Facebook Twitter RSS
MODELERSITE.COM > Formula One

Building and detailing the Meng McLaren MP 4/4 1/12 scale

By Mark Laird | 05.23.2024 12:35

I have seen many people building the 1/12 scale Meng MP4/4. Since this car held the record for the most wins in F1 until the end of the 2023 season, when the Red Bull RB19 claimed that title, it's a car I've always been interested in building. After admiring the work of others on their models, I decided to take the plunge and purchase one myself. With over 50 years of experience building models, I couldn’t resist the urge to customize it rather than assembling it straight out of the box.


Ultimate guide for the Pocher Lotus 72D/7 from 1972 1/8 scale

By Lars Wahlström | 03.12.2024 19:53

I had already started my own research and looked for reference images and information. I also joined a Facebook group and got a lot of tips. The kit was released in the UK before in the EU, so many had already started their builds and discovered inaccuracies. The objective of this tutorial is to share with the reader the work done, not only to assemble the kit, but also to get the most out of it, adding details and missing parts, painting where necessary, etc., always guided by the references. to which I had access. Hoping it is useful to others.


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

By William Chan | 04.01.2023 11:38

Minardi was one of the F1 privateer teams that had never won any grand prix and they were often missed because most of the attention are put on big name teams. Although the team often run with limited budget, Minardi team's strong determination made them on the F1 grid for almost 15 years. None of the major model manufacturers makes Minardi F1. So far I only see Modelers' M198, Club M's M197, Wolf's PS-01 and AMC M193. I found that M193 shape is pretty close to Lotus 107B and McLaren MP4/8. So I bought an AMC M193 decal and tried out the conversion. After more than 15 months of on and off building, the car is finally completed.


Building the Ferrari 312T5 from a Tamiya T4 kit

By Mario Covalski | 04.01.2023 11:11

Therefore, I finally decided to modify the Tamiya's T4 kit in order to build my T5 model. I would like to make it clear that I am not criticizing Protar kits. I have built many of them in the past and they are very useful for me at the present time. In addition, you can build a T4 from a different point of view, at a different time and enhance your collection.


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

By Mario Covalski | 01.03.2023 19:34

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.


Building the Tamiya Wolf WR1: a step by step guide for beginners 1/12 scale

By Mario Covalski | 03.01.2022 11:26

Since I built my first Tamiya 1/12th kit, a certain number of years ago, around 30, I was fortunate enough to build many times the same models in different stages of my hobby modeling “career”. The Tamiya Wolf WR1 was released in 1978, after a good campaign of the 1977 season considering it was a small motor racing team. On those times Tamiya owners were F1 fans and in less than a year this incredible kit was already into the market Of course this kit have been superseded by newer technology, nevertheless, it still astonishes us. As soon as it appeared, I built two, with both versions of decals; at the beginning of the ‘90s, I built the third and finally, in 1998 the last one I put here for your consideration.


Superdetailing the Revell Ferrari F2002 1/12 scale

By Mark Laird | 03.28.2021 10:54

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.


Featuring the Tyrrell P34 - 1977 Monaco Version, Tamiya 1/20 scale

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.


Building 1/12 F1 resin model kits: A step by step guide. MG models Ferrari F2002 and F2003- GA

By Mario Covalski | 06.01.2020 11:51

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.


Kitbashing the Tamiya Ferrari 641 1/12 scale

By Mark Laird | 03.09.2020 11:36

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....


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

By Antonio Busciglio | 02.26.2020 12:37

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).


Building the Bandai STP turbine Indy car 1/12 scale

By Mark Laird | 05.13.2019 13:54

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.


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

By Mario Covalski | 01.13.2019 22:51

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.


Superdetailing the Tamiya Honda RA272 1/20 scale

By Antonio Busciglio | 06.11.2018 15:27

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.


Building the Ferrari 312T3 - Protar with Tamiya quality 1/12 scale (revised new pictures)

By Mario Covalski | 05.01.2018 12:37

Two years ago when I decided to build all Ferrari's "T" era cars in 1/12 scale, I only had few options. One of the most conflictive models was the 312T3, so many were the differences regarding the Tamiya's T and T4 models that it seemed impossible to start from them. I decided to get all the T3 information I could, pictures, diagrams, etc, it was not so much what I could find but enough to realize the difficulty this project would carry out, having a 1/20 Tamiya's 312 T3 was of great help in this stage.


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

By Mario Covalski | 04.18.2018 10:59

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.


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

By Mario Covalski | 04.16.2018 15:26

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.
 


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

By Antonio Busciglio | 02.23.2018 17:17

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.


Superdetailing the Tamiya Jordan 191 - 1/20 scale

By Joachim Kutt | 11.12.2017 16:02

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.


Building the Model Factory Hiro Ferrari 126C4 M2 - 1/20 scale

By Martin Klein | 06.11.2017 10:54

The Model Factory Hiro kit is a full detail all metal version and most parts are packed in a plastic box so that they are not damaged during transport. MFH recently increased the price significantly but after inspecting the content of the kit I think the kit is definitely worth the money. The M2 is the last of the ’84 versions that has been released by MFH and so many parts are carried over from the early versions. The M2 was only raced in the last 3 races of the season in Italy (Monza), European GP (Nürburgring) and Portugal (Estoril). With the kit you can build the Monza version. (For the races in Portugal and at the Nürburgring the front wing was changed from the delta shape to a square version similar to the one used the following year on the 156/85)


Superdetailed Tamiya Williams FW14B 1/12 scale

By Omoto Kouzi | 05.18.2017 12:35

This is an outstanding work from our friend Omoto Kouzi. We hope you enjoy the pictures and encourage you to build a Tamiya Williams. We have a tutorials about the kit, not so detailed but good guide enough for newcomers.


