Drop Pod - assembly and paint

[Annatar Giftbringer]

Greetings,

I acquired a Drop Pod yesterday. I like to have my vehicles' insides painted, and this becomes extra important on pods since they are supposed to open. So basically the question is, is it best to paint the various parts while they're on the sprue, or is it reasonably easy to reach inside after it's built? I'm not planning on making it Golden Daemon-quality, Table-top is fine by me.

 

I'm also pondering wether or not to build the interior details, since its primary cargo will be an Ironcld Dread, but that's a separate issue...

 

 

 

+++ THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: A smile can solve many problems +++

[Tanhausen]

Painting when built is a pain!

 

I'd suggest semi-assemble (for example, the central piece, with harnesses and so) and paint "blocks".

 

However, be careful to assemble properly... so that it fits properly!

[WarriorFish]

I assemble the bottom part with the "floor" and all the doors and part assemble the interior harnesses and the thruster. The harnesses are pretty simple to do so you can assemble them as much as you feel happy with before painting - just don't assemble the whole pod or you'll never paint them! Keeping the fins and weapon separate makes for a far easier time painting them and it's not difficult to glue together either so it's beneficial to do it this way. All you have to do is be careful with the glue on the fins/thruster so it doesn't stick the weapon so it can't rotate but that's just a matter of taking care not to put too much glue on and letting it dry upside down

 

Don't bother painting where the fins go on the bottom and thruster bits as it's a tight fit - save the effort and paint. Last but not least, the harnesses are a right pain in the behind to paint even if you don't go to town on them so you might want to leave them off...

[Annatar Giftbringer]

A, as I thought then, thanks for the replies!

[winterdyne]

I avoid gluing the fins or console and harness assembly to the base or each other. The fit is so tight it holds together well without, and allows you to have the console removable for easy 'dreadnought' pods. And as a plus those are convenient basic painting sub-assemblies.

[Annatar Giftbringer]

I avoid gluing the fins or console and harness assembly to the base or each other. The fit is so tight it holds together well without, and allows you to have the console removable for easy 'dreadnought' pods. And as a plus those are convenient basic painting sub-assemblies.

 

Now this is interresting! Does it mean that you have the pod in one piece, center column separate, and each 'harness-wall' in one piece?

[winterdyne]

No - assemble the engine and fins as one component, and the centre console and all the harness walls as another, and the base and doors as the third. To put the harnesses in you 'twist' them into the fin assembly, before pressing the whole lot onto the base.

 

You need to pay careful attention when assembling the engine and fins as it's very easy to misalign them - you absolutely need them square on - don't try and glue on all the engine panels first - do one, then a fin, then a panel, then a fin - sand or file the sides of the panels smooth beforehand - leftover lugs of sprue will pooch the job. Butt each fin against the preceding panel to help with alignment, always leave the gap on the same side (it should be pretty small anyway). This helps make sure that any deviation ends up as a slight (not noticeable) 'twist' to the whole pod, which actually helps it hold together without glue to the base better. In fact, the cleanup of the parts for the pod is about the hardest part of the process - the doors too benefit from careful work. Cleaned up properly, the kit goes together very well.