Paper model

Due to the nature of the paper medium, the model may be sealed with varnish or filled with spray foam to last longer.

Some enthusiasts also use papercrafts or perdurable to do life-sized props starting by making the craft, covering it with resin and painting them.

Some also use photo paper and laminate them by heat, thus preventing the printed side from color wearing out, beyond the improved realistic effect on certain kinds of models (ships, cars, buses, trains, etc.).

The popularity of card modeling boomed during World War II when the paper was one of the few items whose use and production was not heavily regulated.

Commercial corporations have recently begun using downloadable paper models for their marketing (examples are Yamaha and Canon).

The availability of numerous models on the Internet at little or no cost, which can then be downloaded and printed on inexpensive inkjet printers has caused its popularity again to increase worldwide.

Inexpensive kits are available from dedicated publishers (mostly based in Eastern Europe; examples include Halinski, JSC Models, and Maly Modelarz), a portion of the catalog of which date back to 1950.

Experienced hobbyists often scratchbuild models, either by first hand drawing or using software such as Adobe Illustrator and Inkscape.

Vehicles of all forms, from cars and cargo trucks to space shuttles, are a frequent subject of paper models, some using photo-realistic textures from their real-life counterparts for extremely fine details.