By Martin Klein | 01.25.2021 13:22
Having already built the ’76 version some years ago I always wondered why Tamiya did not issue the ’77 Monaco version because it is basically the same kit. Compared to the ’76 version it features a bigger and relocated front stabilizer, a cockpit cowling with the corresponding cut outs, a gurney flap on the nose cover and additional cooling ducts for the rear front wheels.
By Edwing E. Merlo Paredes | 04.01.2019 11:15
During the last 40 years, many kit manufacturers have put into the market a lot of versions of the Mini, from the legendary Austin Mini in the 60s to the “Mini” from BMW. This article is devoted to the 1/12 Tamiya Rover Mini Cooper 1 3i. This Japanese and world- famous brand among modelers for their top-quality products, offer a wide range of 1/12 models; unfortunately most of them, discontinued. One of the main characteristics of those Tamiya big scale kits, was the great deal of parts and details for example the 1/12 Porsche 934 Turbo, released in 1976, one of the most emblematic kits of the brand, comprising over 400 parts.
By Eduardo Andreoli | 12.02.2018 12:40
When I decided that my next kit would be a M3A1 Stuart, there were not many available options so, I had to choose between purchasing an old Tamiya M3 (ref 35042) along with a resin conversion to convert it in a M3A1, or, this Academy kit. Comparing both kits, the Tamiya’s didn’t stand well the passage of time. The tracks are clearly in bad condition, so, they should have be replaced. The hull as well as the turret, have serious problems of size, and the details are nothing especial.
By Gabriel Stern | 03.01.2015 14:35
What exactly is -or was- a Caproni Stipa?. The simila similaribus curator principle of homeopathic medicine states -don't correct me if I'm wrong- that a similar substance heals a similar illness. Hence we can assume that Count Caproni, famed for his bias toward extremely "innovative" designs (do you, by any chance, know about his triplane hydroplane?) associated with Mr. Luigi Stipa in order to get cured. Did it work? We'll see.
By Thomas Halvarsson | 03.01.2015 14:12
By Pablo Martelli | 10.17.2014 11:54
This vehicle represents a version of a 3 ton SdKfz 11 manufactured at the end of WWII. To save materials, the sheet cabin was replaced with a wooden one. So far, AFV is the only brand that markets this vehicle (a plastic injection release from 2002), though the Azimut resin kit is available. The instructions are easy-to- follow, with no mistakes. There are not too many available pictures of the real thing, anyway, as I didn’t detail my kit further than what was supplied with the box, it was not necessary to search for any kind of specific bibliography .Due to the lack of plans to scale, I compared the chassis to the ones from AFV Club and Dragon models. I took this as base and due to the dimensionally correct and well proportioned parts, no measurements were needed.
By Alessandro Prini | 01.23.2014 11:05
Since years I was willing to try a “fusion” among the Fujimi 911 Rsr and the Tamiya 911 GT2. I always loved this car and, since the Fujimi kit features street components instead of racing ones, the merging was mandatory.
By Pablo Raggi | 01.23.2014 11:04
This kit is one of those that you think you’ll never wish to build until some manufacturer introduce one injected in plastic, with good quality details and comparatively inexpensive…something nearly impossible. But Trumpeter made my wishes came true to perfection…In 1938 Henschet started to manufacture a VK30.01(H) prototype. But in 1941 the project was given up to start with the VK36.01 (H) which would give rise to the famous Tiger. By that moment there were several operational VK30.01 (H) chassis. It was decided that two of them, would take the 12,8 cm KL/61 Rheinmetall which was an adaptation of the 12,8 cm Flak Gërat 40. So, the hull of the VK30.01 (H) was lengthened and an eighth wheel was added besides of building a superstructure without roof to protect the crew. The unofficial name of these vehicles was Sturer Emil, though this name doesn’t appear in any official document.
By Claudio Kalicinski | 12.20.2013 10:48
Although the model is really nice, I decided to improve it a little bit by adding details that give the appearance of fragility unique of WWI airplanes. Also, I chose a very colourful machine, the one flown by Ltn. Ulrich Neckel while he was CO of the Jasta 6 in the last months of the war.
By Alessandro Prini | 12.04.2013 23:02
Rarely I’m building street versions of the supercars. I was honestly waiting for the Tecnomodel F430 GT when, upon request, I started working on one of the latest release from Fujimi: the Ferrari F430 Option Version, which differs from the standard one for the BBS wheels and the racing seats. Hmm… that’s ok, not a pure street version …it sounds better. The project will feature some improvements in the engine bay and, for the first time, I’ll use a Crazy Modeler product, a specific etched upgrading set intended for the Fujimi tool. Let’s go on.
