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So I've been painting models for a long time now, technically like 9 years now, but I'm far from a pro. My models come out looking the way I like, and my friends all say the paint jobs are fantastic, but I'm getting skeptical about my methods lately. I was watching some Blue Table Painting videos (I love that guy, he's a riot), and saw that he had some metal Hordes models built and based before they were even primed. That struck me as odd, and I thought the models must not actually be permanently attached to the bases yet. Anyway, I digress. This go-around with 40k, I've been using this process on almost all of my models, aside from 3 warriors I bought pre-assembled:

Wash the sprues in soapy water
Air dry
Prime with black primer, works best with my color scheme
Remove the parts I need, one by one, and deflash/de-mould line them
Glue body parts together, for example get the torso in one piece
Paint each individual part, arm 1, arm 2, arm 3 and 4?(lol tyranids), torso, legs, waist, etc. etc.
Glue the model together
Glue to base
Conduct basework

So far I think all my models have turned out nicely, but I just bought 2 trygons and Hive Tyrant, along with 5 or so other models. All of these metal models have gaps out the wazoo that need to be puttied. The Trygons fit together nicely and could probably work with my one piece at a time method.

This turned in to a drawn out rant, so all in all, how do you build and paint your models? Do you ever have trouble painting a model after its completely assembled? And what about priming a built model, any difficulties?

Thanks

1. Wash/dry
2. Cut parts out for one model
3. Clean flash/mold lines
4. Assemble model
5. Prime
6. Procrastinate for 2 weeks
7.Paint a model
8. See 6.

I tend to avoid assembly line procedures. I tried it, and found out that there wee so many details I over looked.

Commander Endova wrote:1. Wash/dry
2. Cut parts out for one model
3. Clean flash/mold lines
4. Assemble model
5. Prime
6. Procrastinate for 2 weeks
7.Paint a model
8. See 6.

I tend to avoid assembly line procedures. I tried it, and found out that there wee so many details I over looked.

Pretty much the same. Sometimes when I know the join won't look awkward and there's a tricky bit to paint I put the gluing off until after it's painted.

Commander Endova wrote:1. Wash/dry
2. Cut parts out for one model
3. Clean flash/mold lines
4. Assemble model
5. Prime
6. Procrastinate for 2 weeks
7.Paint a model
8. See 6.

I tend to avoid assembly line procedures. I tried it, and found out that there wee so many details I over looked.

I do the same except I get to step 4 then procrastinate for 2 weeks

1: Cut off sprue
2: Cut away mold line
3: Assemble
4: Wash before priming
5:Spend X minutes painting.
6:Look at model , see parts i missed.
7:Spend X minute x2 fixing the mistakes.
8: Freaks out because most of the time it ends up worse.
9: Gets depressed... because most of the time i spend 3x amount of time "fixing" things i painted.

Y'all wash before priming? I only do that for metal models...

1. Open box.
2. Admire sprues.
3. Wash and brush all sprues with warm water and an old toothbrush. If metal, then I use a bit of dish soap to get rid of that annoying white powder.
4. Clip pieces off.
5. File away the parts where it was attached to the sprue, if there's a little nub of plastic.
6. Eliminate mold lines.
7. Glue together components (minus bolter)
8. Base it in sand.
9. Prime it with black.
10. Apply basecoats
11. Apply washes for shading
12. Apply midtone
13. Weathering, etc.
14. Highlights
15. Paint base
16. Spray with matte varnish
17. Hope said varnish doesn't fog up
18. Apply static grass

Throughout those steps is much correcting. But that's basically mine.

I call shenanigans!!!


We all know gamers don't wash anything!

1. Wash/dry
2. Cut parts out for one model
3. Clean flash/mold lines
4. Assemble 5-10 models
5. Prime
6. Procrastinate for 2 weeks
7.Paint a 5-10 models
8. See 6.

