Top 5 Mistakes Students Make in Model Fabrication — And How to Avoid Them

Every semester, I see it happen: students spend weeks refining drawings, then pull an all-nighter to cobble together a final model. The result is often rushed, fragile, or unclear. It’s not because students don’t care — it’s because model fabrication is its own design discipline, with its own pitfalls.

Here are the five most common mistakes I see in student model-making — and how to avoid them.

1. Underestimating Time

The mistake: Thinking a final model can be pulled together in a single night. Cutting, gluing, sanding, or printing always takes longer than you think — and mistakes multiply under pressure.

The fix: Start fabrication earlier. Even two or three extra days create room for test cuts, failed prints, or re-assembly. Treat your first model as a prototype, not the finished piece. Fabrication is iterative — build time for that.

2. Choosing the Wrong Material

The mistake: Using thin chipboard for something that needs structural strength, or brittle acrylic for parts that will be handled and moved. The model collapses, warps, or cracks right when you need it most.

The fix: Match the material to the job.

• Chipboard = quick studies and disposable mockups

• Birch plywood = stable bases, clean edges for presentation models

• PLA/PETG = durable, repeatable 3D prints

• SLA resin = façade details or intricate parts

• Solid wood = weight, permanence, craftsmanship

Each material carries a different message — use that to your advantage.

3. Designing Beyond Scale

The mistake: Drawing details in Rhino or Revit that simply won’t survive fabrication at model scale. Mullions thinner than a credit card, walls that snap when handled, joints too tight to fit.

The fix: Design with fabrication limits in mind.

• Router bit diameter sets the minimum corner radius in CNC.

• FDM prints need walls at least 1.2 mm thick.

• Resin prints capture fine detail, but parts may need thickening to avoid brittleness.

• At small scales, exaggerating or simplifying detail often communicates better than literal translation.

4. Skipping File Prep

The mistake: Sending messy files directly to the CNC, laser cutter, or printer. Duplicate curves, open polylines, or 3D geometry when the machine only understands flat 2D paths.

The fix: Always clean your files:

• Join curves into closed loops

• Delete duplicates (SelDup in Rhino is your best friend)

• Project everything to the construction plane (Z=0)

• Label layers clearly: cut, pocket, engrave

Machines only cut what they’re told — a sloppy file guarantees sloppy output.

5. Forgetting the Finish

The mistake: Even a perfectly cut model can look amateur if it’s left raw — burn marks on laser-cut edges, fuzzy CNC cuts, glue blobs on chipboard.

The fix: Leave time to finish.

• Sand and seal wood with oil or poly

• Spray a light coat of primer on 3D prints

• Clean glue joints with a damp clot

Finishing doesn’t have to be elaborate — even 30 minutes elevates a model from “student work” to professional artifact.

Bonus Lesson: Scale Magnifies Mistakes

In small study models, you can sometimes “get away” with being out of square. A wall leaning a millimeter, a joint not quite flush — at 1/16" scale, no one notices.

But when I built a 6' × 5' x 3' model of a two story I designed in Las Vegas, at 3/4" = 1'-0" scale in balsa, I learned the hard way that scale changes everything. At that size, every cut, every joint, every glue line, nail, miter cut was magnified. A single crooked piece of basswood threw the whole assembly off, and you could see it immediately.

The lesson was clear: the larger the model, the tighter the tolerances. Big models demand careful measuring, jigs, squares, and patience, because small errors ripple into big distortions. That project taught me precision is not optional — it’s the foundation of communication.

The Takeaway

Model-making is more than an afterthought — it’s a discipline in itself. Every material, every joint, every finish communicates something about your design. Avoiding these common mistakes doesn’t just save you from stress; it makes your ideas clearer, stronger, and more convincing.

At BDR DSG LAB, we see fabrication as a collaboration. Whether it’s cutting a plywood base, printing façade panels, or troubleshooting a last-minute file before critique, our goal is to help students and architects turn design into models that actually tell the story.

👉 Got a deadline coming up? We can help you choose the right medium — CNC, laser, or 3D printing — and make sure your model communicates with precision and clarity.