Do this before that

[sibomots]

I am wondering if there is a FAQ floating around for models that explain "Do this before that".

 

In other words, are there models that really come out better if one paints a certain portion before assembly? Or other assembly "gotchas" that need to be taken care of before final assembly?

 

Specifically with Space Marines, I'm sitting next to a pile of model boxes to build.  I'd love to know abou lessons learned in terms of what to "do before that step".

 

If such a FAQ exists, please forward or post the URL ?

 

Thanks.

 

 

[Hyuzanriu]

I usually dry fit the weapon onto my Astartes, then paint the body and weapon separately, then put them together. Makes painting the Aquila easier. I have seen some people on here leave the arms off entirely and paint them separately from the body.

[Joe]

^ what Hyuzanriu said. Do a dry run to check everything is in order, assemble the torso, legs and head (and at a push, backpack) and get them out of the way first; then assemble the arms and get them painted. You could probably even leave the arms on the sprue, clean them up and remove the majority of the points of contact, paint them and when it comes to removing them just clip them off and tidy up anything left.

 

Oh, and the same goes for Forge World stuff. Leaving them on those blocky sprues makes it so much easier to clean/paint them.

[sibomots]

Sorry, also meant like Pods, Vehicles, etc... all the models that are in the SM codex?

 

I've heard to paint Pods internals before gluing parts. Etc..

 

If there's a FAQ floating around with the lessons learned on those kinds of things, I'd be interested.

 

If not, that's cool.

[Bryan Blaire]

Don't know about a FAQ, but there are thousands of tips and tricks here and throughout the Internet.

 

I personally assemble legs and torsos, then use Blu-Tac to position the arms and weapons how I'm going to want them along with the head. Then I'll paint the neck and bottom of the head, then glue it into position and remove the arms. If I'm going to use a brush on primer, I use that on the legs and torso at this point - if you wanted to use a spray, you should do that prior to assembly (remember not to cover the places where you are going to glue, for a spray, you can use old bits of Blu-Tac for this if you are spraying). Paint the legs and torso, prime and paint the arms + weapons separately, then assemble. Finally prime and base coat pauldrons, glue them down, then do final shading and highlights across the entire model plus any freehand you are going to do. Lastly if you are doing decals, get those on. Then seal and you're done.

[Gurth]

There is no definitive guide to this sort of thing — it depends on your own preferences for assembling the models and painting techniques as much as on how the models were designed. Your best guide is going to be experience: build and paint a couple of figures the way you think will be easiest, and you’ll soon discover whether you need to modify that a bit to make the process more convenient. It’s far more satisfying to use your own brain instead of relying on someone else’s ideas.

[sibomots]

I see. That's what I figured. I have made a few dozen models so far (just starting in the hobby).  And as far as infantry, there are steps that make sense to do first before others (as noted above).

 

I was now directing my attention towards the vehicles and such in my army list and just wondering about common pitfalls, (eg, Pod internals painted  before assembly) or other pitfalls that usually come up.

 

Thanks for the advice. Much appreciated.

[Hyuzanriu]

I wouldn't even bother with pod internals. Just glue that sucker shut. When it comes to vehicles, I paint my treads separately from my tank then glue them on later.

[Bryan Blaire]

Paint from the inside out and you should be good. It'll take some looking at the model instructions, but determining what will be covered up/hard to get to once you start assembling will be a good process for figuring out what you need to paint first.

 

And as Hyuzanriu said, you should determine if you even want to paint the things that will be covered up. If not, then there's really no reason to spend the time doing so.

[Hrolf the Cunning]

I would say if you do want to paint the internal/semi-internal aspect of vehicles then do so before complete assembly.

 

It can be difficult to paint the Rhino chassis console with both sides on, so I would attach the console to one of the sides and paint before attaching the other. Probably the same for the land raider.

[Lucien Eilam]

My favourite gotcha is the intake on top of a Stormraven. It's natural to assemble the main hull and turret separately, but that intake blocks attaching a fully-assembled turret. 

 

Never assume the instructions will be correct. I've seen at least two cases over the years where whoever wrote the instructions apparently didn't know their left from their right, and the two components in question were almost but not quite identical, and it wouldn't be apparent that they're the wrong way round until 2-3 stages after you glued them in.

 

Dry fit everything.

[sibomots]

Being a Black Templar I will dry fit everything with ZEAL.

 

Thanks for the words.

[Gurth]

the two components in question were almost but not quite identical

This is why quality plastic kits have locating pins designed so that parts will only fit the correct way round — pins offset in different ways for the two parts, for example, or half-round ones, or one part having a larger-diameter pin than the other.

[Hyuzanriu]

Being a Black Templar I will dry fit everything with ZEAL.

 

Thanks for the words.

 

     Silly Templar, you can't dry fit with ZEAL. You must dry fit with the desire to achieve a fit so perfect that only a MACHINE could have done it. Your ZEAL will result in nothing less than failure, as you have too much flesh.

 

     But seriously, I second dry fitting everything. I have a Landraider without headlights because I didn't dry fit and once you put the top on, that sucker ain't coming off without some serious manning (verb) behind it.

[Kassill]

As far as the drop pod goes, the two I've done I painted the innards before mounting the fins and engine. Nothing fancy mind you, just enough to pass as I like to have them open once on the field. It's all preference. I've never painted the inside of a rhino or landraider, but I've seen a good many painters do incredible work in there. 

 

For troops, like a few have said, I generally try to paint legs, chest, head all as one, then attach arms etc after. Sometimes I forget this if I'm in a hurry trying to get a group assembled, or if there really isn't anything of value to paint under the arms. But since I'm a SW player, our models have all sorts of gibbens and bits and bobs strapped and bolted onto our models. Almost drive you mad when you think you've finished and you suddenly notice a whole array of teeth or rune stones that you missed...