Model Making Guides

General Techniques

Shaping Styrofoam

This guide, adapted from David Neat’s model-making methods, explains practical techniques for shaping styrofoam into smooth, accurate or concave forms. It covers marking and cutting strategies, making custom sanding formers for controlled curves, and using knives, saws, rasps and wire brushes to refine detail or add texture. The document demonstrates how to build composite forms from layered foam, achieve precise edges using template “stops,” and create rock or carved effects. Guidance on suitable adhesives, bonding methods and surface preparation for mouldmaking—such as sealing with coloured Vaseline—is also included. The techniques provide a reliable workflow for producing clean, repeatable geometric shapes as well as more organic sculpted surfaces.

General Techniques

Soft Soldering

This guide introduces the essentials of soft soldering for modelmakers, covering suitable metals, recommended solders, fluxes and soldering irons. It explains how to prepare joint surfaces, tin the iron, and apply solder correctly for clean, reliable bonds. Practical steps outline how to pre-tin both parts, assemble the joint, and reheat to fuse the solder layers, with guidance on working along longer seams and cleaning off corrosive flux residues. The guide helps beginners achieve strong, neat soldered joints on materials such as brass, copper, steel, tinplate and nickel silver.

Architectural Techniques

Styrene Modelling

This guide introduces the essentials of working with styrene sheet and profiles for fast, clean modelmaking. It explains the material’s key advantages—easy scoring, snapping, shaping and bonding—alongside the simple toolset required. Using liquid solvent adhesives such as Plastic Weld, joints are fused by capillary action to create strong, seamless bonds that can be reworked or separated if needed. The guide outlines basic cutting and assembly techniques, available colours and thicknesses, and the range of complementary styrene sections, helping beginners use this versatile modelling plastic with speed and confidence.

Architectural Techniques

Working with Oiled Manilla

This guide explains how to use oiled manilla—an oiled, durable, fine-cut card ideal for small-scale modelling—to create detailed furniture, architectural elements and textured surfaces. It covers selecting thicknesses, preparing templates, fixing artwork, and cutting intricate shapes cleanly using scalpels and metal rules. Techniques such as scoring, bending, layering, sanding for woodgrain, and shaping louvred slats are demonstrated, alongside advice on staining, painting, and assembling pieces with superglue. With its strength, sharp edges and wood-like finish, oiled manilla is shown to be a versatile material for refined 1:25 model components.

General Techniques

Working with PVC Foamed Palight

This guide introduces the versatility of foamed PVC (Palight) for modelmaking, highlighting its ease of cutting, carving, bending and sanding, as well as its strength, stability and light weight. It explains how to apply printed templates, build precise forms by layering and laminating pieces, and glue components effectively using superglue. Examples demonstrate construction techniques for intricate details, curved architectural forms and surface texturing, including methods for simulating wood grain through sanding and embossing. With its forgiving surface, clean cutting behaviour and compatibility with paint after priming or sanding, foamed PVC is shown to be a highly adaptable material for both structural and decorative model work.