The prototype of this slot-car model (for how to build a simple home or school track for model-car racing, see “M-K” No. 3, 2025.) was the Cummins Diesel Special racing car, a participant in the 500-mile race of 1952 on the track in Indianapolis (Indiana, USA). In the early days of the automobile industry, racing Read more…
Did you ever, as a child, send toy cars down a slope, competing with friends over whose would roll faster? Now this pastime is taken seriously by perfectly grown-up people. The event is called “Valve Cover Racing.” A valve cover is a part of an internal combustion engine that closes the valvetrain to protect its Read more…
We have already described the construction of a sailboat and a vessel powered by a rubber motor, using PET soda bottles (see “M-K” No. 5 and 8 for 2024). We suggest adding to the “bottle fleet” a catamaran model with a rotor wind drive. It has long been observed that if a rotating cylinder is 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…
Building and tuning an airboat hydroglider is much easier (and cheaper) than building a racing boat model with a propeller, gearbox, and liquid-cooled engine. At the same time, if properly designed, it is practically not inferior to the “classic” setup in either speed or maneuverability. The proposed radio-controlled model with an air propulsor is based Read more…
The 12th–9th centuries BC are referred to by historians as the “dark ages”. During this period, the tribes living on the northern and eastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, meeting face to face, sparked numerous clashes between peoples. Some states dissolved into the mass of others; in free lands, new colonies arose. Art and knowledge Read more…
The proposed car model showed the best-in-class result at the European Championship in 1980, and in 1983 it reached a maximum speed of 252 km/h. The weight of the fully equipped racing car is 1250 g (limit 1500 g). This allows changing the load on the wheels depending on the race conditions by installing additional Read more…
At the 1983 European Championship, many athletes’ attention was drawn to the “aerobatic model” designed and built by Czechoslovak modeler Stanislav Čech. The unusual engine position, increased bending elasticity of the detachable wing, simple and effective contours of the fuselage that read excellently in flight, and a whole range of design innovations benefited the operational, Read more…
The purpose of this vessel is fishing with a small trawl and drift nets no more than 20 miles from the port of refuge. Endurance – 12 days. Main dimensions of the boat: maximum length – 12.75 m, length at waterline – 11.7 m, width – 3 m, draft – 1.3 m. Speed reaches 8 Read more…
