THE BEST Models

We’re always amazed by the attention to detail that turns up in the remote control vehicle festivals over in Europe, and this selection of scale model trucks and buses driving around at the Modell Leben show in Erfurt, Germany is no exception. That mini truck wash.

Flat-pack wooden model maker UGEARS presents 11 awesome new creations, each of which features gear and rubber band mechanisms. The new models include a wind-up horse, windmill, stagecoach, flying aircraft contraption, big rig, steam train, and more.

Clearly taking inspiration from the work of Jason Freeny, Stephanix’s LEGO concept is a 10x-size minifig with a removable layer of skin and clothing, allowing curiosity- and gore-seekers to poke around the skeletal structure and organs inside.

Another sweet laser-cut wooden model from UGears. While the VM-02 isn’t based on any actual bike, the detailed chopper will still be a cool addition to the desktop of any motorcycle fanatic. Coming to Kickstarter soon.

An in-depth look inside Rapido Trains Inc.’s production facility in China, where workers painstakingly assemble scale model train engines and rail cars. Each model train body is individually molded, masked, painted, detailed, and assembled by hand.

Got 30 minutes to kill? Sit back and enjoy James Risner’s ridiculously long model train set, which has 1662 train cars, measures 1,134 feet long, and needs 25 engines to pull the thing. We’re just glad we’re not stuck in a tiny car waiting at the crossing for this thing to go by.

RC Media World presents footage of a remote-controlled airplane replica, based on Howard Hughes’ 8-engine H-4 Hercules aka “Spruce Goose.” Builder Jürgen Schönle’s surprisingly quiet flyer has a 12-foot wingspan, and can take off and land on water, just like the real deal.

Build your own desktop robot factory with this amazing wooden model from UGears. The 598-piece kit comes in flat-pack form, and features a variety of moving parts as well as robots that roll off the assembly line.

Etsy artist VictorianDollhouse created this series of baltic birch plywood models which let you create your own miniature sculptures of classic cars. Choose from the Citroen 2CV, Jaguar E-Type, Mazda Miata, Chevy Corvette Stingray, and Morgan 3-wheeler designs.

A first look at a sweet new LEGO set based on Mack’s workhorse trucks. The kit (#42078) includes includes all the parts needed to make two entirely different trucks – a Mack Anthem tractor-trailer and a Mack LR garbage truck. The set will go for about $150 when it drops in 2018.

Artist Thomas Houha makes laser-cut wood and mat board models of objects ranging from spaceships to bridges. One of our faves is this 4″ x 5″ model of a relic of traditional design – a wooden drafting table complete with a teensy T-square and other drafting tools.

Alex Purinok creates amazing wooden models of trucks, construction equipment, buses, robots, jeeps, and more. His 558-piece Komatsu dump truck, 730-piece Kenworth W900 semi, and 2190 piece Terex RX 400 earthmover are truly epic. He also sells simpler wooden kits.

National Geographic takes us inside the world of artists Lori Nix and Kathleen Gerber, who have been creating intricate miniature dioramas together for almost 15 years. The scenes portray a post-apocalyptic future in which buildings and material possessions have been abandoned.

We’ve seen metal miniature kits before, but never ones like these. Time 4 Machine’s big selling point is that their detailed models are mechanical. The wind-up cabrio and tank actually drive, the clock tells time (for an hour), and you can actually play the table hockey game.

Pilot Christian Gschwenter’s amazing remote-controlled scale model looks and flies just like a real F-16 Cobra fighter jet. While its engine doesn’t have a real afterburner, it’s got a ring of LED lighting out back to simulate flame, and even can make smoke trails.

LEGO Technic builder Attika created this awesome open-frame 4-wheel drive, Android-controlled car tuned for mad drifting action. It’s got a working drivetrain, brakes, lights, and looks like a blast at to speed. Action footage at 3:30, and lots of build images on Flickr.

After showing off his awesome spiraling model train set, James Risner created a fancier version of the track, which used over 8,000 K’Nex parts to give the train a downward spiral effect. It looks sort of like a coliseum made from trains.

Oh the humanity! After spending an inordinate amount of time assembling this model of a F1 race car out of matchsticks, builder The Q burns it to the ground in seconds. It’s at once deliciously satisfying and totally wrong.

One of the cooler LEGO Technic kits out there is the Porsche 911 GT3 RS. It’s simply stunning. But that didn’t stop the guys from c’t Magazine from taking theirs and smashing it into a wall, with the help of the German automotive safety group ADAC and their crash test facility.

Model maker Adam Throgmorton shows off an incredible build – an intricate HO-scale replica of an old-school wooden rollercoaster that not only looks awesome, but is fully functional. Though the speed it zooms around at seems implausibly fast if it were to be scaled up.

Miniature model maker HMS2 shows us how even a complex real-world object like a see-through Perrier bottle can be put through the shrinker ray. The process requires painstaking detail work to create a teeny mold for casting clear resin bottles. Amazing.

SRS-RC shares footage of some amazing model trucks and construction equipment being driven and performing tasks during Modellbau Wels 2017, a festival which celebrates model vehicles and aircraft of all kinds. We’d love to see that Bucyrus crane being driven around in action.

Desktop sculptures you build from recycled chipboard. They come in a variety of familiar forms, from those water towers on top of buildings, to a mailbox, billboard, and our personal fave, the halfpipe. They’re paintable, and also come in awesome artist editions.

Fans of the classic sitcom will drool over this 1/26-scale model of Jerry Seinfeld’s apartment set. No detail has been spared from the art on the walls to the tiny Macintosh, thanks in part to Production Designer Tho. E. Azzari’s help with the plans. Measures 16.5″ W x 11.5″ D x 6.5″ H.

LEGO presents three new city construction sets in its Architecture Series. Builders can now create models of iconic structures from Chicago, Illinois, Sydney, Australia, and London, England, including the Willis (Sears) Tower, the Sydney Opera House, and the London Eye ferris wheel.