Instructions are a critical part of model building. They are how we get started, and for many kits are the only way to figure out how all the parts go together. But we shouldn’t use instructions to the exclusion of everything else. The instructions don’t know about the specific qualities of the plastic you’re using or the peculiarities of how you build. By only working from instructions we miss out on learning how to evaluate situations and make decisions. Once we learn to see instructions as suggestions rather than the way things are done we begin to really make progress.
Once we gain some experience with assembly we begin to see commonalities from one kit to another. We see joints and construction similar to other things we’ve built. We see places where the instructions always seem to have problems and places where we do. And we begin to compensate for those problems before they occur. Instructions teach us how to assemble models but repeated assembly teaches us how to build models. This gain in experience also affects how we approach problems.
When we encounter something we didn’t expect we don’t immediately run off to look for help. Instead we figure out what the problem is and how to fix it and then do it. We are learning to operate independently. With each problem we overcome in this way we gain trust in our ability to solve problems. We learn to trust ourselves. We start to understand how to do things.
Once we’ve gained some experience we also begin to learn when to diverge from the instructions and when not to. Sometimes we need to tweak things a bit to make a part fit better or to make the model stronger. Sometimes we need to do things precisely as instructed or we’ll ruin the model. This is one of the trickiest skills to learn because there is no way to explain it. It is a matter of feel and experience. It is one of the hallmarks of someone who is an expert model builder.
We believe that this movement from instructions to judgment is the key factor in improving. Once we have enough experience to start to trust ourselves and make independent decisions we start to take control of our models and truly build them instead of just assembling them.