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Editorial

The best of 2016 Over the end of the year, we are offering a preview of the articles we were proud to have during 2016. Enjoy them and happy new year.




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By Mario Covalski

Realistic wire wheels for 1/12 scale motorcycles One of the biggest challenges for a modeler who builds motorcycles in 1/12 scale, is to modify a wire wheel and make it look realistic; specially without having to buy an aftermarket kit. Anyway, there are no kits for this kind of modification (except for one of the Acu-stion for the Tamiya XV1600 kit), so it's not possible to get one. So any modeler attempting to do this task must rely in his/her ability in order, to get a good result.

By Mario Covalski

Improving the Dragon Schwimmwagen - 1/6 scale #75013 Being a car fan, everything that has wheels attracts my attention, nevertheless, the Kubelwagen’s amphibious sibling, went unnoticed by me for quite a long time. After building the 1/6 Dragon Kubel, I was pretty excited with the Schwimmwagen, and the quality of the kit and improvements Dragon introduced a couple of years after the Kubel release, really surprised me. This article aims at offering my view about this kit construction, adding some improvements I considered necessary so as to make a worthy scale model.

By Gary Wickham

Advanced techniques: Building the P-51D Mustang "Lt Col John Myers" Petie 3rd Dragon 1/32 scale The infamous Dragon P-51D in 1/32. This model was started before Tamiya announced their kit, and I have to admit that during this build I did consider scrapping it more than once. In the end, I am very glad I did not. Despite the challenges and limitations of this kit, I am very happy (and proud) of the end result.

By Edwing E. Merlo Paredes

Building the Mini Cooper S Countryman, a guide for beginners Hasegawa #24121 - 1/24 scale The aim of this article is to give the reader a detailed and comprehensive guide. Here you’ll have typical indications for the most experienced modelers but very useful for newcomers or for those about to take their first steps into scale model cars. In spite that this kit is simple, it’s very important to follow the instructions to avoid unexpected surprises. In spite that modelers use to skip or change the order in the instruction steps, I’ll build this kit as per instructions.

By Patricio Delfosse

Building the T-34/100 – from a T34/85 & scratch 1/35 scale The T-34 is one of the vehicles with longer operative life. Even, many are on service today in some third world countries, and until a few years ago, in Europe, they were seeing action in the former Yugoslavia. Among all the versions developed, this accomplished by the Egyptian, is the one that seems more attractive to me. In the ‘70s with the surplus of T-34 chassis, surpassed by more modern tanks, they decided to mount the Soviet 100mm BS-3 gun...

By Mario Covalski

Building the M36B1 tank destroyer 1/16 scale R/C The M36B1 was a mix of the M36 Jackson turret with its 90mm cannon, that would be used later in the Pershing, and a M4A3 Sherman chassis. This vehicle was in response to Americans to be able to face in better conditions the big German tanks during WWII. It was not a tank in the strict meaning of the word since it served as tank killer, however, in the pictures of that period, they can be seen as infantry support tanks. This article aims at sharing with you my experience building a 1/16 M36B1 R/C.

By Mario Covalski

Tamiya Caterhams, a step by step guide for novices 1/12 scale The first Catherham from Tamiya coming to my hands at the end of 1994, was the “Cycle Fender Special” (10202), since the “Super Seven BDR was out of stock, and it was impossible for me to get it from the stores I used to buy kits. From that moment on, my affair with which, I think is the best scale car kit ever produced, began. And here my comment: probably, you have seen better detailed kits, or even superb models limited editions.

By Mario Covalski

Building the Kawasaki Z750 Police from Tamiya / Aoshima kits - 1/12 scale In 1976 Kawasaki launched the model Z750, a smaller sister to the Z900, adapted to the requirements of the Japanese market. To my knowledge, the Z900 was an improved copy of the Honda CB750Four and, as it was common to Japanese manufacturers, each new model included several versions in order to cover the requirements of the Japanese police. This model was inspired in a small picture from the '70 decades. the picture was showing a Z750 model, perhaps a 1978 version, for the police, with the color and characteristics of the Japanese Police.