By Jorge Juarez | 12.04.2013 10:48
After having been withdrawn from the US Army, it was transferred to the Argentine Army arriving to the country on December 24th 1992 piloted by Lieutenant colonel Carlos Spika. It was assigned to the 603 squadron for pilots’ training purposes. Then, it was destined to the 601 Squadron, first operative unit of this airplane.
By Pablo Raggi | 11.20.2013 19:58
There are two kinds of modelers: those who build all sorts of military vehicles and those who build vehicles from particular theatres, epoch or country. In my case after some time building any vehicle that came to my hands, I decided to devote basically to the Middle East conflicts, especially to the Arab-Israeli. Now well, looking at an old Churchill Mk.VII Crocodrile from Tamiya resting on my showcase, I asked myself what I would do with it. Searching for some information, I found out that there had been Churchills Mk.VII in Irak, and also I saw a picture of a Jordanian Churchill!!!. Shortly after, I knew that this kit would have a promising future in my hands, and not the sad end, the garbage dump...
By William Chan | 11.20.2013 19:40
This is a 1990 Lotus 102 Lamborghini F1 contender. It was piloted by Warwick, McDonnely and Herbert in 1990 season. This car did not do well at all. Lotus also lost his title sponsor Camel after that year and it represented last year of seeing a full Camel yellow sponsored car. After that Camel went to sponsor Benetton and Williams. This project is inspired by Steffen's Lotus project. Steffen has cast a new pointed nose cone and made a home-made Alps-print decal. With all this, it makes this project possible. I decided to just do a curbside conversion from Tamiya 102B Lotus kit and forgot about engine details. It turned out to be a very fun project. No model manufacturer has ever released this Lotus 102 before, so I feel this is one unique project . Let's start to walk through what I experienced during the build As usual, there were frustration here and there, but with patience, they can be overcame.
By Modeler Site | 07.28.2013 10:58
Tamiya offers us a prototype version of 1945 that had been manufactured before being mass produced, this vehicle had been revealed during the 1945 victory parade in Berlin, and shocked Western military authorities. As these vehicles saw nearly no action, I decided to base my model on a version of the 1946 production, recreating the atmosphere during the Hungarian uprising in 1956.
By Mario Covalski | 07.16.2013 10:29
If you have some Tamiya’s catalogue of the early ’90s, you’ll notice they showed four 1/12 F1 kits, the six-wheeler Tyrrell, the Ferrari T4, the Renault Turbo …and the Lotus 78 from John Player Special team, a tobacco company which had been sponsoring Chapman’s cars for some years. The Lotus 78 was the first car with ground effect, very successful in 1977, and like all the Colin’s products…a masterpiece, in regard to design and technological advance..
By Pablo Martelli | 05.04.2013 10:46
Among all the existing versions of this halftrack, the /22 was loaded with the heaviest weaponry. AFV Club released a similar kit nearly at the same time Dragon released this one. Still today there are discussions about which one is better, but I can assert that Dragon’s is not bad at all.
By Patricio Delfosse | 04.20.2013 10:01
The Dragon Flak 36 is one of the last moulds from this company. Together with the initial and late versions of the Tiger(s) and the Panzer IV, make up a trilogy that shows a new tendency in modeling, where besides of offering plastic and metal parts, it involves something much more important: Research and Development (R&D).This article aims at guiding the modeler along the assembly stages. As it’s not a very common subject (you don’t mount guns every day, do you?...) it’s not possible to build it intuitively. Unfortunately, Dragon instructions are not a great help as they are not clear at all.
By Alexander Yañez | 03.18.2013 11:02
I had been keeping this 4x4 truck in my waiting list for years and before purchasing it, I had already thought that I would add some off-road accessories. I began cleaning the parts with dishwashing detergent, cutting them from the sprue as I needed. First, I set to work on the body. I used wet sand #1200 to remove flashes, mold marks, and to get a better adherence of paint. I sanded with wet sandpaper until getting a matt body.
By Guy Golsteyn | 04.01.2011 11:51
By Alessandro Prini | 04.01.2008 12:22
For 1997, a series of customer 911 GT1 replicas were produced and sold, while the Factory entered a pair of updated 911 GT1 Evo models both at Le Mans and in the new FIA GT championship. The Factory GT1's took charge at Le Mans until both were put out of action during the latter stages of the event due to mechanical failures. The #26 driven by Dalmas-Collard-Kelleners would go down in flames after 327 laps while leading the race. Nearly accidentally, many years ago I bought this UT Models kit, the first UT for me. Since I had doubts concerning the quality and the livery I left the box in my shelf for a long time. Months ago I completed the 1998 GT1 and having yet built the 1996 GT1, it was natural...
