Paint or build ? What is the right order ?

[LuckyLuke]

I am pondering the question what is the order in wich you guys work on your models ?
I come from making armor models, where you build first, prime and then paint the model.
Thus the same work here or do you work more with masks or in stages ?

Any help is appreciated, thanks !
Luke

[Alexis]

Hey Luke 

I can't speak for the others but I can share how I go about building wingy things . I start with paint all of the cockpit parts and engine and inside fuselage . Assemble the inner parts into sub-assemblies and at this stage I will do weathering with a final sealing coat . Assemble the rest of the pit and glue the fuselage halves together . While this is setting up I start cleaning up the wings and rudder and get them ready for paint . I drill all my holes that I will need for rigging and pins for the struts at this stage . Next to following is cleaning the seams up on the fuselage and do any drill for rigging or other details . Last is the wheels , landing gear struts and the rest of the struts get cleaned up and test fitted . Once this is all done it's off to painting everything . When the paint is dried clearing coating for decals , apply decals . Seal with clear , wash , seal with a flat clear , more weathering and a finally sealing of either semi gloss or flat . Then I can start putting things together . Starting with guns and such . Any item which will e difficult to add once the top wing is in place . Lower wings go on followed by the tail feathers . Cab struts to mount the top wing working my way outwards with the rest of struts . Landing gear and alex are next . I leave the wheels off until the very end as well as the tail skid . Rigging is next and then final assemble of the rest of the parts , wheels , prop and spinner . Display case 

Well that's it in a nut shell , others will chime in with their approach on how they tackle their builds also check out the build threads and you will get a feel for it .



Terri

[Vickers]

I agree with the order that Terri detailed above- for most if not all aircraft. However, I often paint my cockpit and other interior parts while they're still on the sprue depending on whether the sprue gates are going to be an issue later. If they will, I'll clean them up the parts and attach them to toothpicks with blu-tak then arrange them on a styrofoam block for the sake of organization. I also try to avoid loading the same color into my airbrush twice if I can. Super OCD about that. Partly for efficiency, but also because the risk of a tonal mismatch between subsequent mixtures is ever present. So, if the wheel struts, hubs, or some other subassemblies are to be the same color as one that appears on the overall airframe then I will paint all of those items at the same time. Regardless of whether they're to be attached prior to or after painting. Doesn't matter whether it's a Nieuport or a Hellcat. Not saying these are the best ways to approach it, but they work for me.

[Borsos]

I am pondering the question what is the order in wich you guys work on your models ?
I come from making armor models, where you build first, prime and then paint the model.
Thus the same work here or do you work more with masks or in stages ?

Any help is appreciated, thanks !
Luke

I always build several subassemblies and paint them. But these also can consist of only two parts glued together. Building and painting goes hand in hand alternately (but I also do this on my armor models. A friend of mine, an armor modeler, laughed out loud when he saw me painting my Pz. IV in 56 subassemblies...)
Andreas

[LuckyLuke]

Terri, Vickers and Andreas,
Thank you very much for the tips guys !
With this I can try to get a "script" ready to start. It is still a bit blurry at the moment but some of them actually make sense already ( the sub-assemblies, painting parts on the sprue, alternating, doing one color in the airbrush,...).
And Andreas, I totally get why your friend would laugh, I too would be that guy before now ( I am doing 50+ years of armor modeling but have been stricken with WWI 1/32 aircraft fever recently...) that is the reason why I am somewhat confused now.
But I will get there, I have the model butterflies and that makes for a lot of energy, I am sure you understand .
I will be asking some more questions in the future though, of that I am certain !
Luke

[Ian from Doncaster]

I agree with Vickers, painting on the sprue, or on a cut off bit of sprue is ideal for smaller or more delicate parts.

For the airframe itself, I tend to paint the fuselage exterior and wings etc as separate assemblies - sometimes the lower wings are attached - but especially where the fuselage and wings have different schemes.

I always dry fit the raw plastic first, to see where the fit is critical to avoid inaccuracies with paint in the joins - a lesson I learned with my first WNW kit.!  I have also used tiny drops of liquid mask to act as a temporary glue when dry assembling.  This allows more components to be held together without resorting to tape, but I can also spray the primer in this condition which when disassembled, gives a clear indication of where not to paint at the joints.  That works really well when there is a frame to fit tightly inside a fuselage.

Sometimes I have to assemble further than I would like before painting, as some kits need filler in the joints - so on those occasions masking is needed.

The other benefit of working in modules is that, with a large or complex kit, some sub assemblies can be built and painted in a matter of hours.  Items such as a pilot’s seat or a cockpit panel, engine block etc.  That really adds in my opinion to the satisfaction of building the model rather than being faced with a mountain of components and no end in sight.!

[phil2015]

So I vastly prefer plastic cement over super glue.  But now working on my first biplane, I don't see any way I can assemble before painting the wings.  I guess this means I'm pretty much stuck with super glue for attaching wings to struts?

[Alexis]

Hi Phil ,

No need to use super glue if you don't overly care for it . You can use model glue , just clean out and mounting holes and the locating stubs on the struts of any paint 


Alexis