By Claudio Kalicinski

Scratchbuilding the Nieuport 6H, 1/48 scale I decided to scratchbuild this plane after seeing the scale drawings by Mike Fletcher in his web site: The Nieuport Pages. I sent an E-mail to him and he kindly sent me pictures and larger resolution scale drawings. Once I enlarged the plans to 1/48, I noticed how big the plane was....

By Patricio Delfosse

Building the KV-220 from scratch / Trumpeter kit 1/35 scale The aim of this article is to share with the reader the work accomplished some years ago to build a model of a Russian tank KV-220 of the WWII. The modeler psyche is at times, curious, being so many kits available, some day we say “this is the model I want to have!” either because we saw pictures or read something about it in a book, a message in a forum... etc. No matter how, the only way to have it, is to get down to work, and I did so.

By Mario Covalski

Building the M4A1E8 Sherman IDF service RC 1/16 scale My liking for the Sherman started 25 years ago when I built the first version of the Tamiya M4 RC kit. In 2007, I decided to build all the versions, at least the available kits. At that moment I realized that to speak about the Sherman, you have to know a lot about it, and that is almost impossible to build all the versions. On the other hand, I found that I didn’t feel comfortable building in 1/35 scale, so, I left the project aside. Anyway, I went on reading and learning about Shermans, mainly the Israeli versions, just to check the little I know and the great many variants that are nearly impossible to list.

By Denis R.S.Bomfim

Building rusted cars - VW 1966 - 1/24 scale It all started with a joke, I built a rusted Mustang GT 350 to make a gift to a friend who only builds Mustangs. It was at a modelers meeting when he received a homage and the joke consisted of letting him know the arduous remodeling and restoration work he would have with this rusted Mustang. I took advantage of my work and presented it in a contest that took place in Campinas city. Finally, the model was “best of the show” and they called me mad for giving a winning model. My answer was.... I will have to make another rusted model for me.

By Mario Covalski

Building the IDF M50 radio controled Sherman 1/16 scale Building the M50 in 1/16 scale is a project I have had in mind for many years, and after the M51s (from the article published in May 2012) I felt the need to continue with this one. In this article, I’ll share with the reader my experience in building the M50 RC 1/16 from a Tamiya M4 -105mm with HVSS suspension.

By Mario Covalski

Building an accurate M51 Isherman from the Tamiya RC kit 1/16 scale There were many versions of the Sherman, however, the last modification the Israelis made on them, is to my liking, the most showy and the one that converted a WWII tank into one of the 60 and 70 decades. I’ll not extend in describing the history of the M51, there’s a lot of information in books and internet, just enough to say that, as well as the M50, there were so many variants, that it’s recommended to build one tank in particular if you look for historical accuracy. As is my custom….I didn’t do so and just made generic versions that could have really existed. The aim of this article is to share with the reader the 250 hours of work to convert the erroneous Tamiya 1/16 RC kit into two acceptable M51. This is not an article for you to copy exactly what I did, but it may give you ideas of how to or get the basic things you need to build two versions of the M51.

By Claudio Kalicinski

Building the Lindberg Curtiss JN-4D Jenny 1/48 scale The machine I decided to depict was a Curtiss JN-4D trainer based at Love Field, Texas during 1918. A picture of this plane can be found at the Profile Publications book about the Curtiss JN.

By Mario Covalski

Building 1/12 F1 resin model kits: A step by step guide for novices This article aims at offering an illustrated guide, with pictures, explaining step by step the tasks that should be done, how to and the reasons, it’s basically a visual guide, based on the construction of two MG models: the 2002 Ferrari and the 2003- GA.

