Building a Model Car: A Guide to Get You Started

Tips to Help Beginning Modelers Improve Their Skills at Building a Model Car

Nothing beats the satisfaction of a completed project. Knowing that you made something with your own two hands has a very comforting aspect to it and being able to display that something doesn't hurt either. Whether you are thinking about building your first model or your 31st it is always possible to keep updating your skills and learning new techniques to add detail and make building a model car both fun and satisfying. This is a guide for a beginner with tips on building a better model, adding small touches that improve the finished model and help you to avoid common mistakes.

Most important first step! Cover your work area. Use several layers of newspaper that can soak up spilled paint or glue. If need to cut something find an old board to cut on or do like I do and use a piece of plywood or hardwood particle board to protect your work table. Wives and mothers take offense to scratches in their furniture, so protect it!

1.) Read the instructions! As funny as this sounds many mistakes are made by assuming that part your holding can fit somewhere it will refuse to go, or by assuming that part can be installed now only for it to get in your way a few steps down the line.

2.) Snip the parts off of the spruce trees (the plastic parts trees) with a small pair of wire cutters. Twisting them off will leave deformities in the part and can even ruin smaller ones. Never remove parts from the spruce until you need them. They are all numbered and indexed in the instructions and some parts look a lot like another part with a different purpose. This is important especially if you are working on something you are not familiar with or a model with a huge number of parts. It can also help you avoid lost parts, which is never fun.

3.) Clean up each part of the model as you build and before you glue it. A small file works wonders for removing the flashing, the thin plastic that squeezes out between the molds, and mold lines where the molds close even if there is no flashing protruding. Mold lines show up as fine raised lines that should not be there, like on an oil pan or engine block and normally show up in the center of the piece.