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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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....
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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’.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
By Dan Parrat | 05.28.2015 20:24
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.
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.
By Fabrice Marechal | 11.04.2014 20:07
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.
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.
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.
By Mario Covalski | 04.01.2014 11:35
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.....
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
By Fabrice Marechal | 11.14.2012 15:48
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.
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.
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.
By Guy Golsteyn | 04.01.2011 11:51
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.
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.
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.
By Mario Covalski | 04.01.2010 11:39
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.
By Dan Parrat | 06.01.2009 11:03
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.
By Martin Klein | 04.01.2008 11:40
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.
By John Horst | 04.01.2007 18:56
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 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.
By Hugh Rockwell | 04.01.2005 11:53
By William Chan | 05.01.2004 19:10
By Thomas Halvarsson | 12.01.2003 12:06
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.
By Mario Covalski | 09.01.2001 15:12
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.
By John Horst
By Javier Alba
By Mario Covalski
By Mario Covalski
By Davide Negretti
By Davide Negretti
By Davide Negretti
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.
By Thomas Koethe
By Alessandro Prini
By Domenico Laudiero
By Crescenzo Consolato
By Alessandro Prini
By Claude Reiser
By Manuel Rotsch
By Chuck Livingston
By Sean Grainger
By Alessandro Prini
By Alessandro Prini
By Stuart Benford
By Mario Covalski
By Stuart Benford
By Claude Reiser
By Paolo Benacci
By Oliver Yvanes
By Mario Covalski
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.
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.
By Dan Parrat
By Akiyoshi Kishino
By Jose Antonio Solbes
By Tony Allen
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.
By Jose Antonio Solbes
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....
By Niels Elmholt Christensen
By Tania Woodbury
By William Chan
By Sean Fischbach
Sam sent us new pictures of the model he had submitted in 2003, here the updated article.
By John Horst
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...
By Paco Porres
By Mario Covalski
By Dan Parrat
By Tony Allen
By Martin Klein
By Manuel Rotsch
By Maurizio Bonello
By Tony Allen
By Manuel Rotsch
By Crescenzo Consolato
By Dennis Schuldt
By Marco Peretti
By Javier Alba
By John Tinay
By Jens Martin
By Tony Allen
By John Horst
By Bill Attridge
By Martin Klein
By Hugh Rockwell
By Marco Peretti
By Paul Adams
By Emilio Wada
By Dan Parrat
By Akiyoshi Kishino
By Crescenzo Consolato
By Earl Petrikin
By Miles Lumbard
By Johnson Tang
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....
By William Chan
By Antonio Dourado
By Rab Robertson
By Dan Parrat
By John Horst
By John Horst
By Alessandro Prini
By Alessandro Prini
By Alessandro Prini
By Massimiliano Piacentini
By Dan Parrat
By Steve Yeun
By Martin Klein
By Thomas Halvarsson
By Tony Allen
By Dan Parrat
By Manuel Rotsch
By Mario Covalski
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.
By Mario Covalski
By Mario Covalski
By Paolo Benacci
By Dan Parrat
By Paolo Benacci
By Dan Parrat
By Tony Allen
By Paolo Benacci
By Mario Covalski
By Martin Klein
By Domenico Laudiero
By Domenico Laudiero
By Mario Covalski
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.
By Rab Robertson
By Alessandro Prini
By Hugh Rockwell
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.
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.
By Fabrice Marechal
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.
By Fabrice Marechal
By Fabrice Marechal
By John Horst
By Guy Golsteyn
By Stephane Simard
By Steve Sutherlin
By Mario Covalski
By Jose Antonio Solbes
By Dan Parrat
By Earl Petrikin and Stu Benford
By Javier Alba
By Dan Parrat
By Brian Limage
By Manuel Rotsch
By William Chan
By Stephane Simard
By Jens Martin
By Paolo Benacci
By Javier Alba