By Klaus Raddatz

Spray booth design and fan selection

By Paul Koo

Building the Pocher KM76 1/8 scale BUGATTI engine only english

By Rick & Jannine Bennett

Learning to paint figures step by step

By Mario Covalski

Working with Alclad2 "natural metal finishes"

By Mario Covalski

Building your first 1/12 scale motorcycle - Aoshima Kawasaki GPZ900R Ninja

By Mario Covalski

Detailing an old Formula one 1/12 scale

By Peter Go

Building Tips for 1/6 scale Motorcycles. Tamiya Honda CB750 Police

By Mario Covalski

Basic paints for 1/12 scale motorcycles

By Claudio Fernandez

Learning to paint faces using acrylics, step by step

By Jose Antonio Solbes

How to paint with lacquers

By Pablo Raggi

Scratchbuilding the IDF Leyland Contractor - 1/35 scale I always liked the transport vehicles especially the IDF transport trucks. When I got the Leyland blueprint and knowing it was difficult that a manufacturer of plastic kits made a release, I thought it was time to build it from scratch. Though it’s not easy to copy a scratchbuilt work, this article aims at sharing with readers the work accomplished, encouraging them to face the process of building a scale model "from scratch".

By Mario Covalski

Improving the Dragon Kubelwagen 1/6 scale # 75003 Action figure collecting is one of the most popular hobbies in the world. Figures made out of different plastic materials based on TV sci-fi series, sci-fi movies (for instance GI Joe action figures) and facts from real life such as the representation of different war scenarios. Soldier figures are commonly made in 1/6 scale, they’re represented with military uniforms made from genuine fabric and the weapons that real soldiers use to have, vehicles included.

By Eduardo Andreoli

Scratchbuilding military vehicles - Ford C11 ADF - 1/35 scale The art of starting a model or project from scratch, is almost literally, the art of building from the bottom up. This is really exciting. Often a desired model is unavailable in some scale or entirely non-existent. Sometimes the hobbyist may be dissatisfied with the accuracy or detail of kits that are available. Other times a hobbyist will opt to scratchbuild simply for the challenge, which gives us the opportunity to give free rein to our imagination to solve problems of construction and once finished to complete our collection with a singular piece. My intention through this article is to share with you several tips of the scratchbuilding world and the way I solve the difficulties I have to face, in this case building the Ford C11 ADF.

Techniques | Armor | 1/16 Scale | PDF tutorial | 2018 | June 2018

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 I 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.  

COMMENTS

Techniques | Formula One | 1/20 Scale | PDF tutorial | 2018 | June 2018

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.

COMMENTS

Techniques | Armor | 1/35 Scale | PDF tutorial | 2018 | May 2018

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.

COMMENTS

Techniques | Cars | 1/12 Scale | PDF tutorial | 2018 | May 2018

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.

COMMENTS

Techniques | Formula One | 1/12 Scale | PDF tutorial | 2018 | April 2018

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.

COMMENTS

Techniques | Airplanes | 1/48 Scale | PDF tutorial | 2018 | April 2018

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.

COMMENTS

Techniques | Armor | 1/35 Scale | PDF tutorial | 2018 | March 2018

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.

COMMENTS

Techniques | Airplanes | 1/48 Scale | PDF tutorial | 2018 | March 2018

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.

COMMENTS

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.

COMMENTS

Techniques | Cars | 1/24 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Ferrari F50 GT from the Tamiya kit 1/24 scale


By Alessandro Prini
Building a F50 GT starting from a regular Tamiya F50 was quite complex. The transkits that are available up to the moment I’m writing this article, do not convince me, they have thick parts and lack of detailing.

COMMENTS

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!

COMMENTS

Techniques | Formula One | 1/12 Scale | PDF tutorial | 2018 | April 2018

Superdetailing 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.  

COMMENTS

Techniques | Armor | 1/16 Scale | PDF tutorial | 2018 | February 2018

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.

COMMENTS

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.

COMMENTS

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.

COMMENTS (2)

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.

COMMENTS

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.

COMMENTS

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.

COMMENTS

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”.

COMMENTS

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!!

COMMENTS

Techniques | Other | Armor | 1/35 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the ICM Opel Kapitän 1/35 scale – an Italian scene


By Federico Collada
I received the ICM Opel Kapitän kit as soon as it was released as part of a batch that the producer sent me for reviewing but unfortunately I couldn’t get started with it until 10 months later. When I finally got my hands on it I started to think of a scene.

COMMENTS

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.

