Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hi everybody. Just wondering if i should assemble my models first or paint them first. If i watch a youtube video on painting the models are already assembled before the painting starts so how do you get into all the fine detail parts and make sure you make no mistakes? What advantages does assembling first have?

Assembling lets you do stuff like zenithal priming, and other lighting effects, particularly from airbrushes, as well as find any assembly problems (eg. gaps in molds, ill-fitting pieces) before painting. If you're just going for tabletop, you can always use sticky-tack to temporarily hold models together. Basecoat and shade un-assembled then maybe temporarily assemble to add light effects, such as highlighting, including drybrushing any lighter colors.

No rules and definitely do whatever works best for you!

Its hard to properly shade and highlight a figure when the final pose is not determined yet.

I think the most common thing to do is build as much as possible without obscuring details; the most common example is probably a space marines boltgun. Lots of people will paint those seperate so they can do the chest details.

Another common point of view on the subject is that if you cant reach it, or its covered up, then it doesnt matter and will not be seen.

generally I find it easier and better to clean the flashing/assemble first.

I usually do partial assembly if doing it all the way would cover the chest or something,

I also tend to do the weapons separately so I can apply effects to them, really depends on the particular model.


I cannot clean the peices till they are off the sprue, so painting on the sprue I find means I end up just repainting after.

It depends on the model and painting method.
Especially with airbrushing, carefully considering how far to assemble a model before you prime, basecoat and maybe highlight it is a giant time saver.

Compared to painting an assembled or partially assembled wraithknight, painting the carefully planned sub-assemblies with the airbrush and then following up with a regular brush for details before assembly worked out great for me.

I just can't stop myself form fully assembling, then painting. But i also suck at painting, and don't use an airbrush lol.

It really depends upon the model. I do both. I always assemble the model before final highlights but I find it easier to basecoat sub assemblies first and then put it together for detailing.

I have to agree with the others - it depends on the model.

Usually for bigger models I will build into subassemblys, prime and paint those, then assemble - and do any shading or what not if needed.

Now, this is usually only done if for some reason it would be very challenging to get certain colors done if it were assembled.

I paint first. I paint as much as physically possible, assemble then shade and highlight afterwards. Its easier to get all the finer details looking crisp and tidy when in pieces.

I don't use an airbrush so can't comment on the ease painting or pre assembling in that case. But I've been painting for nearly 20 years and tried many different ways and this seems the most conving to me.

I also favour the "depends on the model approach".

Smaller, "open" models like bloodletters can be assebled and painted afterwards. When doing large models and especially vehicles it pays to break it down to several modules which are then assebled after painting.

I think the tutorials use assebled models simply because it's easier to show what is done in every step on the whole model instead of shoving a dozen pieces into the camera.

Depends on the standard I'm aiming for the model and how much I plan to use the airbrush for painting that model.

Display standard I would clean and dry fit everything to make sure it fits together and get the pose right. I then would dissemble pretty much everything and paint it separately. If you do this you need to scrape the joints after painting for the glue to work properly if its a plastic to plastic.

Tabletop standard I would just build it and then paint. One exception is heads and guns, these I dry fit then paint separate. Both because they are usually a completely different colour thus a focal point for the eye so you want to spend a bit more time on them and they are usually really easy to fit back onto the model once it is complete.