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By Martin Klein

Building and improving the Honda RC166 GP Racer: a step by step for novices - Tamiya 1/12 scale The Honda RC166 is the first historical racing bike of the 60’s that Tamiya ever made. This era of racing was full of technical innovations and so the RC166 is a 250cc 6 cylinder 4 stroke engine with 4 valves per cylinder and double overhead camshafts.

By Antonio Busciglio

Superdetailing the Tamiya Honda NSR500 1984 – 1/12 scale This article is about the assembly and detailing of the Tamiya Honda NSR500 from 1984, using the awesome Hobby Design detail set and other aftermarket stuff, such as rivets, bolts heads and so on. The model is a recent release from Tamiya, and the detail of the kit is astonishing. Given the very peculiar characteristic of this motorcycle, as the fuel tank placed below the engine, and the exhausts infront of the driver’s chest, I decided to show the cowling not placed on the chassis.

By Michael Capell

Building the Wingnuts Wings Albatros D.V #32009 - 1/32 scale If I had to choose my favorite aircraft from the WW1 era, it would have to the Albatros D.V. For me it has a certain character and design which makes it stand out from the crowd. Add the four different colour schemes included , with more on the way, makes it a must buy for the discerning modeller.

By David Guardia

Building the Bronco M-24 Chaffee 35069 1/35 scale My dear friend, J.J Aos, who is himself an encyclopedia, gave me all the necessary information to place it in Pakistan. Although it is common to find pictures of Chaffles of late production, the early ones were also seen, included in the last Pakistan's 1971 conflict with India. Of course, exactly when I finished my model painting, Bronco Models offer the final release, Have you heard of Murphy’s law…?

By Allon Kira

Building the Tamiya Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero 1/48 scale The model is characterized by a good level of details and an excellent level of accuracy. The build was done without any special issues. I assembled it directly out of the box except for two minor additions: Eduard WWII seat belts for Japanese aircraft and Eduard canopy mask for A6M3 – EUEX318, although the kit included canopy masks, but I was not aware of the matter when ordering the kit.

By Edwing E. Merlo Paredes

Customizing the Tamiya Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA 1600 #24188 1/24 scale In the racing car world, Alfa Romeo is one of the most legendary and mythical Italian name, and each of its vehicles is synonymous with beauty, style, and racing. Precisely, the Giulia Sprint GTA, is the version which this tutorial is dedicated to. A road car, with sporty and personalized characteristics. This is the kind of car that can be found in various classic vehicle activities today.

By Matej Paluda

Defender of Stalingrad or how to make winter camouflage Tamiya 1/35 scale To build this model, I used the old Tamiya´s T-34/76, 1943 kit. Although its moulds are from the eighties of 20th century, it is still good and with nice detailing. This article is intended for newcomers to armor modelling showing how to make a winter camouflage.

By Geo Tziafas

Kitbashing the Tamiya Ferrari F40 photo array 1/24 scale We use to publish large tutorials plenty of pictures and large texts, but when I saw these pictures I realized that this probably wouldn't need anything more, sometimes happens. Looking the pictures I understood all the process… besides not always contributors want to spend extra time writing, when already inverted thousand of hours building taking pictures…etc. I hope you enjoy the pictures as I did, thanks Geo!

By Edwing E. Merlo Paredes

Building the VW 1300 Beetle 1963 - Herbie - Tamiya 1/24 scale The Volkswagen Beetle is undoubtedly one of the most popular cars in all the history. The attractive and singular body’s shape has turned it into an icon in our recent history. At the end of the 60s, Disney Studios decide to immortalize the small car taking it to the cinema screen in Herbie, a movie in which this beetle played a central role and five sequences came later. The first movie The Love Bug which was known in Spain as Ahí va ese Bólido, was premiered in 1969.

By David Guardia

Building the Bandai Star Wars AT-ST 1/48 scale The idea of assembling and painting this model was swirling around in my head since some time ago. It’s one of the vehicles of the saga I like best and besides, Bandai, the brand that introduced it on the market, is a very recognized one for manufacturing excellent models with “snap” perfect fit without the need of glue and highly detailed.