Superdetailed Tamiya McLaren Mp 4/6 1/12 scale

By Omoto Kouzi | 05.15.2017 11:56

This is an outstanding work from our friend Omoto Kouzi. We hope you enjoy the pictures and encourage you to build a Tamiya McLaren 4/6. We have a tutorials about the kit, not so detailed but good guide enough for newcomers.


Building the 1976 Ferrari 312T2 from a Tamiya kit 1/12 scale (Revised with new pictures)

By Mario Covalski | 04.18.2017 11:09

I wanted to add to my F1 1/12 scale collection the 1976 T2. Several years ago I built a Protar T2, but as the result didn't satisfy me, I sold it. Sometime ago I bought another Protar T2 with the intention of modifying and/or detailing more the parts if necessary. After studying the kit very carefully, I understood that this was not possible, at least for me. Then.... what can I do?. Some months ago I had the opportunity of buying several Tamiyas 312T, for different projects I had planned and as I had still one left, I decided to use the T as base and some parts of T2 that I could not make, adding other necessary details. I anticipate you the end, to arrive to what I wanted, the Protar and Tamiya's parts used needed several changes. In the following note I explain you, which were the involved modifications and how I made them.
 


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

By Antonio Busciglio | 04.03.2017 15:12

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.


Building the Fujimi Ferrari F2007 1/20 scale

By Antonio Busciglio | 10.04.2016 12:06

The car I wanted to build is the Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari 2007 in the splendid livery that was used in the second part of the season, where the Ferrari fluo red used in the previous races (and years) was replaced by a stunning, very characteristic (sort of) candy metallic red.


Building the Hasegawa Ferrari 312T 1/20 scale

By Guy Golsteyn | 08.02.2016 11:52

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’.


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

By Mario Covalski | 06.01.2016 10:31

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.


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

By Antonio Busciglio | 05.10.2016 14:35

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).


Building the Tamiya Ferrari 312B 1/12 scale

By Fabrice Marechal | 04.04.2016 19:41

This article aims at sharing my model construction which was built out of the box adding a personal touch, removing the chrome from plastic parts that look so unreal, and some details that advanced modelers will be able to reproduce.


Building the Tamiya Ferrari 312T4 1/12 scale: A step by step for newcomers (revised with new pictures)

By Mario Covalski | 03.01.2016 16:56

If this is your first 1/12 kit (it would be better it were not), I advise you to take a decision right now: if you will build it following literally the instructions, if you will add the suggestions provided here, or if you will intend to superdetail the model, trying to copy to the utmost the details that can be seen in the offered pictures.


Model Factory Hiro 1976 Tyrrell 007 using Tamiya P34 parts 1/12 scale

By Alex Nahooy | 12.15.2015 11:14

The Derek Gardner designed Tyrrell 007 made his marks true the ’74 and ’75 seasons.In expectation of there new P34 challenger the first 3 races of 1976 were raced by the final and revised version of the 007.
I would liked for MFH to have made the ’75 version,but by making the ’76 version MFH could use more parts of the Tamiya P34…resulting in this beautifull transkit ;correct rear wing and support,rear radiators ect.Most of the rear end parts of the 007 indeed come from the Tamiya donor ( Engine,gearbox,suspension and rear wheels).
 


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

By Mario Covalski | 07.01.2015 11:38

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.


Superdetailing the old Tamiya Ferrari 312T 1/12 scale

By Robert Hughes | 06.01.2015 12:17

On the 7th of September 1975 Nikki Lauda would drive into the record books with a well driven 3rd place at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. The race was won by Team mate Carlos Reutemann but all eyes were on the number 12 of Nikki Lauda because finishing 3rd was enough to secure the Drivers Championship for 1975. All of Italy rejoiced at Ferrari's first driving title since John Surtees in 1964. I had this Tamiya 1/12 scale model in my to do pile for quite some time and considering that 2007 was Ferrari’s 60th anniversary year there could be no better time to start work.


MFH Ferrari 312/68 #K154 - 1/20 scale

By Edgardo Azzollini | 05.29.2015 11:57

The model represents the Ferrari 312/68 (009), drove by Jacky Ickx, French GP 1968. This article has been written following the kit Instructions, showing pictures of each step, and it aims to be a guide for others that want to follow the same way.


Ferrari 312 68 at Goodwood - photo array

By Dan Parrat | 05.28.2015 20:24


Superdetailing the Hasegawa Ferrari 312T2 Monaco 76 1/20 scale

By Antonio Busciglio | 04.01.2015 11:42

One of the most attractive aspects of modelling, in my opinion, is the detailing of mechanical parts, especially for old cars like this. So with this article I’ll share with the reader the work done in the nice Hasegawa Ferrari 312T2 1976 kit. The built model represents the car which Niki Lauda won the GP of Monaco with, over Scheckter and Depailler.


