When do you paint?

[strobez]

I have to confess, I'm all over when I paint parts and I'm never quite sure when is the best point in the build to paint anything.  I've seen some people paint on the sprue. I've never done that, but I'm always confused by having a part glued, filled and sanded in place before painting... or painting first and then trying to glue it in place.  One way or the other, i either wreck the paint job by using glue after, so I send up with gaps or missed spots by trying to paint a fully assembled are?

Just curious how everyone else does it, or if there's any "best practices" to determin the painting/glueing order.

[zenrat]

No firm rule.  Whatever works best with the kit i'm building.
I look at the instructions and the parts and try to grok which order i'll build it in (not always the order in the instructions) and then work accordingly.  I guess its down to experience a lot.
I prefer to build sub-assemblies that I can paint and detail before putting them all together but that's not always possible.
Cars are different to aircraft are different to armour are different to gundam.

[Dizzyfugu]

Concerning aircraft, I have, in recent times,become more of a build-first-paint-later modeler. A bit out of convenience, but also from the experience that pre-painted parts (e .g. landing gear legs) face fit and fixing issues. For instance, I pre-assemble cockpit tubs, mont then into a fuselage half, and paint them next. Or I mount landing gear covers and struts, just the wheels are painted separately and generally mounted as one of the final steps. I am not a detail fetishist anymore, though, I rather work for the overall impression than delicate detail that noone will ever see - it's for me not worth the effort (and explains my interstaller building speed at times  )

Similar rule also goes for military vehicles - I try to complete major groups like hull and a turret as far as possible, and paint them later. Wheels frequently separate, though.

Not certain about cars - I have built only a few at all.

Mecha are a different matter - it really depends on the kit. More recent kits (later than 2000, IMHO) have become very clever and convenient constructions - you can build them in separate modules which can be assembled as a final step for the complete model, they also come frequently with more clever and complex joint shapes which allow easy at/detachment of body parts. Early mecha kits are more complicated. They frequently come with simple vinyl caps and feature construction designs that work like a Matushka figure - you have to complete one step (say the lower arm) before you can add something else (upper arm, shoulder next, etc). While you can assemble them and paint later, the joints need some interim PSR and painting, IMHO, a tedious procedure beyond basically questionable part shapes and joint solitions.

[Gondor]

I follow a similar rout to zenrat mostly. I try to build sub assemblies before I paint and always try to leave unpainted where an item will be fixed to another and will often find myself cleaning up a point of contact so that glue will adhere to the two parts more cleanly. Care with the application of glue is also a consideration when pre painting parts as well.

Gondor

[RAFF-35]

I paint cockpit tub/inside fuselage and pilot first, then glue everything else together and then do overall painting. If it's armour, I just wait until it's fully assembled before painting

[NARSES2]

Similar to Strobez.

I mainly build aircraft. Cockpits and interiors are painted first. Some small parts are painted on the sprues along with wheels/tyres - or they are attached to some double sided sticky tape which is attached to a clothes peg. Most paintwork is done after major assembly finished.

I've yet to sort out a method for 1/72 armour and when I get around to the ship I want to build I'm not sure how I'll do it. Probably ask on site for advice 

[joncarrfarrelly]

The primarily armour builders that I know build the entire thing and then
paint it overall black before adding the colour coats.

[zenrat]

First aircraft flying machine I built after years of building only cars was a 1/35 Huey and took a lot of thinking and googling before I got my head around the best way to paint it.
Same with the 1/35 D9 Bulldozer.  By then i'd worked out how to approach aircraft but not armour.

[NARSES2]

The primarily armour builders that I know build the entire thing and then
paint it overall black before adding the colour coats.

Yup that's what I've gleaned from magazine reviews Jon, and it seems perfectly logical for armour so I think that's the way I'll go.

[Modelling_Mushi]

Whats paint ?









. . . Seriously, my airbrush thinks I'm having an affair with my paintbrush, the paintbrush thinks I'm having an affair with my textas, and the textas know I'm chained to the f*&*^%g desk at work ....

Paints, what paints?   

[steelpillow]

I figure each subassembly to put together first for easy painting - say a cockpit interior. Sometimes, the subassembly is just one part still on the sprue. And sometimes it includes a painted part, for example I might paint the prop first and maybe the inside surfaces of the spinner. Then on go the hub which is also the back of the spinner, and the spinner itself. Then I smooth the spinner join 'cos it never quite fits (knife as a scraper, filler, needle files) and paint the spinner assembly. Then I touch up the prop where it got caught by the file or blobbed with spinner paint. 

[scooter]

I'll usually paint when done, save the cockpit.  Although on anything smaller that 1/48, I tend to just black out the canopy.

[McColm]

Depends on the scale of the kit. For 1/48 pre paint before cutting.
Hand paint or rattle can.

[JoeP]

For ships it's a matter of looking at the assembly. You want to put parts together that share a color, but also paint the decks and bulkheads separately because you get a cleaner line than trying to do so after you've assembled.
In many cases, of course, the deck furniture is already attached, so unless you've all the time you need to remove the details, paint the deck, and then glue them back on (I know someone who does that!) the best is to paint the deck knowing some deck paint will get onto the details, then come back with a short, fine brush to paint the details.

Photoetch, if you use it, should be painted first in a couple light coats, not one heavy, preferably with an airbrush because using a bristle brush tends to fill gaps in with paint due to surface tension, like a bubble. You'll need to touch up after you've folded and glued it on, but you'll never paint your railings properly after they're in place.

[zenrat]

I just painted the float (trailer) of a 1/35 Tank Transporter.  I treated it like armour and assembled most of it before priming it and then airbrushing it with the basic colour.
What a PitA.  The open framework of the thing meant there were so many nooks and crannies into which it proved very hard to get paint without it building up on adjacent areas.
I shall treat the prime mover like I would a model car and paint sub assemblies as I go.  Its going to be different colours to the float anyway so I don't need to worry about shades not matching.


Next day - Having airbrushed the trailer yesterday, today I spent time sanding blue overspray off of the wardrobe door i'd painted which had been drying next to the model painting table.
D'oh!