Assembling plastic miniatures can be a fun and rewarding part of the hobby but before you can begin producing miniature masterpieces, let’s look at a selection of some of the basic tools you will require.
TANKS Model Preparation Hobby Knife 
For trimming parts and cleaning casting imperfections before assembly. Using a new, sharp blade is actually safer, because you will not need to apply as much force and you are less likely to slip and cut yourself. In any case, remember to always cut away from yourself.
 TANKS Model Preparation
TANKS Model Preparation
Clippers 
For removing parts from sprues and trimming larger pieces of unwanted material. The flat bottom of the blades lets you get right up close to the model. With plastic parts, though, it is advisable to clip slightly away from the model and trim the excess with the hobby knife, to avoid leaving a scar or mark on the surface.
 TANKS Model Preparation
TANKS Model Preparation
Files
Also very useful for cleaning parts and making sure everything fits well. They are more effective than a hobby knife at ensuring a smooth, flat surface along straight edges, especially with hard resin parts.
 TANKS Model Preperation
 
Assembling your Tanks
TANKS Model Preperation TANKS Model Preperation TANKS Model Preperation
Remove parts from the frame using a pair of plastic cutters. Place the flat edge of the cutters against the part you want to remove and snip. To avoid damaging parts, it pays to leave a bit of extra sprue on the piece and clean it up later with a knife.
 Trim the part using a hobby knife to carefully shave the feed point off the components. Mould Lines can be easily cleaned off by scraping with a sharp knife gently along the surface. On larger pieces like gun barrels, using a file will help to give a smoother finish.
TANKS Model Preperation TANKS Model Preperation TANKS Model Preperation
Tip - Clip the frame: For small components like AA machine-guns, it pays to cut the frame into pieces first; sometimes clipping the part straight from the frame creates enough stress to damage the part you are clipping out. Dry fit! One of the most important things to do is test-fit the pieces before applying any glue. This will ensure that you spot any fitting issues that may ruin your finish, like in the example above where some feeds haven’t been trimmed properly and are preventing a clean join. Glue: Once you are happy with the fit, apply the appropriate glue sparingly to the parts and press together. Polystyrene cement is the best choice for joining hard plastic pieces, as it will melt the plastic slightly and weld the parts together.
You can find detailed instructions on how you can assemble your Tanks in the Depot.