Assembling a model was never really something I thought about as a kid. It was in many ways a speed bump on the road to the really fun part – painting the model.
I recall many a kit where the assembly was done as fast as I possibly could. There wasn’t much attention paid to nub cleanup, or dealing with fit issues. Get it together as quick as possible, with as much glue as was needed to get it to submit.
Of course, many of those early models looked quite horrible. Glue marks all over, giants gaps, fingerprints everywhere. Still, as a kid who loved models, I wasn’t too worried about it.
As I hit my pre-and early teens, I began to pay a bit more attention to those things. I found out about the wonders of a hobby knife. The connection between improved fit and nub cleanup became important. Sand paper and some putty were used to help minimize the seamlines.
When later in life I reentered the hobby, I can’t say that the assembly portion of the model was seen as anything less than the stuff to be done before the real fun started. But I saw the benefit of taking the time to prepare everything carefully. Paying attention to the craft of assembly became an integral part of the build.
Assembling A Model
While Fantasy Flight/Atomic Mass Star Wars Legions kits generally fit well, they do suffer from a lack of clarity in the instructions. So planning and test fitting are extremely important. It will all go together well, but we need to figure out what goes where. And quite often factor in a critical but oft overlooked additional factor – when.
That’s what this video goes through in detail. While the instructions give us some general guidance in assembly, they’re not quite clear on where all the parts go precisely. In a few cases, parts are left out entirely. And most importantly, there are a few critical “gotchas” that can lead to some real problems if you’re not paying attention to when some parts should be placed.
But beyond this kit, I hope it demonstrates a methodology that can be applied to any kit. Getting the “canvas” right will make the fun stuff – painting and weathering – that much more fun!
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