Painting Trim - first or last?

[Valkyrion]

If you are painting something with lots of trim, like a Chaos marine, do you prefer to get the trim colour down and then fill in the blanks, or get the main colour down and sort out the trim?

I think I'm in favour of the latter because I'm better at painting raised edges than trying to highlight a recess. Also, many trims are metallic and most metallic base paints paints cover well, so I'd rather slop on the red for World Eaters then worry about the gold or brass than highlight the gold and mess it up with red highlights. 

 

There probably is a correct answer for professional painters, but for us mere mortals which do you do?

 

[LameBeard]

Recently I swapped to painting trim first for titans, but I decided I was not going to edge highlight the panel colour near the trim, and I had panel colour with good coverage. Maybe one day I will do my Sigmar Blood Warriors this way too. If I did Thousand sons again I would also do trim first.
 

But sometimes it’s nice to get the base colour down with a spray, so then it’s trim last. I think I’m doing most marines this way still. 
 

Either way you spend a lot of time neatening up the join - it is not the highlight that’s the enemy, because that is actually going on with a small brush a little way away from the recess, but the base and metal have to meet somewhere, and often it’s not obvious until you’ve done it wrong.

[Grotsmasha]

My perspective on this is from a commission painting point of view and experience, specifically Guilliman and Word Bearers.

I definitely prefer getting the metallic trims done first with a rattle can, wash, drybrush, and then returning to colour in main panels.

Personally I find it easier to run the brush along the recess against the trim and to not overspill onto the trim vs. running the brush on the edge and not overspill ING onto the panel.

[KaosRaptor]

When painting my Black Legion I'm like @Grotsmasha - basecoat trim, wash, drybrush. It means you can be as messy as you like with the drybrushing stage and then just fill in the flat panels later.

With my Exorcists, who have comparatively much less trim, I do the opposite and complete the main armor color first and edge highlight the trim when I get to it instead of drybrushing.

 

It really depends on what look you're going for, how much trim there is and how much time you want to take.

 

[Grotsmasha]

11 hours ago, Valkyrion said:

There probably is a correct answer for professional painters, but for us mere mortals which do you do?

 

I somehow missed this sentence entirely, and think I'd like to respond to it specifically, the "correct" way, is the one that you are comfortable with, and leaves you with the finish you were wanting.

I like trims first because it is faster for me, in commissions, speed must be a consideration, but that doesn't mean it needs to be one to you, or anyone else.

[Cleon]

Personally for me it depends what the colours are.... There's no way I'm painting the black trim first on my Blood Angels, but when I'm painting the sgts, I do the red trim with the rest of the mini and then fill in the black pad. So I'd say try both on a test mini or a spare few shoulder pads and see what works for you.

[WrathOfTheLion]

I've always done the trim last after testing out both. I tried doing trim first, but it just did not work for me. It's going to depend on the painter I think, some it works one way for quite well, others it works the other way.

[Redcomet]

First. It is easier to fill in the space than paint the trim after I find

[Karhedron]

I leave trim until last. Because it is raised, I find it easier to paint trim without getting paint on the panels than to paint panels without getting any on the trim.

[MegaVolt87]

6 hours ago, Karhedron said:

I leave trim until last. Because it is raised, I find it easier to paint trim without getting paint on the panels than to paint panels without getting any on the trim.

 

One hundred times this. GW's models have gotten more detailed. Modern model trim has only gotten more detailed, raised, thicker, defined etc. Its pretty easy to correct the armour panel vs the trim. Colour block armour panels, do trim, tidy area's, ready for washes/ highlights/ layers etc. 

[Bloody Legionnaire]

I always paint the trim last. I do most of my paint work with an airbrush for shadows, layers, and highlights. I'd never be able to do the trim first. 

 

[MithrilForge]

Both methods have merit, I'm working on some Khorne Berzerkers at the moment and I'm actually finding a Combination of both methods is helping... I base the armour in red and do my other base colours- Black, brown, bone. but then do a very "Not delicate" Gold base on all the trim then drybrush the highlights over them all, Tidy up the red basecoat (I find it's quicker to tidy it than base it) then wash the whole Model in Agrax Earthshade (i wash my Reds with Agrax) then continue on with tidying up the other colours...

I would say it is dependant on what type of model is being done as well...eg those Blood angels with black trims 

Intereseting to see how people tackle this Dilemma of speed Vs efficiency Vs "comfort"- also known as what gets you through it 

  

M. 

[TwinOcted]

For years I painted the armour first, then the trim.  Recently I've tried it the other way around and I think, think, it's a bit easier for me.  I find its easier to fix mistakes if I paint trim first, then fill in the gaps.

Iron Warriors are my main army though, so it's a forgiving colour scheme when it comes to touching up.

[nilsh]

It depends on the miniature and the color scheme for me. Right now I'm painting with a lot of stippling so it's somewhat messy, so I kinda have to paint the trim last.

[Dr. Clock]

Trim first, but not all the way highlighted - I'll get the different base coat and colour on there before touching up surface with primer... I find its alot easier to stay inside the lines than paint around/along them, so then first couple coats on the surfaces will mask the worst of the mistakes, and the odd error I make from there on the trim is readily handled by follow-up washes and highlights. So it's definitely a bit of back and forth.

 

Similar but different: 'under-suits'. That's a back and forth as well... I'd get started on the under-suits first especially if they're darker than armour, but aim to come back for repair after armour is near complete.

 

In sum I paint more dark to light at first but then switch 'at the top' to work back down, repairing along the way ; )

 

Cheers,

 

The Good Doctor.

 

[Borbarad]

Trim first and main color later is like adding milk first and cerial later. It works but it’s kinda weird. 

[Lord_Ikka]

I've found that, for me, it is easier to paint the trim last. This is probably because I airbrush the base color of the model's armor (or fur, skin, whatever part of the model that will take the most time doing via just brushing) and I find it quicker to fix mistakes I've made painting the trim than the reverse. Of course, I'm very much a mediocre, table-top level of painter who paints fast/en masse rather than doing the higher-end, centerpiece-style good painting. 

[Marshal Mittens]

Trim after armor but before washes, for me. 

[MegaVolt87]

19 hours ago, Marshal Mittens said:

Trim after armor but before washes, for me. 

 

Oh definitely. Its easier to correct the armour vs the trim when you make mistakes. 

[Deus_Ex_Machina]

I use drybrushing as a technique. So the armour of the CSM gets painted in no time this way. Then the grind begins when carefully painting the trim. Doing it the other way around wouldn´t work as drybrushing maybe be pretty quick but also very messy.