COMMENTS

Techniques | Armor | 1/35 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building a Polish A30 Challenger from the SKP kit 1/35 scale


By Federico Collada
SKP is a polish manufacturer that begun some years ago making mainly resin figures and updates for AFVs. It was not until a few years ago that they started to produce their own full kits. Having the experience and the means they wisely thought that they could include all those nice resin and photoetched sets they know how to do so well in the boxes so we do not need to go any further to complete the model with a delicate finish.

COMMENTS

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.

COMMENTS

Techniques | Cars | 1/25 Scale | PDF tutorial

Customizing the Moebius Ford Ranger Pickup Truck 1971 1/25 Scale


By Barlas Pehlivan
The Moebius Ford Range pickup is a beautiful kit, but I wanted something more, so I decided to build a customized model. I wanted a small truck with a very weathered paint and even looking ruined by rust, and a twin wheels axle. Achieving a weathered paint would not be a problem but the rear axle of the Moebius kit is of single wheel, so I would have to search for good references and the material to represent the twin wheels axle. The aim of this brief article is to share the work accomplished.

COMMENTS

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.

COMMENTS


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.

COMMENTS

Techniques | Armor | 1/16 Scale | PDF tutorial

Detailing the Heng Long M1A2 Abrams for RC 1/16 scale


By Mario Covalski
Two years ago the Challenger 2 appeared first and then the Abrams in the A2 version Though they always liked me, especially the Abrams, I let them go to keep myself focused in other projects. Some months ago a local importer started offering them and I had the opportunity to see them with my own in live. The HL tanks don’t say a lot when you take it out the box. In general they’re painted with wrong colors, with black plastic exposed wheels look like toys more appropriated for little kids than for older children. But with my trained eye, after having read so many magazines and seen models, told me that both of them had a lot of potential to meet my expectations.

COMMENTS

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.

COMMENTS

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.

COMMENTS

Techniques | Armor | 1/35 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Hero Model Kits Schwimmwagen 1/35 scale


By Mario Gabas Ruiz
To reproduce this mythic vehicle, I used one of the first kits of this new brand Hero Model kits. It’s a very simple kit easy to build where the rear vent grilles stand out cause are very well machined. No doubt is a nice kit to enjoy with the painting stage which I’ll share with you in this article.

COMMENTS

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).

COMMENTS

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.

COMMENTS

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

Building the Hasegawa Ferrari 312T 1/20 scale


By Guy Golsteyn
Since it has become a bit quiet at Tamiya headquarters regarding the launch of new 1:20 F1 models, it is nice to see that manufacturers like Fujimi and Hasegawa have picked up the gauntlet releasing new F1 models on a regular base. The Hasegawa kit we will be using here is very well detailed, which means it is possible to build a fine, beautiful looking model building it 'straight from the box’.

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Techniques | Armor | 1/35 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Dragon Pz.Kpfw. I Ausf. A #6356 1/35 scale


By Alfonso Selva
The Dragon kit (Pz.I Ausf.A Modified Version w/Interior ref. 6356) offers very good detail and complete interiors, with no assembly difficulty. The fit parts are excellent and instructions are clear. The kit supplies a PE fret which I complemented with the Eduard PE#35722 and the Aber 35L-90 of 2 barrels for German machine guns to have more detailing options.

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Techniques | Cars | 1/24 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Ebbro Citroën DS 19 1/24 scale


By Fabrice Marechal
For this article Ebbro provided me a test-shoot that’s to say a test of an injection mold, and there were no references about the year this DS model represented belonged to, so I started to look around the net for pictures that could help me. Looking at the body carefully and comparing with several photos, it was obvious that I had to make sure about certain points.

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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.

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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 | Armor | 1/16 Scale | PDF tutorial

Tamiya 1/16 JGSDF Type 10: tips and tricks to make its construction easier


By Mario Covalski
I needed over a year to get one to build and when I had it in my hands, there were several articles and WIP in forums about its construction. But something I noted was that almost all of them are focused on the mechanisms, features, critics…etc. Almost none of them try to give novices a simple guide as help to solve some problems that the construction offers, since building a RC tank is more than applying grease to the gears. So. the aim of this article is to share several advices and tricks to solve construction and painting problems, basically cosmetics, but lead to the final aspect of the model and allow to be proud of it in the end.  

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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.

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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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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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