Building the MFH Ferrari 312/69 #K156 - 1/20 scale

By Edgardo Azzollini | 11.30.2014 12:46

The model represents the Ferrari 312/69 (0019), drove by Chris Amon (NZ), Monaco 1969, 1st practice on Thursday, May 15th 1969.  This article has been written following the kit Instructions, showing pictures of each step, and it aims to be a guide for others that want to follow the same way.
 


Yardley McLaren M23 - photo array

By Fabrice Marechal | 11.04.2014 20:07


Restoring and detailing an old Tamiya Lotus 49B 1/12 scale

By Keiichi Aoki | 07.31.2014 11:58

In 1970 when I was a little child, my parents bought me the 1/12 Tamiya Gold Leaf Lotus 49B. After 44 years and accidentally I discovered the model kept in an attic at my parents’ house. Fortunately, no part was lost, but obviously quality of construction was very poor, with no major modification and barely painted as well; remember I was a child who didn’t have neither a micro drill or other tools which are considered basic nowadays. Besides, many of the suspension parts even existent, were broken.


Building the MFH Honda RA300/01 #K320 1/20 scale

By Edgardo Azzollini | 05.24.2014 12:01

This article aims at sharing with the reader, my experience building the model that represents the car which won the 1967 Italian Grand Prix in the hands of John Surtees. Taking advantage of the opportunity of the step by step pictures I’ve been taking, the article will be based on commenting them.


Building the Tamiya Lotus 79: for novices 1/20 scale

By Martin Klein | 04.01.2014 11:52

The Tamiya kit allows building two versions: the early version equipped with vertical oil coolers in the left sidepod and the later 79 version where the oil coolers had been rearranged in a similar (tilted) shape like the water radiator. The kit provides the coolers and corresponding fairings for both versions. The kit monocoque recreates the chassis numbers 2 to 4 (the first chassis had a different top section in front of the driver) so that it is possible to build all Lotus 79 versions raced from Belgium 1978 towards the end of that season. I decided to build the Belgium version where the Lotus 79 took its maiden victory in the hands of Mario Andretti who went on to win the 78 championship.


Building the Tameo Lotus 72A Gold Leaf - Jochen Rindt 1979 - 1/43 scale

By Juan Madrazo Revilla | 02.13.2014 10:32

This kit belongs to the Tameo WCT series (World Championships), highly detailed, considered as a Multimedia Super kit by those fans of the 1/43 scale models. Basically, it features the body, nose, engine and gear box plus the uprights in white metal, as Tameo usually supply. Its molding quality is good, nearly no flashes. The material is excellent offering no problems at the time of filing the parts.


Building the MFH 1967 Eagle T1G - Belgian GP winner - K297 1/20 scale

By Edgardo Azzollini | 01.28.2014 09:24

The Eagle first appeared in F1 racing at the 1966 Belgian Grand Prix. The Weslake engine appeared in the car at the 1966 Italian GP. The chassis was of the “cigar tube” type, constructed from 90% aluminum alloy, with steel reinforcement. As the car was developed, titanium replaced steel for these reinforcement, and thanks to the lightweight achieved the 104 became the winning chassis with Gurney at the wheel. Besides the weight other changes were done on the car but these will be commented later in the article.


Detailing the Tamiya Matra MS-11 1/12 scale

By Keiichi Aoki | 12.17.2013 21:27

My regular modeling has to do with AFV models, but at a certain time I felt “captivated” by the sleek lines and shapes of car bodies; but as an AFV modeler, I usually look for super detailing both out and inside the model. Because of that, F1 racing cars best satisfy my quest for super detailing in every model I build. That takes me to the fact that a sleek body must be mated to a chassis and engine-transaxle combination with a good deal of detailing. Current F1 cars don’t fit in that “category” due to the aerodynamic body that covers all the innards. That is why my choice went towards old cars, so I chose the HONDA F1 RA273 which raced in the 1966 Italian Grand Prix as my first “incursion” in F1 modeling.


Scratchbuilding the Lotus 102 Lamborghini: step by step 1/20 scale

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.


Improving the Fujimi Ferrari 248 - 1/20 scale

By Francisco Rivas Pose | 11.10.2013 11:06

This kit was announced as Schumacher’s last F1 car and represented the single-seater he raced in 2006 Brazil GP. Except for a few details, it’s a faithful replica. My intention was not to build an exact version that ran in one particular Grand Prix but to give my model as much detail as possible, in fact, I neither had the intention to show the model with the wings and cowling in place since I wanted to leave the engine with plenty of detail visible.


Detailing the Protar / Revell Ferrari 126C2, 1/12 scale

By Mario Covalski | 11.01.2013 11:02

One year ago, I wrote a note concerning the problems I encountered while building the 126C2 in 1994. That kit was all metal and it didn't allow for greater adding or modifications. This article aims at showing all the details I have added in my latest version of the amazing 1/12 Protar / Revell 126C2


Building the James Hunt 1976 McLaren M23 1/12 scale

By Mario Covalski | 10.30.2013 11:22

Three years ago I bought Chevron's conversion trilogy for the Ferrari 312T to T2 '77, the Tyrrell '76 to '77, and the M23 '74 to '76.
Within a year, I built the two first kits and let the McLaren for the "proper" moment (inspiration, motivation, etc.).
A few months ago I had the opportunity to convince a Japanese modeler, Mr. Kenji Yagi, to translate a few pages of the instruction manual for me. This translation is available with the PDF version of this tutorial.


