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I just opened up my blood angels battleforce and I was wondering in what ways do you go about building your armies? Do you like to build them all at once?

Or just building them one unit and then finishing them completely before starting the next one?

I was thinking about the 2nd one but Im not too sure. what do you guys/girls like?

Building one unit, painting it, then moving onto the next one is bar none the best idea out there. It's even better if you only buy one unit at a time then do this. This means you'll take your time unit by unit, and you won't be intimidated by a big pile of plastic on your desk.

With this in mind, I'm just now finishing an Iron Warriors army I bought all at once two years ago, I've got half an armored company of Imperial Guard built and unpainted, and no clue how many Space Marines unfinished but built.

This hobby is a terrible mistress.

I build and paint individual models when the mood strikes me.

I think the answer tends to reflect what sort of player/hobbyist you are.

I prefer playing to painting (though I may actually like the assembly/modeling part just as much as playing...maybe). As such, I tend to buy and assemble the units, and get to playing. Painting and everything else comes on a schedule of "when I feel like it" and "when the tourney painting requirments obligate me to it".

Build them all, prime them all, paint them all. Many people paint while on the sprue or while the models are just pieces, but I prefer the challenge of painting those hard to reach places. Gives me a thrill I only felt in Nam.

I prefer to assemble one unit at once and then paint it before moving on, because as others have said it seems rather intimidating to have multiple assembled models that you have to paint all at once. I take everything in small little bites that way its "easier to chew" in the end.

I like to build one unit at a time, finish all of them then set to painting.

Though, if building one unit becomes a chore, I will really build what I feel like, then get back to the first unit when the mood strikes me.

Clip off all the bits and organize them in some fashion. Clean the moldlines and sprue vents off of all the parts. Write out an army list and fill it by building the models from the pile o bits.
If you do moldline cleanup when you have a small amount of parts it saves time later.
I'm messy but in the slider box you may see labels like "legs" "arms" "jump packs" etc. In that box are at least 30 marines 10 metal DC 15 Sternies, most of a Baal Pred, 5-10 character models and just assorted bits. That's how I build it works out well for me.

I prime, then paint each part fully. After that I build the base and assemble the unit, add a wash and its done.
I still have a full squad of Firewarriors to build and paint.

Buy a box that looks interesting, then see what I can make out of it. Most of my army is either scratchbuilt, or so heavily kitbashed and modified it may as well be.

I kinda go all ADD on it, though, building, painting and such when the mood takes me.

I build the army, divide it into like units and then paint all the units like a factory line, usually by the time I'm done with the last model of five or ten the first model is dry and ready for it's next color. If this isn't the case I'll include more units to fill up the time. I can get pretty focused though and paint for hours at a time so this is not the model for everyone I'm sure.

I put together everything first and then let other people paint them. That's because I hate painting but like building. Now my friend has amazing results form painting before assembling. It just primes it right on the spruce.

As long as i've been painting i would say it depends on the model im working on. Sometimes i paint them on parts (if the model is to "closed") but mostly i unsprue all the parts, if it is a full 5-10 man unit, and see what pose look better for all of them, then glue, then paint.

I'm terrible for acquiring things in bulk then being scared into submission by the sheer amount of unpainted things I have. I have 7 russes and 5 chimeras that only need detailing left, so that's progress, but I still have 120+ Mordian models to get through, then my spaceships...then my Salamanders...

I do one squad at a time, althogh if a good day for priming is coming up, i get a lot built so i can prime a tonne of stuff ready to be painted

I purchase the army book, write an army list.

Buy the HQ's and Troop Choices when I get paid.

Once I identify what I need for my list, I go out, get the box. I assemble and magnetize to a nearly complete state, usually only the occasional arm unglued to facilitate painting. Prime it all up. Then slowly paint them in small batches. I really can't stand full-on assembly line painting, even just 5 boyz at a time starts to feel dull since they have so many colors in non-detail levels. I like painting details but I hate painting broad patches of different colours. Probably why I keep getting more and more marines, so I can basecoat once then worry about details and nameplates and heraldry and purity seals without having to make sure the pants and belts are all done. Sometimes I take a break from really bad assembly lining (like my mass of boyz) and take another kit to primed status as a break. Everything primed sits in a large clump awaiting what I feel like painting next.

