# The only artwork that assumes you'll build it

> A model kit instruction sheet isn't illustration — it's a document that expects work from the reader. Printing one is a claim about the kind of person wearing it.

August 17, 2026 · https://justog.club/stories/mecha-instruction-manual-style

Every other design in this section is something to look at. An instruction sheet is something to
*follow* — the one graphic form that assumes the reader is going to do something afterwards.

Printing one on a shirt is therefore a slightly different statement from printing a picture of a
robot.

## What is it actually saying?

That the wearer is on the building side rather than the watching side.

A rendered mech says *I like this genre*. An assembly diagram says *I have clipped parts off a
sprue at eleven at night and lost the D3 piece under the desk*. It's a much narrower signal and it
lands hard with the people it's for.

That's the same in-group mechanic as
[a shirt with a phrase only one community reads](/stories/swag-for-your-community), in
diagram form.

## What are the conventions?

Six, and they're all functional rather than decorative.

- **Exploded views** — parts floating apart along the axis they'd be pushed together on.
- **Part codes** — `A12`, `D3`, `C7` — in small type beside each piece.
- **Assembly arrows**, usually curved, showing the direction of fit.
- **A sprue frame** somewhere, with numbered parts still attached.
- **A step number** in a corner: `STEP 04`.
- **Flat line only** — no shading, no perspective flourish, no light source.

Nothing there is trying to look good, which is exactly why it does.

## Why does the step number matter?

Because it implies steps one to three, and steps five onwards.

A single numbered step is a fragment of a much longer document, and fragments imply the whole
thing. It's the cheapest worldbuilding device available — one small piece of numbering does what a
paragraph of description can't.

Same trick as
[a figure number on a technical plate](/stories/fathers-day-custom-shirt) and
[a designation on a uniform](/stories/cyber-idol-aesthetic): imply the system, don't draw
it.

## Can I use a real kit's manual?

No — the manuals are the manufacturer's work and the machines in them are protected designs.

The conventions are common property: exploded views, part codes and assembly arrows are technical
drawing standards used across every industry, not the invention of any model company.

An invented kit is also more interesting to look at, because you can build the diagram for
something that has never been a kit — a coffee machine, a bicycle, an animal.

## What should the subject be?

A machine, or something absurd treated as one.

The straight version is a mech limb, which is what the tradition is for. The funnier version is a
diagram for assembling something that doesn't come in parts: a cat, a sandwich, a relationship.
The deadpan format does the comedy, so the drawing must stay completely serious —
[the same rule as a hazard label](/stories/halloween-costume-shirt).

For a mech specifically, the parts should look like they'd fit: sockets, pins, pegs.
[Real robot design is built on that plausibility](/stories/90s-mecha-poster-art).

## Does it print well?

Very. It's flat line at a size that suits fabric.

Pure line, one or two inks, no gradients, and the whole thing is composed of separated elements
with white space between them — which means nothing merges at distance. The one thing to watch is
the small type: part codes at real scale can drop below what the weave holds, so they want to be
larger than they'd be on paper.

Print it big. This is a design that fills the chest.

## How do I get one made?

Describe the thing being assembled at [JustOG](/) — real or absurd — and which step it is. Pick a
direction, drag the crop frame, see it composited on the real garment, and it's made to order and
shipped.

Designs other people have published are in the [shop](/shop).

It's not a picture of a robot. It's the page you lost.