By Mario Covalski | 01.21.2021 11:20
The Panzer I was a small tank built before the start of WWII .This tutorial aims at sharing with the reader my experience in the construction of this model converting it to radio control, 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.
By Edwing E. Merlo Paredes | 05.01.2020 11:30
MPC stopped manufacturing their kits since many years ago, but now we can enjoy them again since that brand which was eventually absorbed by Ertl, today has been resurrected by Round 2 models that have been releasing during the last years several of those classics that used to be on hobby shops shelves in the 70’s and 80’s.
By Mario Covalski | 11.13.2019 18:22
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.
By Mario Covalski | 04.28.2019 12:04
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.
By Mario Covalski | 01.01.2019 00:06
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).
By Mario Covalski | 10.11.2018 14:09
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.
By Mario Covalski | 10.03.2018 14:11
Since I built the Tamiya Leopard 2A6 I was always interested in the evolution of the tank, the Leopard 2A7. I had seen few scratch conversions on forums and youtube but, I’m not brave enough to do that. When OKMO through DKLM offered the conversion I fall in love with it. The parts are 3D printed and of very good quality, includes the FLW 200 robotized weapon station. I managed to add some servos to make the machine gun mobile. I didn’t write a tutorial as I didn’t take many pictures during the build, but this gallery could help others to face the project I hope so.
By Mario Covalski | 06.27.2018 12:29
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.
By Mario Covalski | 02.18.2018 12:22
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.
By Mario Covalski | 01.09.2018 18:44
This short tutorial is similar to the one I wrote about the Abrams, both were built at the same time and I used common solutions, so the reader will find much of shared text with the Abrams. The aim of this short article is to share with the reader, the work of adding several details to the plastic with no more things that I had in my spare box, with a minimum electronic inversion, gear box, wheels…etc. but trying to get the aspect of a model that looks like an hobby grade RC Challenger and not an expensive toy. In order not to be disappointed , I’ll not concentrate in the mechanical or electronic improvements since they’re widely known and the work done was the minimum as possible.
By Mario Covalski | 05.23.2017 10:27
When I bought the Luchs from Classy Hobby and the conversion for RC from 35RCtank I asked about the 38(T) conversion which had been out of stock since some years. They told me that would have a reissue in few weeks so I ordered as well. Here the results, I built both models at the same time. It was funny and easier than the Luchs, less the track links which I had to drill one by one with 05mm first and 1mm then. The 38(T) is like a WWI tank plenty of rivets which makes showy the weathering. I enjoyed the build, and as happened with the Luchs I had to modify the sequence of construction to make removable the upper hull. I recommend the kit and conversion, it's a beautiful small tanks but still 1/16 for those who like the big scale. I didn’t write an article because there are many online and since the point of view of the RC conversion is similar to the Luchs' , so you can have references from there.
By Mario Covalski | 05.14.2017 13:26
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.
By Mario Covalski | 03.21.2017 13:49
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.
By Mario Covalski | 01.18.2016 12:56
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.
By Mario Covalski | 01.04.2016 14:50
I took advantage of the end of the year to make the final touches to the KT Porsche turret. It was all a challenge for me the weathering and made it RC.
By Mario Covalski | 04.28.2015 11:31
On the occasion of one of my visits to a LHS, it was offered to me to buy a cheap 1/16 Hobby Boss Tiger I which had the upper hull missing. The Hobby Boss kit was not born to be a static model; some years ago it has been offered by WSN as a cheap RC toy. Good in some aspects while deficient and unacceptable in others. It tries to represent a Tiger I Mid production. With the kit at home, I thought it was a good opportunity of building a Tiger I early since I had a RC toy from Heng Long, a direct but inaccurate copy of the Tamiya Tiger, and that represents the Tiger early version.
By Mario Covalski | 01.01.2015 19:24
This is a Heng Long M41 radio controled which I improved... a lot!
By Mario Covalski | 08.28.2014 13:00
The aim of this article is to share with the reader the work accomplished to fulfill this version based on the pictures taken during the construction and the materials used for it. It’s necessary to have some experience because I’ll neither go deeper in the basic constructions topics nor in the electronics or wiring, is an article oriented to the static model appearance, then each one will add what he/she wants depending on their skills, liking and budget.
By Mario Covalski | 03.11.2014 14:04
This is the RC version of the trumpeter T34 1/16 scale kit. I painted it with a mix of green enamels and made the weathering (a modest one having in account how the T-34 were battered) with acrylics and pigments.
By Mario Covalski | 07.29.2013 08:17
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 | 05.16.2013 13:44
During my modeling years, it happened that I read an article on a superb model that was impossible to reproduce since it was scratchbuilt one and the author was a genius. The good point about this article, is that I’m not a genius and just built with things I got to hand which can be easily found. Thus, you may reproduce this model and even improve it if you have more skill and/or patience.
By Henschelporsche | 05.16.2013 12:58
This is a highly detailed 1/6 Jagdtiger, based o n the Matorro R/C toy. Michael did a great job with all the added details plus the extensive and deep weathering. Have in account this baby is 60cm long!
By Mario Covalski | 04.01.2013 11:36
I consider of no use to make an introduction about the Pershing, one of the best known military tanks of WWII. In my opinion the Tamiya kit let us represent a superb M26 not only for the scale (1/16) but also due to the level of details. About 30 years ago Tamiya released their first RC tank, the M4 Sherman. Since then, the quality of the models in 1/16 has improved in such a way that this version has nothing to envy his brother in 1/35 scale.
By Mario Covalski | 02.08.2013 09:59
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 Mario Covalski | 07.01.2012 11:17
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 | 05.01.2012 11:24
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 Martin Swire | 02.01.2005 10:45
By Mario Covalski
Within the world of scale models, some aspects meet up at a certain point. This is quite evident with the RC tanks, when the toy melts into the scale model to get something that takes in all the aspects of the real vehicle, movements, sounds….and its exterior graceful lines, of course. Tamiya offer several models of tanks in 1/16 scale, some of them were...
By Mario Covalski
This note aims at offering the reader an idea about the tasks he/she will have to achieve and how to, in case of coming across a model in plastic or metal like this. This text will be a guidance for restoration, detailing and painting, leaving to the reader the work to restore the mechanism, if possible...
By Edward Lowdell
By Tony Allen