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Alright, slowly working my way into a playable SM army, I've just started on my LSS. This is the assembly I've done so far:



Now I'm quite alright with not having every individual button on the control panel highlighted etc, but if I go ahead and assemble the front of it, I'll have a small area "encapsuled" where it will be very difficult to reach with a brush.
Since I use Skull White primer, that means whenever you look at the model from the rear, there'll be a big white spot that will probably be quite visible

The question is what should I do? I guess the options are either paint it in pieces or prime black instead?

Paint the inside first before you put the Scouts in.

Valkyrie wrote:Paint the inside first before you put the Scouts in.

I was planning to do that anyway. But even without the scouts blocking, you've got an opening approximately 2x1.5 cm in width to get the brush through and cover everything with a basecoat. You're saying this won't be a problem?

Nah, shouldn't be a problem. I had no problem painting the controls on mine.

You could probably go either way. For my regular land speeder (not storm) I painted the cockpit interior entirely before assembly. I did this for two reasons: first, in the LS kit, the pilot and gunner legs are attached to the cockpit to it is easier to paint without the rest of the cockpit assembled. Second, I wanted to use my airbrush to base coat the exterior and that was easier to do in parts do I wouldn't overspray onto the interior.

Painting after assembly - probably OK but maybe the source of a headache or two (underneath the benches in the back for instance)

Painting before assembly - guaranteed to be headache-free

Here's mine! - http://weekend-painter.blogspot.com/2010/06/landspeeder-storm.html - this was painted before assembly.

A lot of work in this model but quite an enjoyable one to do. How're you planning to base it? (I'm not happy with the plain old flying base on mine)

Alright, I decided to just assemble it fully before painting (with the caveat that I'm painting the scouts separately).
I did my Rhino piece by piece, and while it worked, it took a lot more time and effort than it would've if I had assembled it, and what I got in return was a painted interior if someone has the urge to pick my Rhino up and open the rear hatch during a game. You'd have to use a flashlight to be able to tell I actually picked out the details on the boltgun hanging in the back, as well as the buttons and displays

Besides, it's just one little speeder, I can live with it if it doesn't turn out stellar. And if I do have serious problems painting every nook and cranny, I'll have learned that piece by piece is probably a good idea for the next vehicle.

I actually didn't plan to base it at all, I like flying craft to have a clear base

Cool - hope it turns out well for you - there is a disadvantage to painting before assembly that I forgot about actually - it's that when you fit it together, you can get shiny edges where the glue has been. I had to spend a while touching these edges up - so you're right to say that it will be a lot less work to assemble first.

Post pics when it's done!

Don't have any WIP pictures sadly, as my camera isn't really "mine" but was on loan and the owner wanted it back for the day! I'll have some pics of the finished thing though.

The speeder is progressing pretty well. I can't really fix all the details in the transport compartment (there are a couple shotguns and boltpistols attached to the wall that I simply can't reach well enough to pick out details), but other than that it's going pretty well. Had some minor difficulties getting the basecoat in everywhere, but other than that nothing to write home about.
I'm actually making quite good time, I've got my first ever attempt at highlighting and final checkup to do, then it's ready to be sealed Much better than my poor Rhino that took the better part of three days. Yes, I paint slowly.

Haven't gotten around to the scouts yet of course, but they're primed and ready. Should have the whole thing done and photo'd in 6 hours or so

Well, this turned out an abject failure My "highlights" are all but invisible, the wash had no noticeable effect, the scout driver and gunner look like they're wearing kindergarten onesies due to me not picking out the sleeves, there's a literal whitespot in the transport area where I simply couldn't reach despite numerous attempts.. ugh.

Was aiming for this to come out good, now it's just a sort of "Oh well.. it looks better than unpainted" look.
I should've definitely painted it in pieces, never mind that it takes much longer.
Could anyone tell me what I did wrong with the wash and highlights? I basecoated the entire thing with Mordian Blue, then a wash of Asurmen Blue, then a coat of Ultramarines Blue, then edge highlighting with Enchanted Blue. As has become the norm the pictures are pretty bad





If you're thinking "I can't see any highlights there", you're not far off course. As I said, they come out next to invisible.
This was certainly a lesson. I did rush it a little bit so maybe that was part of the failure. Grrr Still have a scout squad sitting in their box waiting to be painted but think I need a day or so to compose myself.. this was just awful.

Looks pretty solid to me. If you're not seeing the edge highlihgting all that well, maybe try adding a bit of white to your enchanted blue? Also maybe try a heavier blue wash to create some harder shadows?

I think it looks pretty good too - no problem with highlights not being there cos you can strengthen them up a bit now, you've not lost anything - it's not like you have to re-do the whole model! - I think Flinty's right, just a little white in with your enchanted blue perhaps to make the highlights a little more definite.

Washing a dark blue with a dark blue wash isn't going to get results. maybe you should have made a lighter (ice blue or space wolf grey) dry brush instead. I still think you can do it then wash it with blue to smooth out the drybrush. With the scouts just paint the sleeves in a differnt colour and you should be fine. Also to give some colour variation just paint the front bar of the speeder in another colour either with or boltgun metal.

Sorry for not responding in a while, been a hectic week. Anyway, I decided to keep the speeder as-is for the moment, given that I want to get my first 500 points together asap. I will however get back to it once I have my tiny army assembled and try to improve it using the advice in this thread Thank you all for your help!

Looks pretty good to me. If you don't want the bother of highlighting just try and use boltgun metal on the raised parts. adds depth really easily and draws the eye to certain areas.

There's a tutorial on Youtube by Natakue where he shades green (on an ork) with sepia to get the shades then Thraka Green to make it look "greener" I'd imagine the same principle would apply to vehicles ....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMHgh5uIwUE