Sprue

Sprue. The leftover branches of a plastic kit.

There are at least two approaches to building a kit:

Option 1 – Read the instructions and then carefully follow them step by step to produce a finished model.

Option 2 – After a cursory glance at the instructions, take the biggest part from the sprue or etch and try to work out what attaches to it. With a bit of luck this will be the second biggest part. Keep going like this until all the parts have been used. In theory, this means the model is finished.

Yes, I go for option 2. Even when I do read the instructions I still tend to reach a point where I spend my time looking at parts and trying to work out what they are instead of waiting for their staring moment to turn up in the paperwork. It's not such a bad method – the kitmakers don't always get it right, I'm working on a model where the roof trusses go in before the internal platforms, which them have to be threaded through all the stuff above them.

Mind you, I'm now the proud owner of a sprue from the Ratio Goods Shed which has two left over parts on it which I can't identify. This could keep me awake...