Building the Ferrari 312T2 1977 from a Tamiya kit - 1/12 scale

By Mario Covalski | 10.24.2013 13:47

In 1976 Tamiya releases for sale, a Ferrari 312T reproduction in 1/12 scale. With representative features for that time but with details that even today amaze those who confront its construction. With very few addition and very good information we can achieve a nice model that has nothing to envy the most recent Tamiya's kits.A small Japanese company, Chevron models, manufactures a handmade kit to transform the Ferrari 312T into the last and curious 312T2, that highlights for its water radiators and air exit position.


Superdetailing the McLaren M23 Ford Tamiya ref #20002, 1/20

By Guy Golsteyn | 10.09.2013 11:34

I have been collecting all the 1:20 Tamiya F1 kits since Tamiya started producing them back in 1978, but the McLaren M23 was missing from my collection because I had the clever idea to trade the finished model for a bow and arrows once I finished it. So I have been looking for it since ages, until I discovered Ebay some 25 years later. I paid quite a high price to complete my collection with the one missing kit, but it was the very last that I needed, so what the heck.


Detailing the Heller Ligier JS11 1/12 scale (Revised with new pictures)

By Mario Covalski | 09.23.2013 12:46

In 1993 I had in my hands the 1/12 Ligier kit by Heller; I was about to buy it but the decal sheets were too old and in bad condition. Since that moment, I've always had in my mind the idea of building a model of the JS11 (which impressed me when I saw it in 1979), and detail it as much as possible, because these Heller kits are really poor in quality and inaccurate. So, a few months ago, while I was talking with an importer, I saw the box in his office and the idea came back back to my mind. Needless to say that a few hours later I was examining the kit in my house.


Detailing the Ligier JS11 Tamiya, 1/20 scale

By Martin Klein | 09.22.2013 11:25

The Tamiya Ligier is like all the early kits, basically a curbside one with a removable cockpit cowling. Before starting the kit, I was planning to detail it with removable front wing, sidepods and engine cover and with movable skirts, so the first step was to check my books and magazines looking for reference pictures. The result was pretty poor, so, I decided to surf the net, and this was a great success.


Building an improving the Italeri / Protar Mclaren MP 4/2C - 1/12 scale ( revised with new pictures)

By Mario Covalski | 09.05.2013 13:36

My objective when I built the PM4/2 was to have a depiction of that car, with the quality aspect of Tamiya's McLaren MP4/6 kit, due to the similarity of both cars, and the building materials. The purpose of this note would not be to tell you how I built the model, because this kit has been discontinued more than ten years ago, so it is quite difficult to get one. I don't think it is reasonable to write a thorough note on specific details; so I will concentrate in general detailing that can be applied to other models with similar characteristics... and quality.


Building the Yardley McLaren M23 Tamiya 1/12 scale

By Mario Covalski | 08.26.2013 21:01

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.


Building / Improving the Ferrari F189 (640) Tamiya 1/20 scale

By Crescenzo Consolato | 08.24.2013 09:29

Since time ago, I had in mind to build this Tamiya kit with a higher level of detail trying to replicate the F189 which ran in the 1989 Portuguese GP. Although it’s widely known that the Tamiya kits come highly detailed offering a very good quality, I had to make several improvements to match this one to this Portuguese GP version. The reason is because this Tamiya kit represents a F189 of the early season.


Building the Ferrari D50 & 801 from Model Factory Hiro – 1/20 scale

By Edgardo Azzollini | 08.17.2013 10:10

Both MFH kits are very well done and well match the real cars. They could be mounted OOB, but some little changes could be done to improve these kits. There are few mistakes on painting scheme and, for D50 only, I had to make modification on the body-work to get the right GP version. Since kits are almost the same, mounting process is the same for both: any difference will be underlined on the article.


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

By Mario Covalski | 08.13.2013 11:49

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.


Building the Hasegawa Ferrari 312T2 Monaco 76 1/20 scale

By Martin Klein | 08.06.2013 10:14

The 312T2 Monaco ’76 is Hasegawa’s the first 1/20 Formula 1 kit so I was very curious about the quality. After inspecting all parts the summary from my point of view is that Hasegawa did a magnificent job. All parts are very detailed and will result in a nice model without any modification. On the other hand the level of detail provided gives the opportunity to add more detail and thus realism and this is the path that I am going to follow.


Building the Fujimi McLaren Honda MP4/6: step by step for beginners 1/20 scale

By Edwing E. Merlo Paredes | 07.23.2013 11:42

I built this model as per instructions except when I used the Hobby Design detail set and some extra part. This article is devoted to novices so as to help them to build, which is perhaps, their first F1 model.


Modelling the Tamiya Lotus 78 a step by step guide for beginners 1/12th

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..


Building the Jaguar R1 2000 F1, # 7 Eddie Irvine Converted from the Tamiya 1/20 Mclaren MP4/13

By William Chan | 07.07.2013 11:02

Jaguar R1 is 2000 F1 contender. Originally it was Stewarts racing and Jaguar took over the team in year 2000. Irvine was their number one driver. The car didn't do well at all that year, but the color schema of the car is exceptional. The model I build this time follows the schema in 00 Brazilian GP. Honestly, the conversion I made can only match 60% of the real car if you compare 1 on 1 by the real car photos. But in any case, it is still fun. The model was converted from a Tamiya McLaren MP 4/13 (kit 20046) using the Studio 27 jaguar decals.