By Pablo Raggi

Improving the ZIL-157 – Trumpeter #1001 1/35 scale The Zil 157 is par excellence perhaps, a general purpose cargo truck and troops transport and for its performance it also served as the tractor for the SA-2 missiles. Although its production stopped many decades ago, still it can be seen in several countries. One of the users of this truck was Egypt and this is the version I decided to do.

By Fabrice Marechal

Building the Porsche Turbo RSR 934 Jagermeister – Tamiya #24328 1/24 scale It was in 1978 when I saw for the first time, the Tamiya Porsche 934 at a hobby shop. Though, the 1/12 model was built straight from the box and without paint, the details seemed to be surrealist and impossible to imagine up to that moment. It was my first approach to that Tamiya kit in 1/12 scale. Perhaps, with the aim of re releasing that success, several years ago Tamiya manufactured the same car, winner of so many championships, but in 1/24 (the most popular scale) which is the subject of this article that aims at helping the less experienced modeler to build the new Tamiya Porsche.

By Edwing E. Merlo Paredes

Building the Fujimi Mazda RX7 Greddy 9 - 1/24 scale On several occasions, when surfing around HLJ, I saw the Greedy 9 on sale. To be honest, the tuning aspect of the art box showing this magnificent green Mazda RX-7, tempted me more than once, but it didn’t get me very excited cause in the short description of the kit, I realized that this is one of those models which doesn’t feature a detailed engine, and this is exactly, what I like, to get detailed engines. But, in the end, that tempting picture of the box really convinced me, thus I ordered it.

By Pablo Raggi

GAZ 66, building it as a tactical truck Revell #03051, 1/35 scale Since time ago, I’ve been thinking to add a wheeled vehicle to my Middle East vehicles collection. Looking for an interesting kit, I found the Revell Gaz-66 (ref.03051), which is also marketed by Eastern Express. However, after investigating, I realized that there were just a few versions to accomplish Quite apart from the soviet green, there was not much to play.

By Fabrice Marechal

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

By Christian Franke

Building the Lancia Stratos HF Rally #4 Pirelli 1978 San Remo - Doyusha 1/12 scale Doyusha offered both in the 90s and later only the Monte Carlo’s, making finally the San Remo Rally with the Pirelli team livery. I’ve been trying to get this kit but it’s discontinued although still it’s possible to find it from some online stores/shops and on ebay. I bought one that had been partially built, which involves double work, missing parts, etc.  This article aims at sharing with pictures the experience to rescue and old odd kit, improving it to the best of my skills.  

By Mario Covalski

Building the Tamiya Brabham BT44 a step by step for newcomers 1/12 scale Among the articles I had in mind to write about, there was one that headed my list, and without any doubt, It was about the Brabham BT44. By the end of my youth, I saw this beautiful, simple and successful car, running in Buenos Aires, driven by Carlos Reutemann, one of the most expert F1 drivers of the last 30 years. The purpose of this note is to show simple guidelines following the instruction manual steps, recommending some details that can be applied to improve even more the original Tamiya kit.

Techniques | Cars | 1/24 Scale | PDF tutorial | 2023 | November 2023

Superdetailing the Revell Jaguar E-Type 3.8 Series I, 1/24 scale


By Geo Tziafas
A true masterpiece, an automotive treasure that, when it was first unveiled six decades ago in 1960 at the Geneva Motor Show, prompted Enzo Ferrari to declare it the most beautiful car in the world, takes the spotlight in the following article. With over 70,000 units of the E-Type produced, it graced the Coventry factory floor in three distinct phases: Series 1 (1961-1968), Series 2 (1969-1971), and Series 3 (1971-1974).

