Small Guide to Plastic Models

I am going to do a quick guide on how to build plastic model kits in the Instructable. Building models is a small hobby I have had for a while. I will go over materials you might need while building and general steps you should take.

Required

• Any sort of plastic nippers or cutters.

Optional

• Sanding materials: Sanding paper or sticks of various grits or a glass file.
• Tweezers for decals or small parts.
• X-Acto Knife
• Paint

I have put my supplies in the picture above as an example.

Find the parts from the runner and cut them out. To find the part look for the runner # and part # on the runner.

Cut down the plastic nubs until they are barely above the parts surface. This is to prevent the plastic from marking up with stress marks.

At this stage, use what you have. You can just cut the nub off completely using your plastic cutters, sand down the nub, or cut it off with a knife. I used a glass file for this part. When using sanding materials be careful to not over sand any of your parts.

The parts in the model kits I make don't need glue and snap together, but some kits do need glue. Pay attention to the instructions on the part's orientation.

Follow the instructions for your model to completion.

After you finish your model you have a few choices.

You can:

1: Leave it as is. There is nothing wrong with just building a model and leaving on your shelf.

2: Paint it and add decals. You can paint little things like panel lines and adding a top coat, or customize it with your own paint job. You can also add decals to your models to spice up their looks. Examples of panel lining and decals are above.

Whatever you do with it, you have so much freedom to do what you will with your model.