1) Wash / dry
2) Clip all parts off with large nail side cutters
3) Scrape mold lines off with blade
4) Drill and pin metal/metal, plastic/metal joins sometimes pin feet to raise due to fancy base.
5) Glue with appropriate adhesive.
6) Any gaps apply green stuff and smooth join.
7) Where possible apply fender washer into base.
8) Complete a squad or one vehicle.
9) Wash / dry finished results (oils from my fingers are killer).
10) Gouge, rough sand base.
11) Apply white glue to base.
12) Dip in mixed sands or whatever is the terrain of the day.
13) Mask-off any bases or clear you do not want painted.
14) Prime on dry day (black usually) apply to painting stick (double sided tape).
15) When dry, put parts on holder (wine corks, old paint containers, etc)
16) Procrastinate, perform same as above again, wait for the paint bug to bite.
17) Prepare water, pallets, mixes, choose paints, consult color wheel.
18) Block in areas with opaque paint hopefully the mid-tone color.
19) Lightly highlight areas (drybrush or watered liners).
20) Apply washes or if really ambitious, keep applying progressively darker watered paints.
21) Highlight raised areas with (edges) slightly darker than lightest tone.
22) Take the brightest color and just touch corners, dots on gems / optics.
23) Use fine ink pens or really wee brushes to apply script or details.
24) Apply decals (list all it's own).
25) Apply hard gloss clear coat.
26) Apply matt coat.
27) Let dry for about 4 days preferably in a warm dry area.

Right or wrong it is mine.

1 buy
2 cut of sprue
3 procrastinate for 2 weeks
4 assemble
5 prime
6 base
7 see 3
8 paint for a couple of hours
9 see 3
10 paint a little more
11 see 3
12 forget about model
13 dust off model and finish

Normally my entire process. It's usually by box though, so most of the time not too bad.

Depends on the models really. With Marines I'm generally good to assemble, glue basing grit down, shave mold lines, prime and paint. With Orks (namely shoota boyz) it's best to prime and paint them on the sprue, as they have lots of big bitz that get in the way of painting.

1. Forcefully cut bits off sprue with dull knife.
2. Go get band-aid.
3. Assemble model crudely, and base it.
4. Complain loudly while re-gluing on any/all parts that have fallen off the model.
5. Obliviously knock over the model, breaking off a piece.
6. Prime awkwardly in the wind; complain how primer is wasteful.
7. Realize I've forgotten to sand off my mold lines and such, curse, do so, re-prime.
8. Procrastinate by looking at other people's paint jobs/modeling jobs. Compare them to mine, telling myself how terrible mine look.
9. Paint the "major color areas" of the model from biggest areas to smallest detail areas, usually crudely.
10. Wash thoroughly, because I believe that wash magically makes the model look like it was painted professionally.
11. Matte sealer spray.
12. Never ever apply a scenic base, constantly think about how cool it would be.
13. Throw the completed model unceremoniously into a pile, where they will be broken in under a week.

There you have it; the Frosty method.

^

This is how I do it. Except I normally require around 3-4 band-aids.

1: Wash in simple green (for resin bits)
2:cut off sprue
3:clean flash/mold lines
4:assemble many models using superglue
5: Prime a bunch of models
6: paint'em 1 by 1
7: varnish my models.

Base 'em magically somehow somewhen in those steps.

1.ravage the plastic sealing open with my teeth and rip up the box
2.slide out the sprues and stare at them for a bit
3.chop out all sprues clean mould lines and pile them by category/type
4.compare and convert with the bitz box gibbens
5.create base with dead gitz n stuff
6.assemble miniature on base
7.finish base with modeling sand
8.spray that sh@t
9.atempt to paint 1 in sheer excitement of new minis
8.half finish it and give up
9.estimate period of almost year to finish 1500 pts of models
10.reward with excess beer!....well everytime i finish a squad atleast!

I...
Never wash plastic.
Clean mold lines, flash, etc.
Glue with superglue, exclusively.
Rarely undercoat - straight on with foundation paint. This is usually because it's too dark outside for me to spray
Never varnish.