COMMENTS

Techniques | Airplanes | 1/48 Scale | PDF tutorial | 2023 | September 2023

Building the Eduard Hawker Tempest Mk.V Series 1 #82121, 1/48 scale


By Gary Wickham
Eduard has recently released a new tooled Hawker Tempest Mk.V family in 1:48 scale. I have the Mk.V Series 1 ProfiPACK (82121) kit as well as the Big SIN (64856) set which includes a full Brassin Cockpit, Exhausts, Wheels and Landing Flaps. I also have some of the Barracuda Studios correction sets including the spinner and radiator intake. I'll highlight all these goodies (and compare them to the kits parts) as I progress through the build

COMMENTS

Techniques | Cars | 1/12 Scale | Online Articles | PDF tutorial | 2023 | September 2023

Ultimate guide for the Revell / Monogram 65 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray 1/8 scale


By Lars Wahlström
In 1977, as a Christmas gift from my brother, I got a model kit of a 1965 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray in 1/8 scale. The kit was made by Monogram, but the same kit was later also released by Revell. There were editions with the body in both red and blue plastic. I noticed quite immediately that the detail level was low, lower than many models in 1/25 scale. Not even the doors were operable and the chrome-plating quality was really poor. Comparing with the French Heller's super detailed 1/8 model kit of the Citroen B15, which I built earlier, the Corvette was toyish and a real disappointment for an experienced modeller. But I decided to take it on anyway.

COMMENTS

Techniques | Cars | 1/12 Scale | PDF tutorial | 2023 | July 2023

Superdetailing the MFH Alfa Romeo 33TT12 #K711, 1/12 scale


By Geo Tziafas
In the following tutorial I will share with the reader, many photos and explanations about the construction of the Alfa 33TT, I hope it will help and guide, for those who want to build this magnificent MFH kit, but this experience is valid for other similar kits of the same brand. This tutorial, very descriptive and with many good photos, can also serve as a general guide for other MFH kits in the same scale.

COMMENTS

Techniques | Motorcycles | 1/12 Scale | PDF tutorial | 2023 | June 2023

Ultimate guide to super detailing the Tamiya Yamaha YZF-R1M #1413 step by step, 1/12 scale


By Ricardo Gonzalez
When I saw this Tamiya kit, I felt like I could do something special by adding aftermarket detail sets and doing a bit of scratch-building. My goal in writing this tutorial is to share with the reader the work I've done, not only in assembling and super-detailing the model but also in showcasing a customization by changing the look proposed by Tamiya.

COMMENTS

Techniques | Cars | 1/24 Scale | PDF tutorial | 2023 | May 2023

Building the Tamiya Mercedes-AMG GT3 #24345 1/24 scale


By Patrick Sedney
Once again, Tamiya delights us with the flawless engineering quality of their scale model, the Mercedes-AMG GT3, which was launched in 2017... or was it? In this tutorial, we will explore the pros and cons of this remarkable replica of the Mercedes-Benz vehicle, created in collaboration with their performance brand, AMG, for various FIA GT3 championships. Customizing it for the 2019 GT World Challenge America Crowdstrike team.

COMMENTS

Techniques | Cars | 1/12 Scale | PDF tutorial | 2023 | May 2023

Building the MFH Lancia Beta Montecarlo Turbo Gr.5 1980 #K668 1/12 scale


By Geo Tziafas
Starting a Hiro kit build is essentially starting a game of chess. Each move affects the next and the slightest mistake may cost in fitting or detailing issues. In addition, as in the famous board game, the more moves (test fits) you are ahead the better you can predict the way they will interact with each other and the less likely it is to be checkmated during the final assembly.

COMMENTS

Techniques | Cars | 1/24 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Steve Mcqueen Porsche 917k from a Fujimi kit 1/24 scale


By Philip Curtis
To any follower of motor racing history the Porsche 917 needs no introduction. The kit is available in several different versions including the 1970 Le Mans number 20 Gulf car that I have used. For this build I also used Studio 27 photo etch (PE) set, Renaissance Gulf decals (the Fujimi decals are notoriously translucent) and Renaissance PE. With both PE sets nowhere near all of the parts were used, the Renaissance set in particular was mainly left on the fret....

COMMENTS (1)

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.

COMMENTS

Airplanes | 1/48 Scale | PDF tutorial | 2021 | September 2021

Building the Tamiya Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero 1/48 scale


By Allon Kira
The model is characterized by a good level of details and an excellent level of accuracy. The build was done without any special issues. I assembled it directly out of the box except for two minor additions: Eduard WWII seat belts for Japanese aircraft and Eduard canopy mask for A6M3 – EUEX318, although the kit included canopy masks, but I was not aware of the matter when ordering the kit.

