At first glance, these are just trifles that mean nothing. In fact, much in our lives (if not everything) is decided by them — though in different ways, depending on what kind of trifles they are. Some, for example, may affect no more than a person’s mood, while others can even change the fate of Read more…
Building homemade cars is a unique phenomenon. Apart from the USSR, nowhere else did this movement become widespread. People of the most varied professions took up amateur car design: doctors, artists, musicians, workers and engineers. It is known that the space conqueror A.A. Serebrov had a homemade car, and cosmonaut V.A. Aksyonov took part as Read more…
Vessels of this class can be found in all major ports of virtually every country in the world. These are rescue craft built to assist those in distress, fight fires, patch hull damage, pump water out of flooded compartments, refloat grounded ships, and tow them. They differ in displacement, speed, and technical capabilities. A large Read more…
This very “flyable” radio-controlled powered hang-glider model was designed specifically for beginners: it is not difficult to build, and it is practically impossible to wreck on landing. A wide variety of materials can be used to make the model — from balsa to basswood (linden). For the formers, even ordinary packaging foam will do, for Read more…
Isn’t it a striking contrast: while the fields of collective and state farms are cultivated today by powerful “Kirovets” tractors, the household plots of rural workers are still plowed the old way — in the best case with a horse-drawn plow, and in the worst simply dug up with a shovel. This work is unproductive, Read more…
I rode the Kharkiv Bicycle Factory’s “Tourist” bicycle for 30 years. It was, perhaps, one of the best Soviet bicycles — not only for active recreation (which it was actually designed for), but also for everyday trips. Now it hangs on the shed wall as a retro exhibit. Instead, I bought a new, modern two-wheel Read more…
Thousands of motorboats and launches built by amateurs to designs from the MK design bureau ply the waters of rivers, lakes, and even seas across our vast homeland. These include the widely popular Moskichka, Volzhanka, Strelka, Rusalka, Taifun, and Ruslan. An experienced specialist will recognize them at once by their characteristic profile and attitude on Read more…
I have been a long-time reader of the magazine “Modelist-Konstruktor” and subscribed to it for many years in a row. Then, due to financial difficulties, I had to give it up. But since last year I have started subscribing again. I am glad that, as before, I find a lot of useful material in the Read more…
Nowadays, many people use a bicycle as an indoor trainer in winter. The designs for the base vary widely. What they probably have in common is one thing: it gets rather boring to pedal in place. On a real road, the situation is constantly changing, which adds variety to the ride. But it is possible Read more…
For fifteen years I have subscribed to the magazine “Modelist-Constructor” and in every issue I find many interesting and useful articles for myself. I am a mechanical engineer by training, and I am especially interested in the creative developments of amateur designers. I myself, back in 1989, practically from scrap metal (units and assemblies of Read more…
