Debate (paint the sub assemblies or after construction)

azdave · Post by **azdave** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 6:56 pm

OK, Well here is an interesting topic that the boys and my self are talking about. It seems that after construction of certain parts of the engines, the boys think the paint is a little on the light side. So I said just darken it. But they want to pull it apart and repaint them. Now, would it have been easier to build the model, fill the seems, prime, and paint it in sub assemblies? Keep in mind that after they built the parts they put the whole thing together, then they painted it. I think it would have been easier to paint it in sub assemblies. The boys say its done their way. Any thoughts?

photoguy · Post by **photoguy** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 7:46 pm

I usually build in sub assemblies and paint as I go. Some painting is done while the parts are still on the trees. It is a whole lot easier to paint individual parts that need to be different colors while they are still "individual". Once their on the model, you have to worry about masking off areas you don't want painted, and being careful to paint in areas that are now really tight and you run out of room fast.

When I started out building models as a kid, I always thought of the whole project as "a model" of whatever - usually military jets. It was only recently, that I changed my thinking and my whole approach to building. Each part of the project is a model in and of itself. My model airplanes have model engines, they have model missiles, and model guns, and model control panels, and even model pilot figures. Each "model" gets all the attention and detail that I can manage BEFORE being added to the finished project. Just think about each part as a display model of its own. This really helps when you dive into a BIG project with loads of detail and hundreds and hundreds of parts. Yeah it'll take some time to finish the whole thing, but if you break it up into manageable bits, and do your very best on each part, then, near the end, everything pretty much falls into place and the results are AWESOME!

Good Luck, and KEEP IT FUN!

MillenniumFalsehood · Tue Nov 03, 2009 12:31 pm

I never pre-paint the part unless the area I'm painting is inaccessible after construction (such as the exposed engine parts on the X-wing's engines and the area behind the engine nacelles). Other than that, I paint everything after assembly. It makes it easier to get a seamless finish, because if you paint the subs beforehand you will ruin the paintwork when you sand the seams.

walter · Post by **walter** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 1:52 pm

My 1/350 enterprise will be painted before it go togather , most other kits will be painted when there all or mostly glued togather.

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 2:30 pm

Anything that goes in something else gets painted. Cockpits, landing gear bays, etc.

I'll airbrush small parts on the sprue and touch up when placed.

Mr. Badwrench · Post by **Mr. Badwrench** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 11:04 pm

What Kylwell said. Painting in sub assemblies is often easier. But I wouldn't tear a model apart to re-paint small areas. Well, it depends. If it's designed to come apart, like a Gundam kit for instance, then ok. But your boys, (I assume you're talking about kids, right?) have a point. It is their model, let them build it how they want. In a year or so they'll knock it off the shelf or get tired of looking at it, and then they'll take it outside and blow it up with firecrackers anyway.

Often wrong Soong · Post by **Often wrong Soong** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 6:49 pm

Well I've only built 3 models so far so I'm not really qualified to comment really but I tried both techniques and found that painting as a whole works best for me so far.
I built an Enterprise D and only painted after all of the construction was complete, that way I could be sure that all of the seams were as good as I could get and the overall paint mixes were uniform colours.
My second build was the Excellsior and I built and painted sub assemblies which felt more satisfying because it seemed like I made more progress faster, but I had trouble keeping the hues in the aztec uniform from assembly to assembly. The aztec on one nacelle 'popped' better than the other, etc etc and I wasn't happy with some of the seams between assemblies but couldn't fix them because the parts were already painted.

But thats one of the beautiful things about this hobby and why I love it so much...what works for one guy is no good for another. There's no right or wrong method