COMMENTS

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

Building the Bandai STP turbine Indy car 1/12 scale


By Mark Laird
For years I wanted to build the 1/12 Bandai STP Turbine car. It is very unique piece of Indianapolis history, but the price that they were bringing was just more than I was willing to spend. I was lucky enough to find a complete kit on eBay for 200 US dollars. It was a “Buy it Now”, so I purchased it, and waited for it to arrive.

COMMENTS

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

Building the Tamiya Brabham BT44 a step by step for newcomers 1/12 scale


By Mario Covalski
Among the articles I had in mind to write about, there was one that headed my list, and without any doubt, It was about the Brabham BT44. By the end of my youth, I saw this beautiful, simple and successful car, running in Buenos Aires, driven by Carlos Reutemann, one of the most expert F1 drivers of the last 30 years. The purpose of this note is to show simple guidelines following the instruction manual steps, recommending some details that can be applied to improve even more the original Tamiya kit.

COMMENTS

Techniques | Airplanes | 1/32 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Hansa Brandenberg W.29 - Wingnut Wings #32010 1/32 scale


By Michael Capell
No sooner had I finished the Wingnut Wings Roland , than the Hansa Brandenberg out of its box, same day actually, and it is big. There is something about the Hansa that set it apart from other aircraft, even from a distance there is no mistaking it . Several other manufactures have produced it in smaller scales versions , but a combination of modern moulding techniques and Wingnuts reputation will set this one apart from the rest.

COMMENTS

Techniques | Motorcycles | Cars | 1/12 Scale | PDF tutorial

Realistic wire wheels for 1/12 scale motorcycles


By Mario Covalski
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.

COMMENTS

Formula One | 1/12 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Yardley McLaren M23 Tamiya 1/12 scale


By Mario Covalski
When I began building this model, my aim was to build it "out of the box" with minor and easy to do modifications, and make it look colorful. The building is quite simple, the only real problem is in the chassis. The car's body is in fact the monocoque, it is painted in white and orange colors; the challenge was, building the whole chassis with the two previously painted parts. After giving it a good thinking, I decided to paint the two body/chassis parts and build the rest in a later stage.

COMMENTS

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

Building the Tyrrell P34, Tamiya 1/12 scale A step by step, for newcomers


By Mario Covalski
This article aims at providing the beginner a complementary guideline, apart from the Tamiya instruction's manual, including photos of a detailed and quality enough model to encourage him/her in what we could call a hard and laborious work.... facing for the first time with a Tamiya's box.....with a 1/12th inside.

COMMENTS

Cars | 1/24 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the TechArt GT based on the Fujimi Cayman 1/24 scale


By Fabrice Marechal
With this version of Cayman, the German constructor was really inspired., especially regarding the front bumper which adds a more aggressive look and gives the car an aerodynamic silhouette. Looking the car’s profile, there are not changes, the side skirts were cut and are similar to the ones in the 911 GT3. The double aileron gives the car even a more aggressive look besides of improving the superior driving stability and road adherence at high speed. TechArt offer wheels in different sizes from 17 to 20 inches. Regarding the engine there are only a few improvements in the air inlet and electronics which allows to reach 310 HP.

COMMENTS

Techniques | Armor | 1/35 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the LRDG Ford F30 with Bofors from Tamiya, Italeri kits & scratch 1/35 scale


By Eduardo Andreoli
When I face this type of project and there’s no commercial kit available, I try to gather as much information as possible, written information and references pictures with the purpose of giving myself the idea of the different parts I’ll need to build the puzzle. Later, I start looking for the kits from which I can take parts from. In this case, I took as base some parts from the Tamiya Ford Quad (Ref.#35045). Besides, I noticed that a feature of this Ford F30 is that it has Chevrolet axles, this was why I had to go to the Italeeri Chevrolet kit. (Ref.#6233)

COMMENTS

Techniques | Cars | 1/24 Scale | PDF tutorial | 2023 | April 2023

Building and customizing the Tamiya Ford Mustang GT4 #24354 1/24 scale


By Edwing E. Merlo Paredes
Basically this kit has been built straight out of the box, using almost all of the parts included in the kit, and small details such as generic photo-etched screw heads have been added. The objective of this tutorial is to share with the reader the steps that I followed to build this model.

