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Possibly a silly question, but I am finishing up my redemptor dreadnought(my first and only built one) and getting ready to prime him and was wondering how people go about priming them with the moving parts. Should I glue the different parts into the positions I want or should I leave them to being able to move?

I prime a lot of stuff in parts.

Sometimes I use a dab of superglue to attach them to sticks, other times I just put them on the cardboard and hit them with the rattle-can. Small bits needs to be secured, or risk being blown around.

I'm a fan of priming and even partially painting separate sub-assemblies. Ensures full coverage with sprays and avoids some potentially awkward brush angles. It also leaves both options open, as far as gluing moving parts or not, if you mask the mating surfaces. Poster putty (Blu-Tac, et al.) works well for this and can double as the mounting adhesive, if the area is large enough.

That is an idea I am going to steal going forward, I didn't really think about that when I first started painting, and have realized since then that trying to paint in some places can be a bear after assembly. Was wondering what people did if they had already glued and built it, except for the sections the directions said not to glue. Would I still be able to prime those and how?

Hawaiian_Shirt_Harry wrote:
That is an idea I am going to steal going forward, I didn't really think about that when I first started painting, and have realized since then that trying to paint in some places can be a bear after assembly. Was wondering what people did if they had already glued and built it, except for the sections the directions said not to glue. Would I still be able to prime those and how?

I think the theory is “if I can’t get a brush to it, nobody can see it anyway “. Not my philosophy, so just what I recall from the other side of past debates.

I paint in parts, and it bugs me when I can’t. Assemble the model in a few parts as you can, and still have easy access. But things like robes and cloaks will often need to be smoothed and filled, so can’t be left separate on a lot of models.

 Nevelon wrote:
I think the theory is “if I can’t get a brush to it, nobody can see it anyway “.

That's the gist of it, from what I've heard over the years. I think a lot of that has more to do with only partially painting aquilas and the like on the armor of old Space Marines holding boltguns across their chests than it does with the awkwardness of trying to get a brush in a controllable way to parts that are completely visible on the generally more dynamic and detailed kits you see, nowadays. That mantra was being parroted ad nauseum when I first came to Dakka and I bought into it, to my detriment. I got frustrated and started painting in sub-assemblies while still working on models from the Assault on Black Reach starter set.

More to the OP's latest question: In those sort of cases, I try to get creative with the angles and spray the problematic areas FIRST. You'll see how the primer lands and it will be easier to try and avoid drowning out details as you try to hit the occluded areas and end up laying extra coats on the outside over existing layers. Also, remember the purposes of primer: 1) to unify the underlying color and 2) more importantly, to give subsequent layers of paint something sturdy and 'grippy' to adhere to. Even if there's just a dusting, it will still help. If I had sparsely covered spots on my fully assembled models, I'd hit them with a brush and thinned black (my primer of color of choice, at the time) craft paint. It was mainly to even out the base layer I would then work from, but I never had any issues with flaking, chipping, or an inability of paint to adhere. It's not ideal, but it will likely suffice. I would also try to paint those areas first, knowing full well that the awkward angles meant that I'd never do a great job - I just did the best that I could. I knew that doing my best there likely meant that I'd end up with stray paint elsewhere, so best not to waste previous efforts or triple my time and anxiety, trying to snake my brush in like I was playing Operation, scared of the buzzer.