Building the McLaren M7A chassis #3 – Model Factory Hiro - 1/20 scale

By Edgardo Azzollini | 03.27.2013 10:59

In 1968 McLaren Team left aside the BMR engine and started to use FORD Cosworth DFV, building the M7A. This new car was designed by Robin Herd (who left the team to join Cosworth Engineering and later – 1970 – founded March) and completed by Gordon Coppuck (the future designer of winning M23).  My choice is SPA  since Bruce McLaren drove to his first victory in a Grand Prix at Spa driving a car with his own name.


Williams FW11 Honda, Tamiya 1/20 scale

By Francisco Rivas Pose | 02.28.2013 12:14

Once the model was finished, I realized about the importance of having good reference material and how this is essential to get good results. I would be glad to send everyone who needs some pictures. I used Tamiya acrylics for all the painting job except for the body. First of all, the grilles were washed with soapy water while flashes and mold marks were removed from parts.....


Building 1/20 F1 resin model kits: Jordan J199 Mugen Honda Italy 1999

By William Chan | 02.18.2013 19:34

Modelers released the J199 10 years ago. I got this kit from HobbyLink Japan after seeing a great build from Alex Kung in Canada. I waited for 10 years before I built it. Unfortunately, the kit is for early season, so some modification were necessary.


Improving the Ferrari F1 87/88C Fujimi 1/20 scale

By Francisco Rivas Pose | 02.13.2013 09:45

It’s not crazy to say that for a lot of F1 fans, the 80's had the best cars, the best drivers and the best races in F1 history, an unforgettable epoch, and it’s extremely gratifying to see that Fujimi is offering model cars from that period. The Ferrari of this article was neither a champion nor one of the best cars manufactured by Maranello, but its beauty is worthy of a good work of modeling. The aim of this article is to share with the reader my experience in the construction of this Fujimi kit with the addition of some of my own improvements.


Improving the Williams FW16 Fujimi 1/20 scale

By Francisco Rivas Pose | 02.03.2013 10:59

In general this Fujimi kit is better than the Ferrari 248, well molded, detailed and fit of parts is pretty good It includes a PE set for all the seatbelts, decals are good and except for the wheels ones. they work well with Microsol. The only part that doesn’t have good fit is the motor cowling but it can be solved.


MFH Ferrari 512BB LM 1979 1/24 scale

By Alessandro Prini | 01.24.2013 20:44

1/24 scale Multi-media Kit of the Ferrari 512BB Le Mans '79. Model Factory Hiro's full kits include resin-cast bodies, rubber tires, aluminum wheels, white metal suspension, photo-etched detail parts and decals. Full engine detail makes for a more complicated kit. Markings are included for N.A.R.T.'s number 64 (Henn/Delaunay/Grandet).


BRM H16 - P83/03 #14 and P115/01 #34 - from MFH - Model Factory Hiro – 1/20 scale

By Edgardo Azzollini | 01.19.2013 11:58

MFH made two versions of the P83 (K306 - ’67 Dutch GP and K307 – ’67 Belgian GP) and one for the P115 (K308 – ’67 Italian GP). It is important to remember that both, Stewart and Spence drove P83, while Stewart only had P115. Hiro did a great job with these two kits, which could be mounted OOB, but some little mistakes are still present so it would be better to correct them. This article will be focused on: P83/03 #14 – Jackie Stewart – 1967 Belgian GP and P115/01 #34 – Jackie Stewart – 1967 Italian GP. So, all features and improvements are intended to well match the cars of those GPs.


Brabham BT44 - photo array

By Fabrice Marechal | 01.17.2013 12:27

Thanks our friend and contributor Fabrice we can have this nice walkaround of one of the F1's iconic car of the 70'

The link offers our PDF for the Tamiya kit.


1/20 Red Bull Racing Renault RB6 by Tamiya

By Modeler Site | 01.10.2013 14:04

An all-new tooling of the world championship winning Red Bull Racing Renault RB6 Formula 1 car as driven by Mark Webber and two-time world champ (UPDATE: Now three-time world champ!) Sebastian Vettel during the 2010 Formula 1 season! This is the car he drove to his first championship title. Featuring engine (covered), cockpit, and chassis detail, the kit includes photo-etched metal parts and beautiful markings by Cartograf for the #5 and #6 cars.


Tameo Ferrari 312T3, building it for newcomers 1/43 scale

By Juan Madrazo Revilla | 12.19.2012 13:26

To date I’ve built two F1s from Tameo, the first one was a Brabham BT45, a much more simple kit that the present one. At that time the small sizes of the box in which it came packed surprised me. You can’t imagine now, after discovering more than 300 parts inside plus a folded booklet.


Lotus 72 - photo array

By Fabrice Marechal | 11.14.2012 15:48


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

By Mario Covalski | 04.01.2012 14:39

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.


Improving the Brabham BT48 Monaco 79 Model Factory Hiro 1/20 scale

By Martin Klein | 04.01.2012 12:01

After searching for reference pictures I decided to build the Monaco version. Being a Lauda fan since his early days in F1 this race was one of his few highlights that season qualifying on the second row. Unfortunately he retired after a race accident with D. Pironi. Lauda stepped out of F1 during practice of the penultimate season race (Canada) focusing on building up his airline.