COMMENTS

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.....

COMMENTS

Techniques | Formula One | Cars | 1/8 Scale | PDF tutorial | 2023 | January 2023

Detailing the IXOcollections Mercedes-Benz W196R 1/8 scale, photo array


By Mario Covalski
With this photo array I share with the reader my experience with the model adding many missing details, not all, painting parts and applying plastic modeling techniques to improve the appearance of this expensive model. In addition, solving some problems that the kit has and showing tips and tricks to improve or facilitate its assembly.

COMMENTS

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.

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 | 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 | 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.

COMMENTS

Airplanes | 1/48 Scale | PDF tutorial

Super detailing the EA-6B Prowler from Monogram 1/48 scale


By Jose I. Hernandez Diez
I have always been completely captivated by this fantastic aircraft, and in late 2006, when I decided to assemble it, the only model available was the 1/48 Monogram's kit ( still the Kinetic and Italeri didn't have been issued). It's an old kit that shares parts with the A-6 Intruder, Monogram modified some parts and other were discarded. The raised panel lines the lack of details makes this kit as obsolete comparing with nowadays the industry offers. I had to deal with endless amount of errors I will talk about later in the article.

COMMENTS (2)

Techniques | Cars | 1/12 Scale | PDF tutorial

Ultimate guide for the Trumpeter Ford GT-40. Step by step build - 1/12 scale


By Fabrice Marechal
Probably this has been for many years one of the most desirable kits in 1/12 scale. This article aims at leading the reader into the building process, solving several problems of the kit due to the lack of details or wrong represented and plastic injection problems lacking of the necessary quality of a kit in this scale.

COMMENTS

Techniques | Cars | 1/12 Scale | PDF tutorial

Featuring and detailing the Trumpeter Ford GT-40 Mk II 1/12 scale


By Roger Knight
The model is based on the 1966 LeMans winning car (almost - more about that later), which finally, after some years of trying, ended Ferraris 6 year dominance of the classic race. The GT40 first appeared at LeMans in 1964 with 4.2 V8, basically the same engine that took Jim Clark to victory in the following years Indianapolis 500 but at LeMans it proved fragile.

COMMENTS

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 | Armor | 1/35 Scale | PDF tutorial | 2021 | November 2021

Building the IDF M1 Super Sherman from the Tamiya kit #35322 1/35 scale


By Allon Kira
The kit released on 2011, as expected from a Tamiya's, has a very good parts fit and is easy to build, very accurate and requires almost no putty. Some aftermarket details slightly upgrade the overall look, but are not really necessary. It can certainly be built directly out of the box at the highest level. The only thing that seemed problematic to me were the vinyl tracks. I considered replacing them with metal ones, but after painting I decided that their level of detail was enough.

COMMENTS

Techniques | Armor | 1/35 Scale | PDF tutorial | 2021 | August 2021

Building the IDF M-113 Medivac from the Tamiya kit #35040 1/35 scale


By Allon Kira
In the 1970s, the IDF equipped itself with a large amount of M-113 APCs, and since then they served in all of Israel's wars and operations, including the Yom Kippur War, Operation Peace for the Galilee, the First Intifada, the Second Intifada, the Second Lebanon War, Operation Cast Lead and Operation Protective Edge. This article goals to share with the reader the steps I followed to build a IDF M-113 Medivac from the Tamiya M-113 kit.

COMMENTS

Techniques | Cars | 1/24 Scale | Online Articles | PDF tutorial | 2022 | June 2022

Kitbashing the Tamiya Ferrari F40 photo array 1/24 scale


By Geo Tziafas
We use to publish large tutorials plenty of pictures and large texts, but when I saw these pictures I realized that this probably wouldn't need anything more, sometimes happens. Looking the pictures I understood all the process… besides not always contributors want to spend extra time writing, when already inverted thousand of hours building taking pictures…etc. I hope you enjoy the pictures as I did, thanks Geo!

