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Ok so i've got a Korvydae model from forgeworld and i'm wondering if i should assemble the model then paint the whole thing or should i just paint things individually and go from there.?

What do you all think or what have you done previously?

It's personal but I prefer painting first. Most of the time once the mini is asseembled it creates blind spots which are hard to get or finish and it annoys me. I don't care that some parts won't be visible when the fig is assembled but I know it's not painted and it just grinds my gears.

Do whatever you feel the most comfortable doing.

As with erik above I paint mine first then assemble then touch up/detail, I think it looks alot better that way. It's also good for doing vehicles, if you assemble first then there's a good chance of forgetting to paint something important(e.g interior or cockpit etc)

Erik_Morkai wrote:It's personal but I prefer painting first. Most of the time once the mini is asseembled it creates blind spots which are hard to get or finish and it annoys me. I don't care that some parts won't be visible when the fig is assembled but I know it's not painted and it just grinds my gears.

Do whatever you feel the most comfortable doing.

Definitely. It all depends on the figure you're painting. If it has a lot of nooks and crannies paint first, if it's a very "open" miniature assemble before painting.

Cheers,


IK-Painter

If it's something like Space Marines which are fairly easy to get at with a brush then I paint after assembling. Something like Tyranids, well, I learned the hard way that you're better off painting the bulk of them before assembling. Forge World pieces I think it would depend on size and detail of the model in question.

Assemble where necessary with sticky tak or rubber cenemt so you can take it apart as needed to ease painting.

Thanks I've assembled upto the thunderhammer with a small dab of glue so its barely holding allowing me to prime it and then break it back up to paint the rest.

Will post some pooly painted pictures soon enough.

I've just painted this model, assembled first. Couldn't reach the belt buckle area, very annoying.

Has convinced me to at most, part assemble in future.

In the dim and distant past, I used to assemble pretty much everything first.

Now I've started again, I'm favouring the painting first approach, and its much much easier to get all the nice details done without making a mess.

Painting First that way you do not miss anything once it is all together

riplikash wrote:Assemble where necessary with sticky tak or rubber cenemt so you can take it apart as needed to ease painting.

Now this is an idea I like

Usually I assemble all parts that don't overlap of block anything (like the main body of KillaKans or Dreads) and paint everything else prior to assembly (this even includes shoulder guards and Bolters of Space Marines) .
As stated above, Blue Tak is one of your best friends here

ummm assemble first? I do not understand why people are saying otherwise unless it is a tank or titan... How do you seal a gap if you paint first? You don't have to put the whole thing together, base and all, but the whole model should be cleaned, sanded and all the gaps filled, with another sanding over top. Some things like SM shoulder pads can be done sperately but arms, legs, weapons all should be attartched, you have 0 ability to blend if you are pasting two parts together, they will have a horrible line down the middle and the shadings wont match...

When assembling and painting guardsmen i undercoat the whole sprues with everything on its in spray paint. Then i assemble and paint the legs torso and non weapon arm. i add the head next and paint that. Finally i add the gun arm and ammo pouches, etc and finish painting. Then i do all touchups to finish off. I remove all the mold lines after undercoating but before assembling. I just recoat the bits where the mold lines were.

SmogHousePaintingCo. wrote:ummm assemble first? I do not understand why people are saying otherwise unless it is a tank or titan... How do you seal a gap if you paint first? You don't have to put the whole thing together, base and all, but the whole model should be cleaned, sanded and all the gaps filled, with another sanding over top. Some things like SM shoulder pads can be done sperately but arms, legs, weapons all should be attartched, you have 0 ability to blend if you are pasting two parts together, they will have a horrible line down the middle and the shadings wont match...

This.

With VERY rare exception, such as with the middle gentleman from the Great Bears which I recently painted. I will always assemble before painting, not least because I'm a bit of a painting magpie so will go months or even years leaving something WIP as I'll lose my muse but be using it in games.

Snrub wrote:When assembling and painting guardsmen i undercoat the whole sprues with everything on its in spray paint. Then i assemble and paint the legs torso and non weapon arm. i add the head next and paint that. Finally i add the gun arm and ammo pouches, etc and finish painting. Then i do all touchups to finish off. I remove all the mold lines after undercoating but before assembling. I just recoat the bits where the mold lines were.

In the nicest possible way my only reaction to this always is

Grimtuff wrote:

That is also the reaction i have to my painting method. I am Alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll over the place.

Erik_Morkai wrote:It's personal but I prefer painting first. Most of the time once the mini is asseembled it creates blind spots which are hard to get or finish and it annoys me. I don't care that some parts won't be visible when the fig is assembled but I know it's not painted and it just grinds my gears.

Do whatever you feel the most comfortable doing.

im the same

Again depends. I usually assemble and then paint, but when I tried that on some High Elven Dragon riders I had a miserable time navigating my brush around all the pointy glitz and nooks. If you are painting a squad do one mini first to see how it plays out before assembling the rest.