hobbies

Photo-Etching and Soldering Your Own Brass Model Parts

Photo-Etching and Soldering Your Own Brass Model Parts

Watch a master modeler show you how to photo-etch your own custom parts and solder them together.

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Ridiculously Detailed European Cafe in Lego

Ridiculously Detailed European Cafe in Lego

  Looking at these images, you’d be forgiven for imagining this European-style Lego cafe actually comes alive when you’re not looking and serves microbrews and amazing farm-fresh pub food to hungry Minifig locals. You can almost hear the din of enthusiastic diners and the cooking noises leaking out from the kitchen. Brickshelf user Opabinia has a […]

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Scratchbuilt: Superdetailed B-24 Liberator

Scratchbuilt: Superdetailed B-24 Liberator

Without going all the way out on a limb, I’ll borrow language from my first scratchbuilt post and suggest that polish master modeler Andrzej Ziober is producing work that is approaching “the limits a single modeler can achieve,” using conventional scale modeling techniques and technologies, in the field of 1/72 scale aircraft. He has not produced many of these models, because each of them takes about five years of work, at about five hours of work a day.

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Scratchbuilt: Radio-Controlled Jagdpanzer 38(t)

Scratchbuilt: Radio-Controlled Jagdpanzer 38(t)

This detailed post from modeling forum member Panzerpaul nicely shows off the skill and hard work that went into creating his radio-controlled replica of a WWII-era German tank destroyer commonly called a Hetzer. To house the R/C electronics and other guts, the hull has to be hollow.

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Skill Builder: Model Plane Building “Secrets”

Skill Builder: Model Plane Building “Secrets”

In support of the latest issue of MAKE, Volume 28, MAKE contributor Stefan Jones sent me a link to this PDF of a booklet from the 1950s on model airplane building. It was put out by Sterling Models and reprinted from Flying Models Magazine.

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Scratchbuilt: 1/87 Mack FCSW Water Truck

Scratchbuilt: 1/87 Mack FCSW Water Truck

1/87 is essentially HO scale, which is said to be the most popular scale for model rail stock in the world. For cars and even large trucks, as you can see, it’s pretty dang small. Which is what makes the level of detail achieved by renowned truck modeler Joe Enriquez on this, and his many other models in the same scale, so remarkable.

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Tabletop Gaming — Modeling Tips and Tricks

Tabletop Gaming — Modeling Tips and Tricks

In the early aughts, I ran a popular and well-regarded tabletop wargame modeling and converting site called 40K Konversions. It was dedicated to all forms of modeling related to the Warhammer 40,000 universe. I went through my articles from the site and have put together some of the best tips and tricks that I published.

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