pluto455
I have another question: how long should I spend studying the general instructions for a model? Is it a whole day or are two hours enough? Thanks.

Martin Oostrom
Depends on the complexity of the kit and your experience. A novice with a 1/200 Uss Missouri with a Pontos set might need a few weeks. A more accomplished builder with a basic Tamiya kit will be done after a few minutes.
As a general rule: study it until you feel confident enough to build the next few steps.

Jakko ‌
Until you think you understand them. You're not studying for an important test, though — look over the instructions and try to understand what they're telling you, and you probably won't go wrong. Though that said, it depends a lot on the manufacturer: Tamiya's are much easier to comprehend (and not miss anything on) than, for example, Dragon's.

Also, experience helps a lot, as usual. As you gain more of it, you won't need to look at instructions as closely or as long as you did when you were just starting out. Though even the most experienced modellers sometimes still get caught out by something they didn't notice 🙂

W32.Deadcode.A Author
From my experience, Tamiya kits offer a good balance between complexity (number of parts resulting in a detailed model) and difficulty. I would recommend seeing the whole instruction guide beforehand and then focusing on particular steps, just like Martin said in the comments above.

It really depends on the kind of model you want to make. My first tank model was Tamiya's Chi-Ha, which offered a really nice building experience.

pluto455
Thank Guys Grazie ragazzi

Casey Beckett
Hello pluto!
Spend as little or as much time as you like - read up on other modelers builds, what they found problem areas, things they overlooked or maybe a better order of assembly others have found - I view a kits instructions as a guide, not the only way to put a kit together.
A lot has to do with planning your painting I have found

Jakko ‌
> I view a kits instructions as a guide, not the only way to put a kit together.

I do much the same. The instructions to me are to show which parts go where, not a guide to the best order of assembly (unless they specifically say "do things in this order", in which case it's probably best to follow that advice 🙂).

Martin Oostrom
Very nice build BTW , W32
Sorry for the highjack

W32.Deadcode.A Author
No worries, Martin; that was a nice moment we just shared together 😄

grappa_0_0_0
What is holding those petrol cans in place?

W32.Deadcode.A Author
A few drops of Tamiya extra thin of course.

Jakko ‌
Those petrol cans are being held in place by good, old, Verlinden magic.

Jan Peters
Didn't you know? Italy used magnetic jerrycans in WW2 😉
Only joking, nice work 👍🏻

Casey Beckett
Verlinden magic....🤣

Francois is the best

pluto455
I and other Italian modelers have been discussing Dragon's terrible instructions. I said this: Dragon's instructions were printed by someone under the influence of very strong narcotics and severe alcohol intoxication. Hahaha. We were kidding!