, it’s a very complex kit so not recommended for novices or those who want to spend some time distracted and relaxed with a simple model. Its complexity obliges you to study very carefully the instructions preparing a building plan, altering the instruction steps to get a good result. This article aims at sharing with the reader the work achieved during several months to superdetail this beautiful model, providing lots of images.

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