Editing Model aircraft (section)

===Materials===
[[File:Plastic-model-F18.jpg|thumb|Parts for a plastic model airplane still on their injection molding tree]]
[[File:Dornier Do.X papiermodell Schnoor Juli 2009 005.jpg|thumb|Paper model of [[Dornier X]] flying boat]]
The most common form of manufacture for kits is [[injection moulding|injection molded]] [[polystyrene]] plastic, formed in steel forms. Plastic pellets are heated into a liquid and forced into the mold under high pressure through trees that hold all the parts, and ensure plastic flows to every part of the mold. This allows a greater degree of automation than other manufacturing processes but molds require large production runs to cover the cost of making them. Today, this takes place mostly in Asia and Eastern Europe. Smaller runs are possible with copper molds, and some companies use resin or rubber molds, but while the cost is lower for the mold, the durability is also lower and labor costs can be much higher.

Resin kits are made in forms similar to those used for limited run plastic kits, but these molds are usually not as durable, which limits them to smaller production runs, and prices for the finished product are higher.

[[Vacuum forming]] is another common alternative but requires more skill, and details must be supplied by the modeller. There is a handful of [[photolithography|photo etched]] metal kits that allow a high level of detail and they are unable to replicate compound curves.

Scale models can also be made from [[paper model|paper]] or card stock. Commercial models are mainly printed by publishers in Germany or Eastern Europe but can be distributed through the internet, some of which are offered this way for free.

From World War I through the 1950s, static model airplanes were also built from light weight bamboo or balsa wood and covered with tissue paper in the same manner as with flying models. This was a time-consuming process that mirrored the actual construction of airplanes through the beginning of [[World War II]]. Many model makers would create models from drawings of the actual aircraft.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jitterbuzz.com/navion.html|title=Building a 1948 Model Airplane Kit|website=www.jitterbuzz.com}}</ref>

Ready-made desk-top models include those produced in fiberglass for travel agents and aircraft manufacturers, as well as collectors models made from die-cast metal, mahogany, resin and plastic.

[[Carbon fiber]]s and [[fiberglass]] have become increasingly common in model aircraft kits. In model helicopters, main frames and rotor blades are often made from carbon fiber, along with ribs and spars in fixed-wing aircraft wings.