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At what point during assembly do you paint?


jlk2

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When building models, at what point in the process do you paint?

 

When the parts are still on the trees, or after partial construction?

 

Do you prefer to prime and then assemble and fill gaps or prime first?

 

When do you do the final painting?

 

Thanx.

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When building models, at what point in the process do you paint?

 

When the parts are still on the trees, or after partial construction?

 

Do you prefer to prime and then assemble and fill gaps or prime first?

 

When do you do the final painting?

 

Thanx.

 

With armor I mostly build my major sub-assemblies (i.e. upper hull, lower hull & turret). I mount my smaller parts (pioneer tools, road wheels, headlight assembly, etc.) onto a piece of cardboard so I can do them all in one fell swoop.

 

I fill obvious gaps and such before painting then go back and fill any that are exposed by the primer.

 

Once I've got all my seams filled and everything is evenly primed then I'll go with a couple coats of my chosen base color.

 

The thing is, just about everyone here will have their own style and methodology. There's not right or wrong way to do it. Everyone has their way of doing it. Cherry pick whatever ideas you find here and formulate your own personal attack plan.

 

We can all learn from each other here.

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The answer JL is.....it depends!

 

You can paint parts while still on the trees (which make holding the part simpler) IF the little nub left where you cut the part from the tree won't show, or you're willing to touch that little area up. You also have to be careful about painting the gluing surfaces of a part on the tree (don't!), or be willing to scrape paint off of those surfaces if you do. Interior parts that will be hard to reach once in place are the best candidates for this.

 

You must consider whether the part to be painted will need sanding after it's attached in its final position. If it does, it stands to reason much of your painting will be sanded away (wasted time and effort), so its probably best to paint those items after an assembly is sanded and "finished".

 

Small parts that will be attached near the end of a model build (antennas, landing gear, guns, mirrors, tires, tracks, etc.) can be painted anytime during the project. In fact, those are great taskss to perform while waiting for glue, putty, or a layer of paint to dry. They can be assembled, painted, and set aside until you're ready for them.

 

Filling and priming should be done before any final color painting occurs. Filling gaps and seams is used to make multi-piece parts look like one part; or to make a gap look like a panel line instead of a seam. Primer coats help you check the quality of your filling/sanding work and can also serve as a even base color to apply your color coats over (as in priming a black plastic car body). You fill, sand, and prime as needed, when needed, as your project progresses.

 

Don't be afraid to study the instructions and use common sense to vary your building sequences AND painting sequences to fit your situation. Make notes on the instruction sheet as reminders to yourself. There is no one correct way to get the job done, and in fact, it'll vary slightly from project to project! Hope this helps!

 

GIL :smiley16:

Edited by ghodges
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Gil is right on with that approach I rarely leave parts on trees for I do a lot of test fitting along the way I want to see how things are fitting together. Also I try to clean up any seems or mold lines that can’t be done on the trees. Besides that you really need to fined what works best for you.

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Thanx to all those who replied. To get as many opinions as possible, I posted this question in several forums. Here's what I gleaned from all the answers:

 

Preferences as when to paint varied, but most agreed that it is best to look at the kit and decide if it can be assembled into subassemblies that can then be painted. The order of painting will depend upon access after construction, so, for example, cockpits should be painted before assembly. Some parts, like small ones, are best painted while on the sprue. As to when to prime, so preferred to do it while on the sprue, others did it after partial assembly and filling, others painted and then assembled and filled and primed again.

 

I think that my approach will be to look at the kit and construct subassemblies when possible, then fill and prime, and paint small parts on the sprue. Again, this will depend upon the kit.

 

JLK

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