Painting before or after assembly?

[Wihtesparrow]

Pretty much what the title says. I've seen a few older threads here that deal with this topic, but there are a lot of different answers and none of the OP's really put their goals for their painting when they asked the question (tabletop standard or competitive etc.).

For me, I'm not going to be playing any games with the minis I collect and really want them to look polished and more like display models (I guess a competition level would be the most accurate way to describe what I'm aiming for). With that goal in mind and considering that I'm brand new to miniatures/modeling as a whole, what would the community suggest for the order to take in assembly and painting? What would a golden demon winner suggest?? Would there be any problems with priming (i.e. masking joints) if I were to take the paint --> assemble route? Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[me_in_japan]

You really have to examine each mini before you start assembling/painting it. Look at things like:

Are there any gaps that need to be filled? This is especially problematic in areas where skin meets skin, eg a forearm attaching to an elbow.
Are there any places that will be difficult/impossible to get a brush into once it's fully assembled?

Most minis fall into the category of "assemble some of the bits, fill the gaps, paint as much as you can, assemble the other bits, fill those gaps, then tidy up the whole shebang."

In other words: it varies

 

[TrystanGST]

You really have to examine each mini before you start assembling/painting it. Look at things like:

Are there any gaps that need to be filled? This is especially problematic in areas where skin meets skin, eg a forearm attaching to an elbow.
Are there any places that will be difficult/impossible to get a brush into once it's fully assembled?

Most minis fall into the category of "assemble some of the bits, fill the gaps, paint as much as you can, assemble the other bits, fill those gaps, then tidy up the whole shebang."

In other words: it varies

Aye, this. If you want really nice minis, you can't just stick it all together and leave primer in the cracks.

 

[Einion]

You really have to examine each mini before you start assembling/painting it. Look at things like:

Are there any gaps that need to be filled? This is especially problematic in areas where skin meets skin, eg a forearm attaching to an elbow.
Are there any places that will be difficult/impossible to get a brush into once it's fully assembled?

Most minis fall into the category of "assemble some of the bits, fill the gaps, paint as much as you can, assemble the other bits, fill those gaps, then tidy up the whole shebang."

In other words: it varies

Aye, this.

Quote tree!

The main thing to watch out for is if you assemble first whether you can get a brush to everything - you might have seen someone insist that you can get a brush to anything you can see but that's simply not true (even at much larger scales than minis).

Einion

 

[Muzzle]

And there's the most stupid thing I've ever seen...

View attachment 14616

 

[me_in_japan]

Er....yeah. Dontdothat.

*brrrr*

 

[nels0nmac]

To mirror what is said above - test fit the pieces before you glue/ undercoat. If the piece can be stuck in place and not interfere (hide or make it really difficult to paint) other bits of the model then it's fine to stick in place. A bad example is a space marine backpack. I always paint them seperately and stick them on after I have finished painting. To do it the other way around would make it nigh on impossible to get a decent paint job on the areas between the backpack and the back of the marine.

Sometimes you will get bits that make it hard to paint what is behind, but the join will really need to be filled to make it good. Then you have to balance between the need to paint and the need to fill. Those you will have to decide on a case by case situation.

Good luck

 

[Wihtesparrow]

Good advice so far, peoples. What about priming? I can see how painting some before total assembly would be wise, but what about masking joints and connecting areas for priming? Any tips on that?

 

[me_in_japan]

Honestly, masking joins is something I've never really given much thought to. I always pin stuff, so even if there's a little paint in the join I just scrape a knife blade over it to bare as much metal as i can, then hope te pin holds it well enough. Generally, any join is going to need a bit of filling, so it's not like there's going to be a perfect fit between the two surfaces anyway. I suppose if it's something that concerns you you could mask off the joint using blu-tac (poster tac?) while you're painting/spraying.

 

[TrystanGST]

I wouldn't worry about masking for priming. As MiJ mentioned, you cna always remove paint if necessary. I'd rather that than find out I didn't paint a spot that will be obvious later.

 

[Wihtesparrow]

Sounds good!! Looks like I need to start practicing pinning, then. Also, I've been using green stuff a little bit and it's decently awkward to work with...very tricky to get it real smooth.

 

[TrystanGST]

water/saliva. Works wonders on smoothing GS.

 

[Wihtesparrow]

Including that. I lick my sculpting tools constantly almost. If you don't, it just rips and tears the gs or makes it stick to the tool.

 

[me_in_japan]

Sadly, GS is pretty difficult to get smooth. I often use water, and occasionally use Vaseline, but bear in mind that f you do use Vaseline you need to wash it completely off before you start painting. (use soap and warm water)

 

[RuneBrush]

First off, I never prime the joint elements - I just put on some (white) blu-tack to cover it up. This goes doubly for plastic mini's. Reason it pretty simple - you should be handling your mini as little as possible and having to scrape, file or remove primer means you're going to have to hold it, risking getting finger grease on your paint or even worse, scraping off some paint. Picking off a little blob of blu-tack is easy by comparison and much safer.

Get yourself some clay shapers, these are rubber tipped things (basically a rubber on a brush handle). You'll be able to smooth out GS a lot more easily. Also don't be afraid to let it cure for half an hour or so before you try and smooth it as the consistency will change and make it less like chewing gum.

pete

 

[Einion]

What about priming? I can see how painting some before total assembly would be wise, but what about masking joints and connecting areas for priming? Any tips on that?

Blu-Tack or similar is probably your simplest bet, although you can use any sort of liquid mask product to protect glueing surfaces from primer.

Sounds good!! Looks like I need to start practicing pinning, then. Also, I've been using green stuff a little bit and it's decently awkward to work with...very tricky to get it real smooth.

Practice! Lubricating your tools helps but it's very much about how you work it. Oh and smooth tools are really helpful - smooth tool = smooth mark, the smoother the better. A polished tool will leave a polished mark.

I lick my sculpting tools constantly almost.

Don't do that. Epoxies aren't actively toxic but still, think of them as solid chemical and you'll treat them with the appropriate levels of caution.

No reason you can't continue to use saliva as your sculpting lubricant of choice (many pros still use it) just don't put your tools in your mouth to do so. There are some other simple options to try, including conditioner, moisturiser and dishwashing liquid - in all cases, a little goes a long way.

Einion

 

[supervike]

I've tried the paint before assembly route, and honestly it does not work for me. I end up ruining my paint with shoddy assembly work.

 

[plonka2000]

Personally, I've (quite recently) 'stepped up' from painting before assembly to now painting after assembly.
For me, I was getting tired of making a mistake and getting glue over the painted miniature, especially when you use plastic cement and it melts whole surface areas... Frustrating to say the least.

The main reason I decided to do this though was because I felt I was taking the easy route by painting before assembly, even though it was often fiddly. I find that the natural shadow that is an unintentional effect of painting assembled is also a bonus.

Yes, it is much more difficult but I learned new ways to get paint brushes into akward places, and after the first few miniatures it becomes a lot less nerve-wracking.

My 0.02c