COMMENTS

Techniques | Airplanes | 1/48 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Hasegawa SAAB J35F/J Draken 1/48 scale


By Gary Wickham
I built the kit mostly from the box (as no aftermarket was available at the time). As the Drakens came to the end of their service life, the airframes started to look dirty and tired. I have attempted to capture this in the painting and weathering of my model. I hope this article will be useful for novices and advanced modelers as I made some mods and corrections to the kit showing how to do it.

COMMENTS

Techniques | Formula One | 1/12 Scale | PDF tutorial | 2021 | March 2021

Superdetailing the Revell Ferrari F2002 1/12 scale


By Mark Laird
I wanted to build the Revell 1/12 Ferrari F2002 for a long time, but I waited until I got extra detail parts, to somehow superdetail it. So in addition to the kit, I procured the Brain Fawcett correction kit, Marlboro decals and the Scale Motorsports super detail kit. The Brian Fawcett correction kit has accurate resin brakes, wheels, spindles, valve covers, additional engine parts, a new transmission and suspension parts all in Resin.

COMMENTS

Airplanes | 1/32 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the P-51D Mustang "Capt. Glenn Martin Webb" Glengary Guy - Tamiya 1/32 scale


By Gary Wickham
The glorious Tamiya P-51D in 1/32. This model was started immediately after I finished my battle with the Dragon P-51D. As you would expect there is no comparison between the two as this kit from Tamiya almost builds itself. Having said that, this is not a simple kit to build. It is overly complex in my opinion but I applaud Tamiya for giving us what will be for a long time to come the ultimate P-51 in any scale. The pilot figures are from Ultracast and Verlinden.

COMMENTS (1)

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

Detailing the Tamiya McLaren Mp 4/6 1/12 scale


By Mario Covalski
When I built my first Tamiya's McLaren MP4/6 in 1992, I thought it was the most advanced kit of its time, with an amazing level of details which I could barely follow, and very complex in its building process. Today, after not many years, we have a great realm of information on this car through a lot of pictures, and the Internet.  All this pictures shows us that the kit is very well engineered and it has a high quality; but, if you are looking for realism, then there are some missing details, which are very noticeable in the pictures.

COMMENTS

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....

COMMENTS

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.

COMMENTS

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

COMMENTS

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

Building the Tyrrell 1977 six wheeler - Tamiya & Chevron transkit 1/12 scale (Updated with new pictures)


By Mario Covalski
Chevron presented us some time ago a conversion kit, that allows us to transform the Tamiya's 1/12 Tyrrell P34 1/12 scale in its 1977 homonym. In this note I will describe which were the problems I found in building this complicated and compound kit, and the way I solved them.

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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 | Cars | 1/12 Scale | PDF tutorial

Building the Lancia Stratos HF Rally #4 Pirelli 1978 San Remo - Doyusha 1/12 scale


By Christian Franke
Doyusha offered both in the 90s and later only the Monte Carlo’s, making finally the San Remo Rally with the Pirelli team livery. I’ve been trying to get this kit but it’s discontinued although still it’s possible to find it from some online stores/shops and on ebay. I bought one that had been partially built, which involves double work, missing parts, etc.  This article aims at sharing with pictures the experience to rescue and old odd kit, improving it to the best of my skills.  

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Techniques | Armor | 1/35 Scale | PDF tutorial

Converting the Tamiya Churchill Mk.VII into a Mk.III 1/35 scale


By Eduardo Andreoli
The only Churchill kit in injection molded plastic is the old mold coming from Tamiya.. Nowadays not only IMA from Hong Kong, offer excellent conversion kits for this model but also Cromwell Models offer new complete resin kits for the great many variants but, both options are more expensive than the Tamiya kit. If we want to face a straightforward project, we may try converting a Churchill Mk VII into an early model with little effort and some plastic.

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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

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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | Armor | 1/16 Scale | PDF tutorial | 2021 | January 2021

Building the Takom Panzer I (Pz.Kpfw.I) Ausf.A #1008 for R/C 1/16 scale


By Mario Covalski
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.

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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 | 1/32 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 | 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

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.

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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 | 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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