Basic tools and techniques

I usually start my instructions with the basic tools you need to build a papercraft model. And that's really not a whole lot!

All you really need, are the parts, a sharp knife and glue, and if you don't want to ruin your desktop, a rubber cutting mat.

Besides these basic tools, you can really use anything you happen to have handy: I often use a toothpick for those hard to reach places (or to pre-shape small fingers ;o)

Because toothpicks are quite small though, I also sometimes use a thin metal rod, which is a bit longer (and stronger... ;o)

I always print the parts on 200 gsm paper, which is about 2.5 times as thick as regular paper. Other people use 160 gsm, or 120 gsm paper though, or just plain printer paper. And some people even use different thicknesses for different parts on the same model!

The knife I use is an X-Acto knife with a #11 blade, but really any (hobby)knife will do, as long as it's very sharp! ;o)

The glue I use is called "Tesa hobbyglue", but they don't seem to sell it in a lot of other countries. But they're bound to sell other hobbyglues suited for papercraft!

Like I said, these are just the tools that work for me and you will figure out your own preferences soon enough after building a few models. Yamaha has some very nice video tutorials explaining several basic papercraft techniques, so be sure to check it out!

Have fun building!