Model Painting Philosophy

[Pgtaylorart]

I have a question to throw out to the forum. I'm wondering about the different philosophies in painting different types of models. There seems to be 3 main camps that I can see.

1) Assemble almost everything first, then paint as a whole. The armor modelers seem to use this technique most.

2) Build complete sub-assemblies such as the entire cockpit, the landing gear, etc., then paint and pick out the details with a small brush. The WWII aircraft modelers use this technique often.

3) Paint just about every part first, then assemble afterwards. I see this more often with our group of WWI aircraft modelers.

I fall into group 3. It gives the most control. Trying to paint a seat after the seatbelts are attached seems much more difficult than it has to be. You run the risk of slopping paint onto areas where you don't want it, then have to go back and touch it up.

Which technique do you use and why? Are there other ways that I'm not considering?

George

[hiddeous1973]

For me it's mostly a grouping of different materials. That's what for me makes the 3 methodes of painting easy and logical as I built all 3 styles on all three types of models.
Armour tends to be 1 material, steel, so it's build as one group and painted as such.
WWII and WWI even more has different materials, wood, cloth, aluminium, steel and so on that I try to group or build as a unit to make the painting and finishing more uniform. Then the details get picked out.

It is also a question of strength. Naked (unpainted) plastic makes a better bond, so sub-assemblies that need strength (landing gear, wings) are better to glue first and paint later.

[Des]

Depends entirely on the type of model I am building, but I very rarely build the model then paint it, painting the sub assemblies or individual parts is the most common approach I take, I like to pick out all the fine details with paint then apply the part. So, you can count me as;

1. Very rarely
2. Sometimes but not very often
3. Mostly always

Des.

[lcarroll]

   My sequence always is #3 followed by assembling sub assemblies, touch up and any missed or added details by brush, and then final assembly. I'm doing less and less brush work as time goes on preferring the superior finish provided by air brushing. In an effort to use more acrylic paint and phase out enamels I find that a hand brush finish is difficult; despite having every flow improver and enhancer/retardant known to man it just doesn't work well for me!
Cheers,
Lance

[Suffolk Lad]

Yep, me too George - definitely a #3 type

I have to say having built armour for a while I found it quite strange when I first realised that some would build the entire model before painting. Though I never gave it a thought at the time on the first subject tackled (Abrams tank) everything was painted separately and held until final assembly. As this model was the second tackled dealing with the myriad of parts as such seemed logical and I've stuck with that method ever since whatever the subject.
I'm with Lance too on spraying whenever possible. Something I didn't do on the small propeller for the air pump on the Camel and immediately regretted it. I do brush paint small details and prefer Vallejo against all others in this application but it never ever has the same look as spraying no matter how well applied.

Enjoy your painting George 

Tug

[uncletony]

I'm with RB; I try to mimic the way I think it was built.

[Alexis]

With me it's always number 3 . I do very little hand painting , just for the small details and use Vallejo for this  . Everything is sprayed . Painting small details once everything has been assembled is a real pain in the ass and I for end would end up with a heck of a lot of touch up' . Learn't my lesson on that one .


Terri

[coyotemagic]

With me it's always number 3 . I do very little hand painting , just for the small details and use Vallejo for this  . Everything is sprayed . Painting small details once everything has been assembled is a real pain in the ass and I for end would end up with a heck of a lot of touch up' . Learn't my lesson on that one .


Terri

Yep.  I'm with Terry 100% on this one.
Cheers,
Bud

[ALBATROS1234]

#3 for the most part for the reasons described above

[jeroen_R90S]

Like Des, it kind of depends on the model. Sticking to WWI, I've mostly built Roden kits, and due to their, well, challenging fit, I find it quite hard to pre-paint a lot and assembly it afterwards. On the Fokker D.VII 1/72 I'm currently building I've pretty much assembled the whole airframe, wings/tail included, and only need to fit the top wing, undercarriage and some detail parts later, due to it's less than steller fit.
On the other hand, the Albatros I'm building at the same time fits better, so I've only put the tailplanes on and will do the wings later.
How I work also depends on the colour scheme; I'm doing Jasta Raben now, so it's not much of a problem to assemble all tail parts, as everything will be white.

When these models are done I'm starting my WnW Fokker DVII, which will probably be a whole lot different to build, and will probably lean more firmly towards option #3!

Jeroen

[Edo]

Yes. also for me it is no 3 almost always and no. 2 rarely. no 1 never
As for the motivation, i think that no 3 gives the more control and best results even at the cost of a lack in adhesion bethween parts that do not glue togheter well after painting.

Ciao
edo

[kornbeef]

I'm a kind of all of the above types. each build gets built as suits and not to a particular method. Though I'll brush paint a much as practical as opposed to airbrushing, especially small sub assemblies.

Priming is usually Tamiya rattle can or Citadel black, I finfd both have outstanding adhesion qualities.

K

[Nigel Jackson]

Like a few others here, it depends, for me, on the context, with some switching between 2 and 3. I am feeling increasingly comfortable using my airbrush but, as a former painter of renaissance wargame figures, I make frequent use of paintbrushes when I think it works best. As for paints, I'll use oils, acrylics or enamels in different situations, which is probably why Ena thinks I have more paints than I can ever need.

Best wishes
Nigel

[RAGIII]

With me it's always number 3 . I do very little hand painting , just for the small details and use Vallejo for this  . Everything is sprayed . Painting small details once everything has been assembled is a real pain in the ass and I for end would end up with a heck of a lot of touch up' . Learn't my lesson on that one .


Terri

Yep.  I'm with Terry 100% on this one.
Cheers,
Bud

As usual I agree with my Amigo and in this case Terri also! I admire Modelers like Brad C. who can assemble an interior then do the detail painting, but it is not for me. Brads Albatros interior was amazing and I still don't know how he accomplished all of the fine painting!
RAGIII

[Rob]

Good question George,
I'm closest to #3 . But rather than painting everything at once I pick a sub-assembly-such as the cockpit or engine and do a lot of dryfitting and make modifications then paint all the parts for that sub assembly and move on to the next. Breaking it down into logical manageable chunks seems to work best for me. If I try to paint everything at once I usually forget to change/improve something I had in mind- then when I remember I end up stripping paint, fixing it and repainting. I try to avoid rework-both in real life and modeling  
v/r,
Rob