A finished silver-white light aircraft model with red stripes, standing on a mirror

Pick a subject first

Open one to see where to start

AircraftThe most popular subject, with the widest choice of kits. 1/72 keeps a fighter to about 6 inches long. The catch is the clear canopy, which shows every glue smear.

Start here

Buy one single-engine fighter in 1/72 scale. Paint the cockpit before you close the two fuselage halves around it, because you cannot reach it afterward.

ArmorTanks and military vehicles, mostly in 1/35. One main color, lots of surface detail, and dirt and wear look right on them, so rough paintwork is easy to disguise.

Start here

Buy one 1/35 tank or armored car with one-piece or link-and-length tracks. Build the lower hull and wheels first and leave the tracks off until the wheels are painted.

CarsUsually 1/24. The parts fit is simple, but a glossy body shell is the hardest finish in the hobby to get clean.

Start here

Buy one 1/24 car with a low part count. Spray the body shell on its own, set it aside for a few days to harden, and build the chassis and interior in the meantime.

Ships1/700 waterline kits sit flat on the shelf as if afloat. Part counts are low, but the parts are tiny.

Start here

Buy one 1/700 waterline destroyer or cruiser. Paint the deck and the hull sides before you add the small fittings, since a brush cannot get behind them later.

Open a subject to see its first step. Each one adds its own model kit to the bench, and you can switch it back out from the kit.

How to choose a first kit

Check the mold date, not the box date

Manufacturers reissue 50-year-old molds in new boxes. A kit tooled after about 2005 has parts that fit; an old one can need hours of filling and sanding. Kit databases list the original tooling year.

Stay under about 100 parts

The count is usually printed on the box side or in the listing.

Read the scale as a size

Divide the real length by the second number. A 30-foot fighter is 5 inches long in 1/72 and 7.5 inches in 1/48.

Ignore the skill level number

Each brand grades its own kits and the scales do not match each other.

Skip kits with photo-etched metal or resin parts

They need different glue and tools.

Snap-together kits are a fair start

They build the same cutting and painting habits and need no cement.

Look a kit up before you buy

Scalemates Free kit database. Shows the year a kit's molds were made, its instructions and reviews

Your first build, step by step

Tick these off as you go

A gray plastic frame of kit parts on a black table beside tweezers, small clamps and paint bottles — Parts still on the frame

What you can build in your first month

A 1/72 single-engine fighter

About 50 parts, one or two main colors and a small decal sheet. The classic first kit.

A 1/35 light tank or armored car

Flat panels are forgiving to brush paint, and a single overall color hides a lot.

A 1/24 sports car built stock

Fewer than 100 parts if you pick a kit with no engine detail.

A 1/700 waterline destroyer

Small enough to finish in a few evenings, and good practice with tweezers.

Four skills that carry every build

Clean part removal

Make two cuts, not one. The first is a rough cut on the frame and the second trims the nub at the part. Cutting flush in one pass tears a divot out of the plastic.

Dry fitting

Test every joint without glue. If it gaps dry, it will gap glued, and it is easier to sand a tab now than to fill a seam later.

Using less cement

Thin cement melts the plastic surfaces together. A loaded brush floods over the joint and leaves a fingerprint where you were holding the part.

Thin paint

Model acrylics straight from the pot leave brush marks. Thinned to the consistency of milk they level out, and the second coat covers what the first did not.

What trips beginners up

Expect visible seams and a few glue marks on the first kit. Most people are happy with their third or fourth.
Paint needs hours between coats and cement needs a night, so a model that looks like a weekend job takes several short sessions.
Starting with a large, expensive kit of a favorite subject. Learn on something you will not mind getting wrong.
Painting over bare plastic without washing or priming, then watching the paint bead up or peel off with the masking tape.
Gluing a clear canopy with plastic cement, which fogs it. Use a drop of white school glue there.
Handling a model before the paint has cured. Fingerprints set into soft paint and do not sand out cleanly.

Two hands painting a small gray cockpit part with a fine brush — Small parts, thin coats

Blades, fumes and dust

Cut away from your fingers and change the knife blade as soon as it drags. A dull blade needs more force and slips further.
Liquid cement is a solvent. Keep the cap on between joints and work with a window open or a small fan moving air across the desk.
Use spray primer outdoors or in an open garage, never at the desk. The can is flammable and the overspray travels.
Wet your sanding sticks before use. It keeps plastic dust out of the air and makes the abrasive last longer.
Cap the knife and keep cement and small parts out of reach of young children and pets.

A finished camouflaged tank model on a workbench, surrounded by paint bottles, brushes and tools

Space and setup

A desk, a lamp and a tray

A desk or a cleared end of a table about 2 feet by 3 feet is enough. You need a lamp you can aim, a jar of water for brushes, an old saucer or jar lid as a paint palette, and paper towels. A build runs over several days, so it helps to have a shoebox lid or a tray to carry the work off the table between sessions. Decide where finished models will live before the third one: an open shelf collects dust quickly, and a closed cabinet or a clear box saves cleaning them.

Where to learn

Build logs

Search a modeling forum for your exact kit before you start. Someone has usually photographed every step and flagged the parts that fit badly.

A local club

Society chapters meet monthly, and members bring work in progress. Ten minutes watching someone thin paint teaches more than an hour of reading.

Model shows

Chapters run public contests where you can look closely at hundreds of finished models and buy kits secondhand from vendor tables.

Video build series

A full build of one kit, start to finish, shows the order of work that instruction sheets leave out.

Clubs, forums and free how-tos

Why the kit looks like this

The tools cost more than the first model, and you buy them once. Sprue cutters, a knife, cement, sanding sticks, a set of acrylic paints and a few brushes will build dozens of kits. Spend the extra on the cutters if anywhere: a sharp pair saves cleanup on every single part. The model itself depends on your subject, so pick one of the four subjects in the kit below and its model is added. The optional lines each fix one problem you will meet within the first few builds, and none is needed for kit number one. An airbrush is not on the list. Brushes and a spray can of primer are enough to learn on, and it makes more sense to buy one after you know you like the hobby.

An unpainted white model car body and loose parts on a wooden table, with cement, paint pots and a green cutting mat behind — A car kit under way, with cement, paint and a cutting mat

Fill the model bench

The tools, cement, paint and brushes start on the bench. The model itself joins once you pick a subject, above or from the add-ons in the kit, and the last three lines stay off until you want them. Compare the options, then set your tiers and check out from the kit. Clicking a card selects it there.

Sprue cutters (plastic model nippers)

essential · Cutting tools

Every part has to be cut off its frame. Flat-backed cutters made for plastic leave a small clean nub where wire cutters or twisting would tear the part.

budget

4.7-inch Model Nipper, with Ultra-thin Single-edge and Blade Case Plastic Model Tools for Gundam Repairing Plastic Model and Fixing，Blue

4.6(950)

$12.90

Scale Modeling

Pick a subject first

How to choose a first kit

Your first build, step by step

Four skills that carry every build

What trips beginners up

Blades, fumes and dust

Space and setup

Where to learn

Why the kit looks like this

Fill the model bench

Sprue cutters (plastic model nippers)

Hobby knife with spare blades

Thin liquid plastic cement

Sanding sticks and sponges for models

Acrylic model paint set

Fine detail paint brush set

Self-healing cutting mat

Precision tweezers

Spray primer for plastic models

1/72 scale aircraft model kit

1/35 scale tank model kit

1/24 scale car model kit

1/700 scale waterline ship model kit

Masking tape for models

Model putty

Decal setting solution