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Priming, here is the thing. I have seen some people prime there mini's when they are fully assembled and others when they have the torso and legs attached, and now others will prime them when they are still on the Spru. what are the benefits of priming on the spru vs the 1/2 construction? Secondly is it any different to paint the piece on the spru and then assemble it? I was thinking that the primer might cause a Gluing issue but am not sure. currently I am fully assembling my mini and then priming and then painting it. which I think for Table Top quality is ok but I do not want to stay TTQ i want to broaden out and get to the levels of some of the better guys here and possibly start entering some contests. Im open to trying different options to see what feels better to me so gimme some ideas and feedback.

Priming on the sprue is basically just done so you don't have a load of loose parts lying around.

Primer does indeed cause a gluing issue - gluing works best if the bond is between solid materials (ie the plastic or metal, not the paint). In the case of plastic glue, the bond is stronger if it's not contaminated by paint. Thus, it's sometimes useful to assemble at least partially before painting. Also, if you have filling work / greenstuff joints to sculpt etc, this really needs to be done before painting / priming, meaning the basic assembly has to be done too.

This said, you don't want to have to paint 'around' things. If a part will get in the way glued on, don't glue it on.

Leaving things on sprue means your injection points (where the part connects to the sprue) will be bare plastic when trimmed, and also means you can't effectively clean mould lines. I ALWAYS remove from sprue and glue small parts in a convenient spot to cocktail sticks for priming / painting.

I prime after having fully assembled my models.

If you are a beginner I recommend painting on sprues as it will be hard to paint some details that are for example obscured by an arm or a shield. I started painting with a half done model ( just the torso) and the hand seperate. Do as you please acourding to your skill.

I assembled a tact squad and a Dev squad fully when i started and a few things i seen were, Mold lines which i didn't think were too noticeable at first but after the primer went down were really huge. Some of them were pretty easy to paint and others well they are going to be a pain for a new painter to GW stuff. I did Warmachine about 4 years ago and the larger metal models seemed easier because most of them were wide open with very little obscuring. I'm trying out different techniques to see what i feel will be good way that i feel comfortable with.

When it comes down to this, youll end up figuring out what minis work best with what method. Orks are a perfect example (That and Ive painted/assembled a billion of them) Big bosses and nobs, I USUALLY fully assemble and paint, simply because they are huge and its easy to get into every spot on them. Now Im going to have to half assemble my Flash Gits when I get around to building them, simply because the guns are going to block the majority of their torso, and since I like doing details, I wouldnt be able to get in there with big ol honkin guns.

Boyz are pretty much a full assemble and paint, mainly because the average Ork player is going to assemble and paint them into the hundreds. But I could see half assembling shoota boyz if your going for detail, again because the guns cover alot of the mini.

Also ALWAYS clean off the mold lines first, that is a huge step in the prep work of painting. All mold lines pop out like crazy when you paint. Specially when you take a picture of them, thats all you will see is what you missed.

I tried priming on the sprue and here's the problem. When you break them off the sprue you have to sand down the break and prime the area. If you are spraying this means you have to setup your spray area twice.

If you painted on the sprue you would have to repaint that area. This might be a big deal.

I've decided to fully assemble, prime, then paint.

KingCracker wrote:When it comes down to this, youll end up figuring out what minis work best with what method. Orks are a perfect example (That and Ive painted/assembled a billion of them) Big bosses and nobs, I USUALLY fully assemble and paint, simply because they are huge and its easy to get into every spot on them. Now Im going to have to half assemble my Flash Gits when I get around to building them, simply because the guns are going to block the majority of their torso, and since I like doing details, I wouldnt be able to get in there with big ol honkin guns.

Boyz are pretty much a full assemble and paint, mainly because the average Ork player is going to assemble and paint them into the hundreds. But I could see half assembling shoota boyz if your going for detail, again because the guns cover alot of the mini.

Also ALWAYS clean off the mold lines first, that is a huge step in the prep work of painting. All mold lines pop out like crazy when you paint. Specially when you take a picture of them, thats all you will see is what you missed.

Thanks King, that does help as i will be starting my Ork army from the AoBR box set as my second army. these tips do give me a bit of insight on this.

Branderic wrote:I tried priming on the sprue and here's the problem. When you break them off the sprue you have to sand down the break and prime the area. If you are spraying this means you have to setup your spray area twice.

If you painted on the sprue you would have to repaint that area. This might be a big deal.

I've decided to fully assemble, prime, then paint.

Bran: Thank you that gives me a good valid point to Priming/Painting on the Spru. I think that i will try to do the half assembled priming and painting technique to the models where the weapons will obscure the torso since i want to start working on a more detailed sense of painting instead of just going... Well there only TTQ why do i care what the Aquilla looks like under the gun.

Prime after you've assembled this makes it easier to glue

what i was going to do was, Assemble the Legs and torso, Prime them so i can get to the back and Aquilla easier, then do the head and back pack, and then the Arms and shoulders and weapons. since getting the right pose with the weapons will take a bit of time but ive gotten a few good tips on the Blue tac to help with setting them up so i can see the placement.