Building the Ferrari 312B2 from 1972 - from a Protar kit 1/12 scale

By Christian Jung | 10.01.2011 11:00

The Protar Ferrari B2 kit is based in the 1971 car. So, if you want to get an acceptable 1972 version for your Ferrari collection, you will be forced to scratchbuild some new parts. Besides looking the Protar box you’ll realize that there are some parts really out of scale, especially the tires and the rims which look like truckwheels. Fortunately the body seems to be well shaped.


Building 1/20 F1 resin model kits: Ensign N177 driven by Jacky Ickx

By Guy Golsteyn | 08.01.2010 17:33

To be able to build the 1976 Ensign, first you need to buy a kit of course. The problem is that none of the known manufacturers may offer anything that comes close to this subject. After a long search I found a 1/20 kit by the Brazilian manufacturer RTN Models. Don’t worry, I hadn’t heard of them before either.


Building the Tamiya Ferrari 310B first place TamCon 2003 Tamiya 1/20 scale

By William Chan | 05.01.2010 17:41

F310B was a 1997 Ferrari F1 contender. It was very close to take away world championship from Jacque Villeneuve that year until the final nasty collision caused by Michael Schumacher. As a result, Schumacher was the one got thrown off the track and Villeneuve went on the win the driver championship. Later Schumacher was disqualified that year too. Very memorable year especially when Schumacher was fighting all points back and it made thing exciting.


Building the Protar Ferrari 312B2 1971 - 1/12 scale

By Christian Jung | 05.01.2010 10:56

In 1972 Protar produced their first 1/12 F1 scale model, the Ferrari 312 B2 1971. Protar was well known for their fine motorcycles models, but their F1 models weren’t of the same quality. A year before Tamiya released the predecessor of the B2, the Ferrari 312 B from 1970. The kit from Tamiya wasn’t of the same quality as their later 1/12, but it was much better than the Protar one.  The first look on the Protar box shows that there are some parts really out of scale. Especially the tires and the rims which look like truck wheels. Fortunately the body seems to be well shaped, so it’s worthwhile trying to improve the kit.


Detailing an old Formula one 1/12 scale

By Mario Covalski | 04.01.2010 11:39


Improving the Ferrari 126C2 Long Beach Version Fujimi 1/20 scale

By Martin Klein | 04.01.2010 10:54

As it seems Tamiya lost interest in 1/20 Formula 1 kits and so I am happy that Fujimi is now stepping into fill this gap. There are several versions available of the 126C2 including one with clear body cover. The reason to choose the Long beach version is that it has a unique rear wing configuration arranging 2 smaller wings covering the whole body width. Gilles Villeneuve raced this car to 3rd place in the ’82 Long Beach GP but was disqualified after Ken Tyrrell protested claiming the rear wing configuration illegal.


Ferrari 312B2 at Goodwood - photo array

By Dan Parrat | 06.01.2009 11:03


Improving the Ferrari F2007 from Studio 27, 1/20 scale

By Crescenzo Consolato | 04.01.2009 11:42

The first pictures I saw of the F2007 were really impressive, for me, one of the most beautiful machines Ferrari have accomplished for the F1, (together with the unsuccessful 1992 F92A) the new combination of colors looked fantastic and at once, the thought of building that model crossed my mind. I would never succumb to the temptation of purchasing one of those inaccurate and full of mistakes die cast replicas, available in the market.


Detailing the Tamiya Renault RE30B 1/20 scale

By Martin Klein | 04.01.2008 11:40


Building the Williams Cosworth FW28 Studio27 1/20 scale

By Davide Negretti | 07.01.2007 12:11

Second consecutive precious chance to verify the efforts of the firm Studio27, again a very recent release. It’s a multimedia kit, according to the Manufacturer standards, curbside version. As usual, the quality of any single component is not bad. The bodywork, made of grey resin, shows a fine surface, rather clean, no air bubble or distortions are present. Engraving is not perfect and somewhat on the soft side. Shape seems well captured.


Building the Tamiya Mclaren MP4/8 Ford 1/20 scale

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.



How to build a winner. Ferrari F2001B (First place TamCon 2005) 1/20 scale

By William Chan | 07.01.2005 22:49

Here William offers us a large article, step by step, with pictures during the whole building and a commentary about what we are looking, he calls this a diary, but I think that’s the state of the art of the patience to take pictures. Thanks for the time and effort William spent on writing this article for Modeler Site.


Improving the Ferrari 312B Tamiya 1/12

By Hugh Rockwell | 04.01.2005 11:53


Building the Bandai STP turbine Indy car 1/12 scale

By Thomas Halvarsson | 12.01.2003 12:06


Matra MS-11 a step by step for newcomers - Tamiya 1/12 scale

By Paco Porres | 09.01.2002 11:08

Tamiya offered a long time ago a kit of the MS11 model, which had an excellent quality although the model is 33 years old. The curious thing here is that in the original "box art" of 1969 we can see the car driven by Jackie Stewart (huge mistake), but in the new release in 2000 the pilot is Jean Pierre Beltoise.


