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I'm not sure if this has been discussed previously, but if it has please feel free to remove this!

Does anyone else paint their models while they are still on the sprues?

I find it is easier to get detail in while they are on the sprues. I have tried painting while they were put together, and they look terrible as I couldn't seem to get the brush in certain spots for the detail to be accurate!

My buddy and mentor taught me this way of painting and it seems to do wonders, but when I talk to other people they give me the stink eye like I'm an idiot.

Am I an idiot?

I don't think you're an idiot. The only questions I have are how do you stop from damaging your paint job when you cut and glue everything? And what about the flashing etc? Are you removing all that while still on the sprue?

Whatever works for you is probably the best way to do things.

No, you're not an idiot at all, what you are is someone that hasn't found the magical sweet spot of clipping from the sprues and then mounting to paperclips/pins and cork

I, extremely rarely, assemble then paint. At most, I will part assemble. If you want to paint fast and can happily sleep at night knowing unseen parts of your minis are unpainted (you monster) then you can assemble first. If you are a normal person, you don't

Yeah, I've never seen the point of it, as you wind up having to go back and touch everything up once you cut it off the sprue. And anything with prominent gaps is going to need gap filling and further touch ups...

Far better to assemble first. If you have bits that are going to be problematic to paint around, assemble the rest of the model and attach the problem bits to an old paintbrush or piece of sprue for painting, and then finish assembly when the painting is far enough along.


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kb_lock wrote:
If you want to paint fast and can happily sleep at night knowing unseen parts of your minis are unpainted (you monster) then you can assemble first.

The backs of at least half of my bolters are unpainted.


Uuuuunnnnppaaaaaiiinnteeeeeedddddd....

What you want to do is "smart assembly", which consist of cleaning mold lines, magnetization, drilling gun barrels, green stuff bubbles/gaps/damaged detail, assemble as much as you can without any undercuts, which will prevent you from reaching with your brush. Glue on after you have painted the sections. I spend as much time pre painting as actual painting.

Edit: forgot to mention pinning too, either for support or movement.

These all are some great ideas.

I've been meaning to ask this for some time now, but finally got the nerve now.

My biggest problem was the cutting of the sprue and having to touch it up, but after looking at some of my painted models that I did after I assembled fully, it was worth it!

But doing it piece by piece after cutting them off the sprue is a really good idea. Lets just hope I can keep my hand steady after having two children and them running around me trying to grab everything! haha

Back in the days of the Rogue Trader marines, I did this once. I clipped all the connection points *but one* on each sprue, sprayed it all (grey of all colors, LOL... back then, they were beige on the sprue), and assembled after to make my first Grey Knights.

Basically, I painted over the snipped portion after, and I didn't bother with the mold lines -- but then again, it was something super-cheap like $15 for 30 marines. Wash, and some minimal details and decals, *BOOM* done. Wow, that seems like a lifetime ago...

Obviously, this is not a way to paint great looking models. I probably spend more time prepping 1 model now than I used to spend painting 10

Painting your models entirely in pieces is not always a winning strategy by the way, because there's a tendency to scrape off paint and to get excess glue on the model when you assemble it together. My preference is to glue the upper and lower torso pieces (1-2 legs, chest, back); separately, assemble the arms so they are connected to each other, and ready to slide into place; and the head and backpack separate as well.

So, my typical marine has 2 major assemblies (torso, arms) -- and then I paint the shoulder pads, heads, and backpacks totally separately -- often, I'll 10-50 of one type at a time, and finish all the ones that look a certain way. I find that gives my army more of a consistent look, and that way, when I've done the torso/arms, I can just pick the other pieces and presto!

cut it out and assemble to the point where you an still paint all the parts. For example, a space marine, i assemble the torso to the legs, shoulder pads to the arms and thats it. paint everything seperately and glue them together once its done. i blue tack the parts to a paint pot to avoid smudging the paints.

Just be aware that there are no real fixes and that every option will be a compromise, either in terms of time/work or ease of painting.

Painting is quicker and easier while still on sprue - will need some making good on assembly (paint or gap filling).

Assembling everything first will allow you to quickly field a model - will make painting some things almost impossible.

Sub assemblies is kind of in-between with more prep work than on sprue, and easier to paint than fully assembled.

The quickest, easiest and most enjoyable painting I ever did was a squad of Dire Avengers on sprue.

However, what I actually do is fully assemble then paint - I can live with the imperfect paint job and a few bits that I can't reach at all because they are almost impossible to see without very close scrutiny.

There will be other options that some smart people will have come up with I'm sure. Just like in the rest of life, choose which option suits you best accepting that none are perfect. IE you choose which problem you would prefer to deal with.

Good luck.

I paint on the sprue most of the time or in bits and pieces, I feel that with my sub-optimal painting skills it gives me a better chance to both paint the models better but also allow me to be more happy with the results.

I tried painting on sprue recently and did not think much of it. I don't think I would do it again for 3 reasons.

1. it did not allow me to produce results that were that much better than if I did it assembled. Yes I could reach stuff i normally couldn't, but typically the places a brush can't reach on an assembled model can't be seen on an assembled model, at least at "table distance".

2. There was a bunch of touchup work that needed to be done anyhow. That was frustrating. it felt like I was done, but no I had to go back through and touch up a bunch of stuff.

3. Painting assembled gives you the opportunity to play with the model before it is complete. Some may never do this, but painting assembled at least gives you the option. I usually try to complete the model before I play with it, but I might use it every once in a great while and I like having the option.

It depends on the model. Some models are suited to being painted on the sprue, some aren't. I find most aren't because it's too hard to clean the mould lines on the sprue.

The models that are well suited to it tend to be monopose models where the injection points are on the feet so that you can fully clean the model while it's still on the sprue and then use the sprue to hold it.

Sometimes I'll trim bits off the sprue, clean them, then superglue them back on to the sprue to paint them (superglueing to a inconspicuous area) and then break them off when I'm done painting and assemble.

But mostly the best way to deal with it is paint in sub assemblies. Assemble as much as you can without obscuring detail, then paint, then finish assembling.

I've tried painting on the sprue-didn't work for me.

I usually paint after full assembly but I find I play a few games with unpainted models then get lazy and leave them unpainted for ages.

I have just started part-assembling then painting so I can do a good job on them but can't get lazy as I can't field them until I'm done

I always just fully assemble models. It takes me ages to paint things anyway whether they're assembled or not so it lets me use things in the meantime, and most of the places a brush can't reach when a model is assembled can't be seen properly anyway. Some models (space marines for example) where the gun is seperate I usually leave that off so I can get to the chest easier but that's about it.

Assemble then paint is better, so you can clean the bits properly, assemble and pin properly and gap fill. If not its Gonna be a mess