By Modeler Site | 12.01.2006 0
By Francisco Soldan Alfaro | 11.01.2006 12:49
What else can I tell you about the history of the beautiful Russian fighter that has not been said yet. However, it was difficult for me to make my decision about the camouflage, since the MIG 3, like is not usual with others WWII Soviet aircrafts, offers several options. Finally, and after looking at references pictures and bibliography, I decided to build the MIG 3 “Red 39” belonging to the famous 120 IAP (Istrebitel’niy Aviapolk, or Fighter Regiment) based on Vnukovo, and was part of the 6 GIAK-PVO in Winter 1941-1942. It was a real challenge for me to get the faded and weathered effect on the winter camouflage, since they were painted in a casein based paint. Then, I had to make it look real showing the result of the fume exhausts and hard weather conditions.
By Mario Covalski | 11.01.2006 11:53
The collector got nearer the shop window, took a quick glance and gazed at something, the thing is, that after so many years of “hunting” the prey, he got used to finding among many items, the one that would awake his interest that day.
By Grant M Vogl | 11.01.2006 11:19
When it came to deciding on a base kit for my Canadian Vc Sherman, there was only really one option for me; the new offering from DML/Dragon. I have long been a fan of Dragon’s high-quality and low price, and its newer kits are especially appealing. While the kit isn’t exactly new, more of a re-tooling of a previously released kit, it does represent the best, and to my knowledge, one of the only injection Firefly kits available in 1/35.
By Modeler Site | 11.01.2006 0
By Mario Covalski | 10.01.2006 11:49
Is there anything more wonderful than a shrink- wrapped kit in box?. I sincerely believe that anybody who has built scale models some time in his/her life, will agree with me, that no, there is nothing more exciting and captivating. The thing is that the box content, has quite a special power on us, the power of dreams, probably, everything we wished to accomplish in modeling (and why not, in life)…and it remains there hidden, but with the hope that our libido will not be unsatisfied.
By Modeler Site | 10.01.2006 0
By William Chan | 09.01.2006 14:45
Mclaren MP4/8 is one of the most beautiful Mclaren ever made. It raced in 93 and it was piloted by Senna. Eventhough it was powered by under-powered Ford V8 engine, Senna took this machine with 5 victories. One of the most memorable race has to be Donington Park 93 where Senna mastered his way out in first lap over everyone else.
By Alessandro Prini | 09.01.2006 12:04
By Modeler Site | 09.01.2006 0
By Mario Covalski | 08.01.2006 11:36
Have you been building scale models for a long time?, Did you use to work on the same subjects?, Were you bored on one occasion? Were there times when you’ve not built models even when you had the feeling to do so? If you have a positive answer to most of these questions, this Editorial is to you.
By Pablo Martelli | 08.01.2006 10:51
By Modeler Site | 08.01.2006 0
By Mario Covalski | 07.01.2006 10:57
In spite of the fact that many years passed since I built my first scale model, I still wonder which is the meaning of building them, even more, what modeling as a whole, means.
By Modeler Site | 07.01.2006 0
By Le Thanh Tung | 06.01.2006 14:42
Speaking about on board aircrafts, the Prowler is one of subjects that has captured my attention, and as such, it has always looked worn as result of the missions and due to the long periods staying in the open sea. This note offers a step by step assembly of the Hasegawa kit according to references pictures. Le Tanh Tung, this note's author lives in Vietnam, his first language is neither English nor Spanish, so the texts may seem raw, though to the best of my knowledge and belief this is a very valuable article from a technical point of view, inexperienced modelers will find it useful, indeed!.
By Carlos Massuh | 06.01.2006 14:31
The kit I used for this project is the Merkava III from Academy. It’s a good one, with no problems of fit or dimensions, this saved me time and effort that was devoted to modify the turret. The PE from Eduard (Ref #35243) allowed me to detail critical areas such as the rear stowage basket .
By Mario Covalski | 06.01.2006 10:54
I’ve been surfing the Web since about 12 years ago, and during the last 10 ones, I could see several sites devoted to plastic modeling turning up. At first, they were either simple text pages, or forums that no longer exist, and of course, by that time, all those online shops were already set up outside the Internet, and just out of curiosity or by making a lucky guess, they were set up as e-commerce shops.
By Modeler Site | 06.01.2006 0
By Modeler Site | 05.01.2006 0
By Mario Covalski | 04.01.2006 10:49
This month’s editorial is going to be focused on two subjects: our sixth anniversary and a short analysis of a phenomenon that has been increasing on and on, during the past years….the diecast models.
By Modeler Site | 04.01.2006 0
By Mario Covalski | 03.01.2006 10:45
Sometimes, I wonder if it’s really necessary to write a monthly editorial, I’m not discussing if this is usual or if matches within a magazine’s circle, even a virtual one. The editorial expresses the ideology of the one who leads the media, thus my editorials should express our ideology as a magazine about modeling, and, if you read our previous editorials, you’ll find out our thoughts with respect to plastic modeling and other activities around it.
