BASIC   SKILLS
CUTTING | FOLDING | DRY-FITTING | GLUING

CUTTING

Major pieces can be cut out from the printed sheet using scissors (or a paper cutter if you own one), but experienced paper modelers use a metal edge and a knife even for this. You want to be precise with your cuts, so cutting away from the sheet with a knife is the way to go. Scissors are less acurate and require more care not to over cut a line or allow the paper or card stock to warp, twist, and tear during cutting. It is ok to be generous about what you leave attached to your cut-out pieces. You can always trim more off your piece...much more easily than trying to make a band-aid!

Minor features and medium detail of outlines (like glue tabs, or battlements of an outer wall) can often be started with scissors... if you are careful! I usually do all that sort of finer cutting with a knife, since it is the best way to finish most details anyway. You see, it is much easier - and more precise - to cut cut from an exact point with a knife than it is to that same point with scissors. Also with scissors, there is a tendency to over cut - to cut beyond where it is needed - which leaves weak places for tears to develop.

Small features and mid-piece cut outs should definitely be done with a knife. Folding your pieces to get into the middle of an area can destroy the stability of a wall or even start a king-sized tear through an archway!

TIP:
Don't throw away any scraps until your castle is complete. You never know when you will want or need even the smallest scrap to patch or reinforce an area or element of your paper castle. The cut out from a window or door can be colored on the blank side and used as an enhancement (open shutters for a window, glued onto the wall on either side of the window cut out) or to create new features, like a closed door in the middle of a wall!