Building the Museum Collection Ferrari 412T2 1/12 scale

By Mario Covalski | 08.05.2001 11:15

In this note, I'll try to explain the problems and solutions adopted for the building of the Ferrari 412 T2, from "Museum Collection" in 1/12 scale, which I've reviewed a few months ago.


Toleman TG183B 1/20

By Davide Negretti


Ferrari T5 Monaco GP 1980 1/20

By Davide Negretti


Detailing the Iritani Brabham BT 34 1971, 1/20 scale

By Martin Klein

The kit has the usual quality known from Iritani and is a mixture of resin, metal and plastic parts. The main body, the wings and the engine air duct are made of resin, the engine and rear suspension are plastic parts (from 70s Tamiya kits). The wheel rims are turned metal parts and the tyres are rubber parts. Together with white metal parts for the wheel centres and front suspension, steel wire for further suspension elements and etched brass sheet metal parts for wing end plates and other car details the kit provides all ingredients for a great Formula 1 kit of the 70s.


Ferrari 158 F1 1/43

By Roberto Quaranta


Ferrari 126 C2 GP Belgica, Tameo 1/43

By Juan Madrazo Revilla


Ferrari 126 C3 German GP, Tameo 1/43

By Juan Madrazo Revilla


Ferrari 3124 T4, Tameo 1/43

By Juan Madrazo Revilla


Lotus 72 German GP 1970, Tameo 1/43

By Juan Madrazo Revilla


Modeler Ferrari F92A 1/20 scale

By Alessandro Prini


Brabham Alfa Romeo BT45 Tameo 1/43

By Juan Madrazo Revilla


Monza Models 2005

By Roberto Jacobone


Renault R202 / photo array

By Victor Sotomayor


Arrows A3 1980 1/24th

By Pter Doekalek


Renault Re23 Revell 1/24

By John Horst


Toyota TF102 Revell 1/24

By John Horst


Bandai 1/16 Lotus 38

By Thomas Halvarsson


Tamiya Williams FW24 1/20 scale

By Alexander Hague


S27 Ferrari 2002

By Alexander Hague


Williams FW 16

By Hernan Casciani


Studio 27 Ferrari 126 C3 1/20 scale

By Tony Allen

This is my first attempt to build a model by Studio 27 and I have to say my first impression was not very encouraging. On opening the box of a very expensive kit I found a very well moulded body with fine engraving of panels and fixings. The photoetch set again was very sharp as were the decals, but from there on things went downhill. The white metal castings I thought were crude in the extreme, suspension, engine detail exhausts etc were poor. However as this was a model for a friend I did my best.


How to build a model

By Mario Covalski

There are a lot of plastic models manufacturers, whose instruction manuals are clear and well structured. However, there are others quite complicated in their sequential steps, making the building a real nightmare for the beginner. This happens even with the more experienced companies. From our personal point of view, the least explicit manuals are those by some American companies (AMT, ERTL, Revell and Lindbergh) because, in most cases, they don't even include a color guide. Some of the most prestigious companies have well illustrated manuals with an excellent information, although they have a certain difficulty in the building process, making the sequence difficult to follow.
 


Brabham BT 46B "Fan car"

By Peter Radcliffe


Scratch Building Helmets

By Tony Allen


Ferrari 412T, 1994

By Hernan Casciani


Ferrari 126C, F1/81

By Fernando Benedetto


How to paint with lacquers

By Jose Antonio Solbes


Ferrari F399, photo array

By Fernando Benedetto


Ferrari 312 - 1969

By Hapico


Ferrari 158 - Surtees F1 1964 World Champion ABC Brianza ref # 1206b

By Mario Covalski

I made my first review of a kit a few years ago, and I remember that I said that reviewing a kit was something more than a simple description of all the parts that you look at when you open a box; you have to "transmit" a sensation and "project" and opinion, as a logical conclusion.


Ferrari F1-2000, 1/20 scale Tamiya CON 2002 winner full article

By William Chan

This is one of many popular Ferrari F1 racers. Michael Schumacher won his third championship with this famous F1-2000. Tamiya has done an excellent job in producing this famous F1 racer. I have taken 7 months to build this Ferrari....


Lotus 79 photos

By Jimmy Lisle


Theodore Racing Wolf 1/12 scale

By Thomas Halvarsson


Lotus 78/Reference

By Dan Parrat


F1 car diorama

By Diego Perri


Tamiya's Matra MS11 1/12

By Tony Allen


Ferrari dino 166F2 1/12

By Domenico Laudiero


Tameo Bar Supertech 01 TMK 284

By Tania Woodbury


Surtees-Ford TS16 1/12 scale

By Robert Kellermann


Brabham BT52

By Alex Nahooy


Featuring the McLaren MP4/7 Tamiya 1/20 scale

By Sean Fischbach
Sam sent us new pictures of the model he had submitted in 2003, here the updated article.


Scratchbuilding the 1979 Arrows A2, 1/20 scale

By Manuel Rotsch
"Golden Balls" was the title of an article appearing in the January 2002 issue of F1 Racing magazine as part of their historic vehicle racing review of the 1979 Arrows A2. The pictures were inspirational. This car ran part of the 1979 season but results were disappointing (2 points) consequently any video or photos are scarce. The Arrows 2 and the new Alfa Romeo team featured the large round nose which was actually opposite to the aerodynamic design of such teams as Ferrari, Williams, Lotus etc. This short rounded style nose would appear later in the 1980”s; so perhaps they were ahead of their time! The twin chassis concept was also very unique. The Warsteiner advertising on the gold paint job was impressive. With all these radically unique features this was definitely a car I wanted to build...