I paint really slowly, so i assemble so I can play with it, and leave them unprimed. Then I assembly line one squad at a time. It takes me ages, simply cause I can't sit still while painting for more than 30 minutes.

go online look at the selection choose 18 choices of what i want. Grab a 20 sided die and roll, what ever i get i buy it. no.20 and no.0 of course are don't buy it. sadly i have yet to buy anything since the 3 years i made this i only have ever bought maybe 290$s of stuff but lets face it. its not that bad. i apparently can get really good rolls on 20 sided dice but for some odd reason i can never roll a dang six.

I'm building/painting my Black Templars army 1 over-zealous battle brother at a time.

I buy 500pt 'blocks' and build them. Generally I sit at a smaller points level (like my Tyranids at 1000 points) while I play some games and figure out what direction I want my army to go.

Generally I try to get those blocks painted before I buy more, but my painting pace is glacially slow.

I build them (very carefully, with conversions, extras, supplemental bits from other set, kit bashing weapons, etc) all and then prime them. Then I paint them as I have time. I currently have 30 ish built and prime models that haven't had a brush touch them.

I've just put them together when I get home from the store. Then I just paint up them bit by bit.

I like to paint them in pieces so its easier to reach certain areas of the model so i usually put them together as much as possible and leave parts that will form hard to reach places (which usually means about half the model isn't put together) then i just put it all together when i'm done painting the model.

I use to do mine based on which one would look cool to do, now I do it a unit or a type at a time. And if they have a Dedicated transport (so I built a box of hormogaunts and I made a spod all together; or a tactical squad of marines and then a rhino/razorback) I try to do that at the same time.

This helps me build units that look the same and I can put the models into action more quickly. When I first started I bought the bike pack and an attack bike, I built one bike made a few marines, made another bike, then a few more marines, then I did the attack bike, I did an HQ piece some more marines and then the third bike. It took me six months to be able to field my bike squad because of doing it that way.

Now I rotate for every unit I finish in my space marine army I then do a unit for my 'Nid army. Of course a 'Nid unit can be 30 models a marine unit is never more than 10. But my marines are 8 or 9 colors (plus all the yellow) while my most complicated 'Nid has 5 tops so it balances out.

It helps me not get bored and it helps me get a better view of what my army might need in the future as well as allowing me to play a lot of small learning style games at growing point totals


Automatically Appended Next Post:

AustonT wrote:Clip off all the bits and organize them in some fashion. Clean the moldlines and sprue vents off of all the parts. Write out an army list and fill it by building the models from the pile o bits.
If you do moldline cleanup when you have a small amount of parts it saves time later.
I'm messy but in the slider box you may see labels like "legs" "arms" "jump packs" etc. In that box are at least 30 marines 10 metal DC 15 Sternies, most of a Baal Pred, 5-10 character models and just assorted bits. That's how I build it works out well for me.

That's a nice looking work area you have.

I'm not much of a painter, myself (my hands are notoriously unsteady, which is why I prefer using controllers vs. KBM in most games), so I tend to not worry about getting units entirely painted. While the bulk of my army is fully base coated, I have yet to do any real detailing outside of my tanks, which have far more leeway in screwups.

Typically, I'll buy a box, assemble it, and then field it. When the mood strikes me or I realize I have a lot of models unprimed, I'll get outside and prime everything that has yet to be primed. Same goes with painting - I have a general sense of lethargy until I notice that I'm fielding a sea of gray, at which point I'll actually do some painting. Honestly, I love to play, and I love to model. I just hate to paint.

I would like to build and paint them a unit at a time but it's not my style, I just looks at that grey mountain and think "challenge accepted"

I build everything first, in case I want to play with that army in the near future. It'd annoy me if I'd spent 3-4 weeks painting and still not being able to play because I don't have a full list. I also dislike heavy proxying (myself, others is fine).

This works for me because I love painting; it doesn't daunt me to see so much primer
I also love having a full army to look at rather than just a few, if beautfiully painted, units. I don't know why i didn't pick a horde army to be honest, as I love having "moar models!!" to look at.

I paint each model individually and in parts. I enjoy watching the army grow little by little. I by far prefer painting to actually playing so this suits me well. I have a number of different boxes of units from different armies, and I paint a different model each time depending on my mood. It varies from the non linear randomness of an ork boy, to the uptight precision of a space marine. They are different to paint and so i slowly build a number of armies one model at a time.

For me buying different models is based mainly on how much fun I would have painting it. (Why I am waiting for my local shop to get a furioso dread in stock again) As such I prefer infantry models as they are more fun to paint which at the end of the day affects how my army is constructed.

I get what I am in need of, then I clean the parts. Then I wash them to get rid of any grease or things like that. Then I assembel, prime, paint and wash