By Modeler Site | 03.01.2006 0
By Mario Covalski | 02.01.2006 10:41
The world of scale models, is, in certain aspects confusing and there are different points of view. Here, as the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This month, I want to refer to professional modelers, hoping that my opinion, may throw some light on the topic, especially for the newcomers… or at least, to start a serious discussion.
By Modeler Site | 02.01.2006 0
By Mario Covalski | 01.01.2006 10:36
When you purchase a DVD player, you become the final consumer of that product, that’s your role. When speaking about modeling, things are quite different, the final consumer, plays at times, a different role, he himself develops the product (and this is the way some manufacturers started), the modeler is who builds the model and writes the techniques notes for others more inexperienced, etc. That’s to say the consumer is part of the whole machinery that sets modeling in motion and quite in an active way. I personally can’t imagine the activity in a different way.
By Modeler Site | 01.01.2006 0
By Patricio Delfosse
Until this Dragon release, the only alternative to do a Panzer I Ausf B was the old Italeri kit, that though being dimensionally correct, it lacked of certain refinement with regard to details. On the other hand, the tracks from Italeri were a weak point of their kits. All this was easily solved by Dragon. Excellent details, very good tracks and a top-level fit. The Dragon Panzer I is undoubtedly, a XXI century pure class kit due to its quality. In this model in particular, the addition of the Voyager PE improve highly the mudguards and all the tool sets...
By Thomas Halvarsson
By Thomas Koethe
By Peter Radcliffe
By Peter Radcliffe
By Giovanni Galvan
By Marco Smeriglio
By Claude Reiser
By Giovanni Galvan
By Claudio Kalicinski
By Dave Atkin
By Marcelo Scaminaci Russo
The Gotha Company had no experience in fighter design, having specialized in transport aircraft and gliders, and during WWII, it developed only one, albeit very interesting night fighter project known as P.60. This aircraft was in response to Horten brothers...
By Alessandro Prini
By Domenico Laudiero
By Dave Foster
By Giovanni Galvan
By Pablo Raggi
By Crescenzo Consolato
By Giovanni Galvan
By Giovanni Galvan
By Alessandro Prini
By Claude Reiser
By Alessandro Prini
By Carlos Massuh
By Manuel Rotsch
By Giovanni Galvan
By Patricio Delfosse
In 2000, Dragon announced new references among their variety of vehicles mounted on the SdKfz chassis: this time was turn for the closed roof variants, the SdKfz 252 and SdKfz 253. A year later, this last one was released as a kit, but nothing was ever heard about the 252. Today, we’re waiting for it to be released as it’s still being announced but….there’s no news to this respect. Tired of waiting, I decided make this conversion from scratch since in point of fact, it would not mean a lot of trouble. I took as base this old kit from Tamiya, the SdKfz 250/9, simply because I had it handy. I could have chosen any Dragon kit that are comparatively better in quality than the Tamiya’s and would have been a good option.
By Marcelo Scaminaci Russo
Developments of the Fw190 had been under consideration even before it entered on service with combat units for real. The first projects consisted in fitting more powerful engines, including some that were at an early stage of development. It was planned to fit...
By Marcelo Scaminaci Russo
By Pablo Martelli
There are several ways to build a Sturmtiger, but undoubtedly trying one from a Tamiya kit will be easier. In spite of being somewhat old (the first and only release is the one from 1994), keeps a high level of details and excellent fit. Other possible options are the Sturmtiger from Italeri and the Royal Model conversion designed to convert the Late Tiger from Italeri.
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 Carlos Pfarr
By Juan Madrazo Revilla
By Chuck Livingston
By Tony Lyne
By Juan Jose Dominguez Calvo
By Sean Grainger
By Alessandro Prini
By Claude Reiser
By Claude Reiser
By Jorge Juarez
By Juan Luis Herranz
By Marcelo Scaminaci Russo
By the end of 1944, a large diversity of variants had been proposed for the Me 262. One of the most important projects resulted from efforts to increase the maximum speed, mainly improving the airframe aerodynamic shape. Aircraft concepts known as the...
By Carlos Massuh
By Alessandro Prini
By Stuart Benford
By Peter Radcliffe
By Giovanni Galvan
By Modeler Site
By Eduardo Andreoli
By Claude Reiser
By Patricio Delfosse
By Nicolas Perez Fiorentini
By Tania Woodbury
By Martin Klein
By Thomas Halvarsson
By Gergo Marosi
By Gabriel Stern
By Grant M Vogl
By Giovanni Galvan
By Pablo Morfu
By Jose Miguel
By Gabriel Stern
By Marcelo Scaminaci Russo
During World War II, the German aeronautics industry conceived a great number of prototypes and experimental airplanes that, time and again; did not materialize due to politic intrigues, indecisions and all kind of interferences. Some of their proposals were really advanced from a technological point of view. In spite of a generous...