Benetton B192 F1, 1/20 scale

By Maurizio Bonello


Arrows A3 1980, 1/20 scale

By Marco Peretti


Matra MS10 F1, 1/20 scale

By Marco Peretti


Honda F-1 RA272, Tamiya, 1/20 scale

By Michael Wong

The Honda RA272 was a formula racing car that won the Mexican Grand Prix in 1965 which is driven by Richie Ginther which making it be the first Japanese racing car winning the grand prix. After building my first completed Formula racing car, the Tamiya Honda MP4/4, I decided to build another formula racing car and it is RA272. I started this project in mid of October and finished it in 2 weeks time....


BRM P-160 Iritani 1/20

By Luiz Iritani


Tyrrell P34 76, Tamiya 1/20

By Alessandro Prini


Tyrrell P34 1977, Wave 1/24

By Alessandro Prini


McLaren Mercedes MP 4/14

By Mario Covalski


Tenariv Lotus 49 1/43

By John Horst


Grand Prix Moments

By Warren Monks


SMTS Brabham BT26, 143

By John Horst


SMTS Maserati 4CLT

By Peter Radcliffe


SMTS Brabham BT26A

By John Horst


Tameo Zakspeed 871

By John Horst


Brabham BT45 from SRC

By Dave Carr


Tameo Toyota F1 - 1/43

By Dan Hartz


Talbot-Ligier JS17

By Roger Dutemple


Tameo Brabham Alfa Romeo BT45

By Juan Madrazo Revilla


The Scarab

By Peter Radcliffe


Lotus 98T / Photo array

By Dan Parrat


March Ford 761B

By Dave Carr


Detailing the Honda RA273 Tamiya, 1/12 scale

By Keiichi Aoki

During the years that Honda participated in the F1 championship with their own cars, there were different types of cars depending on the year. Moreover, chassis design was different depending on the car number. So, if you want to build an accurate replica of one of this cars, first you’ll have to choose a particular competition number of the car, and then study all the details carefully. For my model, I chose the number 18 car which raced in the 1966 Italian Grand Prix. This car is fully restored and displayed in the HONDA museum located in the Motegi race course park, in the Ibaraki prefecture, about three hours car ride from central Tokyo. I visited the museum and took a lot of pictures to make my model more accurate. Here I will explain how I built it.


The Williams-Ford's history 1979 to 1983

By Jens Martin

More than ten years later when building Formula-1 model cars became a hobby for me, one of the first 1/20 kits I ever built was Tamyia’s Williams FW07. During the last two years I have built models of the four follow up cars Williams produced and raced up until 1983. This gave me the idea to write a small story about the Williams cars of this era and the models. 


Building the Ferrari F10 Model Factory Hiro 1/20 scale

By Jose I. Hernandez Diez

My enthusiasm for the F1 led me, since very young, to build my own kits but in 1/43 scale. As soon as the Japanese brand Model Factory Hiro introduced in the market the Ferrari F10, I decided to build it. I had a great deal of respect for it, since it was more complex than the kits I used to build. Painting, is the 90% of work here, and any mistake would damage my job. From the different versions available: Turkey, German, Japan, Australia and Korea, I chose this last one: ref #K-277.


Building the Mclaren Mercedes MP4/13 - Tamiya 1/20 scale

By Roland NG

Mclaren Mercedes MP4/13, a historical F1 car that won the 1998 F1 season. Mika Hakkinen together with David Coulthard are the two drivers that drove the car that year and helped Mclaren to win their first championship since Ayrton Senna’s era. With great amount of testing which induce great improvements, Mclaren had developed a beautiful and aerodynamically powerful racing machine. This is definitely one of the favourite cars of all time because it just looks really sexy on the design. It’s been always my dream of making a detailed MP4/13 and finally I got the chance not too long ago. Well, this is the process of detailed MP4/13 in the making.


Scratchbuilding the Lotus 24 - 1/12 scale

By Roger Knight

A client recently acquired a Lotus 24 and commissioned a 1/12 model of the car. This example has over the years been ‘modernised’ to comply with modern safety requirements with higher roll over bars and fire equipment, seat belts etc but otherwise is pretty much unchanged since the early sixties. The car original was raced by Reg Parnell Racing, a privateer entrant from that period and is still painted in the Parnell colours of dark blue, red noseband and white wheels. It is fitted with the 1.5 BRM engine.


Tyrrell Ford F1 - photo array

By Fabrice Marechal


Wolf WR1 - photo array

By Fabrice Marechal


Ferrari F2002 MG, 1/12 scale

By Stephane Simard


Modeler Footwork F13 1/20 scale

By Jose Antonio Solbes


Ferrari 158 / Reference

By Dan Parrat


Ferrari 156 Sharknose, MG 1/12 scale "A Dual Effort"

By Earl Petrikin and Stu Benford


McLaren MP 4/20

By William Chan


Minardi M198

By Dave Carr


Lotus 49B Photo array

By Dan Parrat



Subscribe our Newsletter


LATEST NEWS



Editorials



Showcases

By Modeler Site

Problems downloading files

By Modeler Site

Anniversary

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.