As electronic components get smaller, look to see more and more hobbyist kits utilizing surface mount technology (SMT) components, which attach to the surface of the PCB rather than having their leads running through holes on the board. The tininess of the components and the perceived difficulty in placing them accurately turn off many people. Hopefully, this 18-page instructional comic by Greg Peek and Dave Roberts will change their minds!

So, if reading the comic gets you amped to try it out, pick up a SMT kit and give it a try! If you can’t find anything you like, Wayne and Layne are offering two SMT variants of existing products: the Blinky Grid matrix and their Blinky POV persistence-of-vision toy are both available in SMT now (and will soon be available in the Maker Shed.)

Readers, if you know of any other cool SMT kits, leave a link in comments!