Paint or assemble first
- Thread starter Ratcals
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Dragon Forge Design
New member
I assemble as much as I can befor I paint unless its something that will get in the way or might get broken off in handeling.
If its a seperate piece, I will pre pin the pieces so they can be assembled later. Ill leave that pin long and use something like a pin vise to hold the part while Im painting it. When I do that final assembly, ill make sure Ive scrapped of the paint as best as I can where the parts contact, glue it on and do final touch up.
If its a seperate piece, I will pre pin the pieces so they can be assembled later. Ill leave that pin long and use something like a pin vise to hold the part while Im painting it. When I do that final assembly, ill make sure Ive scrapped of the paint as best as I can where the parts contact, glue it on and do final touch up.
Valander
Member
Really, it depends. 
Generally, though, I prefer (like most around here, I think) to assemble as much as possible prior to priming and painting. There are a lot of reasons for this.
Still, though, some models (like a Cryx Slayer or Reaper--I speak from personal experience here) are just about impossible to paint if completely assembled. So, when this is the case, I\'ll generally do as much fitting and prep work as possible, so that when it does come time to put the pieces together, you have the least obvious joins.
One thing I did with my Slayer was to fill the armholes with putty, and press the pinned arms in there to give me a good fit. I then removed the arms, and painted. After everything was sealed, I scraped the areas that were going to be joined so that they were bare metal/putty, and glued them together.
If you do assemble after painting, it\'s very, very important to sand/file/scrape off any paint where you will be applying glue. If you glue over the paint, you\'ll wind up with a weak bond, and thus it will be more likely to suffer undesired \'battle-damage\'.
Generally, though, I prefer (like most around here, I think) to assemble as much as possible prior to priming and painting. There are a lot of reasons for this.
Still, though, some models (like a Cryx Slayer or Reaper--I speak from personal experience here) are just about impossible to paint if completely assembled. So, when this is the case, I\'ll generally do as much fitting and prep work as possible, so that when it does come time to put the pieces together, you have the least obvious joins.
One thing I did with my Slayer was to fill the armholes with putty, and press the pinned arms in there to give me a good fit. I then removed the arms, and painted. After everything was sealed, I scraped the areas that were going to be joined so that they were bare metal/putty, and glued them together.
If you do assemble after painting, it\'s very, very important to sand/file/scrape off any paint where you will be applying glue. If you glue over the paint, you\'ll wind up with a weak bond, and thus it will be more likely to suffer undesired \'battle-damage\'.
EArkham
Necromancer
A world of depends!
Not the diaper. The conditional.
There\'s a marine on my workdesk now which is in three parts -- base, marine, and backpack. The latter two pieces are on cork by wire. Normally I just leave off the backpack. If it\'s a very dark marine, I may not even do that.
I have a couple of horsemen in a separated state -- base, horse, and rider. If the horsemen were going to be on the ground rather than leaping over it, though, I\'d probably have at least attached the horses to the bases.
The bone giant I did for GD last year was in several pieces until after it was clear coated -- head, body, each of the arms, and legs/base/pelvis.
The general rule of thumb, which I sometimes break, is that the smaller the figure is, the more assembled it will be before painting. The larger it is, the more likely assembly will happen after painting.
Kep
Not the diaper. The conditional.
There\'s a marine on my workdesk now which is in three parts -- base, marine, and backpack. The latter two pieces are on cork by wire. Normally I just leave off the backpack. If it\'s a very dark marine, I may not even do that.
I have a couple of horsemen in a separated state -- base, horse, and rider. If the horsemen were going to be on the ground rather than leaping over it, though, I\'d probably have at least attached the horses to the bases.
The bone giant I did for GD last year was in several pieces until after it was clear coated -- head, body, each of the arms, and legs/base/pelvis.
The general rule of thumb, which I sometimes break, is that the smaller the figure is, the more assembled it will be before painting. The larger it is, the more likely assembly will happen after painting.
Kep
It depends.
Idealy it would be assemble everything first. HOWEVER some models require to be assembled after painting. It just depends on you and the model your painting.
Like most things it requires experimentation and finding it out for yourself just not by yourselft with guidance of others.
Idealy it would be assemble everything first. HOWEVER some models require to be assembled after painting. It just depends on you and the model your painting.
Like most things it requires experimentation and finding it out for yourself just not by yourselft with guidance of others.
The one I\'m painting now, definately PROBABLY should have been painted first then assembled, but I was too eager to see it all assembled that I just put it together and have been dealing with the headaches of the dynamic of the darn thing since.
It\'s a case where it\'s not so much you can\'t get the brush to something once assembled, but it does make it a lot harder, and definately trickier to do nice blending
It\'s a case where it\'s not so much you can\'t get the brush to something once assembled, but it does make it a lot harder, and definately trickier to do nice blending
Are you painting the same thing I\'m painting? :] And you put everything together before painting?Originally posted by EricJ
The one I\'m painting now, definately PROBABLY should have been painted first then assembled, but I was too eager to see it all assembled that I just put it together and have been dealing with the headaches of the dynamic of the darn thing since.
It\'s a case where it\'s not so much you can\'t get the brush to something once assembled, but it does make it a lot harder, and definately trickier to do nice blending
Stuntylover
New member
In painting 28mm figures I assemble before painting and rely on the black undercoat to \"save my bacon\" in the dark recesses EXCEPT - I leave off shields until the body is finished and I paint horses and riders seperately. I remove paint from the point of contact before finishing the assembly. Occasionally, as with cannon, I undercoat sub-assemblies before attaching but then rely on black in the areas where I cannot paint what you cannot see.
Originally posted by Ritual
Are you painting the same thing I\'m painting? :] And you put everything together before painting?Originally posted by EricJ
The one I\'m painting now, definately PROBABLY should have been painted first then assembled, but I was too eager to see it all assembled that I just put it together and have been dealing with the headaches of the dynamic of the darn thing since.
It\'s a case where it\'s not so much you can\'t get the brush to something once assembled, but it does make it a lot harder, and definately trickier to do nice blending
Yeah, dumb aren\'t I
Bold, at least!Originally posted by EricJ
Originally posted by Ritual
Are you painting the same thing I\'m painting? :] And you put everything together before painting?Originally posted by EricJ
The one I\'m painting now, definately PROBABLY should have been painted first then assembled, but I was too eager to see it all assembled that I just put it together and have been dealing with the headaches of the dynamic of the darn thing since.
It\'s a case where it\'s not so much you can\'t get the brush to something once assembled, but it does make it a lot harder, and definately trickier to do nice blending
Yeah, dumb aren\'t I
