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I am a novice when it comes to painting and modelling. I really want to be able to assemble models completely and then paint them. The problem I am having is being able to paint them decently when I don't have free range to spin the parts and paint them at any angle. This is mainly an issue for smaller models. I picked Skaven as my Fantasy army and I'm trying to find ways to quicken the painting process. Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated!

It all depends on what quality of paintjob you want. If you're going for very high end, you should only assemble as much as you can without blocking areas, paint the resulting parts separately, and then assemble.

If you are looking for speed, assemble then paint, but understand the paint job won't be as thorough.

For models like Skaven infantry you should be fine assembling them and painting them later. This will allow you to play with your guys faster. Now for bigger models like your screaming bell that will probably be better to sub assemble all of the parts then paint then final assemble so you'll be able to get all of the details done properly.

If I can fully assemble a model and still be able to reach all of the detail, which is true for most infantry and cavalry, then I do. For bigger things like Monstrous Cav and Monsters I will assemble as much as I can then paint then final assemble. I used the latter technique for the Mournfang Cavalry, Ironblaster and most recently the Terrorghiest in my gallery. All of the Ogres I fully assembled and then paint at my leisure.

I would recommend leaving the base off of your models and finishing it before you attach the finished model as it will allow you to do better bases. If you are more interested in getting games in you can base them after/during the painting process while they are fully assembled.

Hope this helps.

I prefer painting in parts where possible. With some models like the Skaven Doomwheel, this is a must. With others like Clanrats, you can go ahead and assemble the whole thing and just prime & paint from there. The more complex a model is, or the more difficult detail is to get a brush to, the more I tend to paint in parts.

Thanks for the replies guys! I appreciate it.

I remove everything form the frame and clean all mold lines. This is not possible to do completely while still on the frame. Then I assemble in sub-assemblies. How? Well, just do what seems natural. Build the model so that you can reach everything without a fuss. If something seems like it will be in the way, leave it off till painting is finished. It takes a while to get a feel for it maybe, but just get some bluetac to hold things together till you see how it will look fully assembled. You can usually assemble legs, torso, and head without issue - arms usually always get in the way. You can usually get away with attaching one of the arms, though. What to do with the other arm? Get yourself some toothpicks, drill a small hole into the arm where it connects to the body (and is unseen when glued), shove the toothpick in the hole (you may need to nip the nub off the tooth pick to get it to fit best - if the hole is shallow), then attach all the arms to a odd piece of sprue glued to a sturdy base. Attach the other end of the tooth pick to the sprue piece the same way, but glue it in this time. Now you have a sturdy base to spray prime and paint assembly style!

It depends a lot on the model. If you're just starting and you are working with push-fit pieces (like Dark Vengeance or Space Hulk), where there are only 3 pieces to a model and there isn't much, if any, customization, I would paint most of it unassembled in order to reach everything.

TIP: on push-fits, cut off half of the insertion tab, so that you don't need to press hard to assemble the pieces afterwards, and so that when you do a test fit, you can easily pull the pieces apart. If you don't, the assembly process gets too much of your fingers on the painted pieces, resulting in paint flaking off, and you having to rework parts. Sometimes, if the pieces don't line up perfectly, like many space marine arms (right arm + weapon + left hand), I cut off the tab entirely for a better fit.

Now, on multi-part plastic, that just isn't possible. If a model has 12 pieces, there are issues with painting completely unassembled: first, you'll end up detailing a bunch of stuff that isn't even visible when you're done (like armor behind a tabard, because you had a choice of 4 tabards). Second, it's harder to effectively shade and highlight. Third, greenstuff, modelling, remediation, and gap-filling aren't practical post-painting. On the priming end, it's a pain to prime a zillion little pieces that can blow off into the wind (let's say you're doing a squad of 10 space wolves or kabalites...). Finally, it's hard to assemble everything afterwards and not damage the paint job, when there are many pieces. In the case of a squad, it's hard to even keep all the pieces straight (whose arm was that?!).

So, on MPP, I like to assemble as much as possible while keeping everything accessible. Usually, this means 2 pieces, plus the head, which I almost always paint separately if it's not a helmet. On a really complex 28mm piece, it might be as many as 5 pieces, but that's pretty rare.

Finally, for MPP, I will prime and basecoat everything, then actually get the connecting areas 95%+ finished, and assemble the pieces, then finish the entire model. This is because if there are fit issues or modelling issues, I don't want to catch it after I've spent 20 hours.

For large models (like vehicles), a lot more judgment is required. In many cases, I'd like to paint certain pieces separately, but this isn't possible, because if I do so, I can't greenstuff the seams. For models like Druthu (Treeman Ancient) or Nagash, if you were to paint it 100% in pieces it would be pretty darn confusing.

Also, don't forget that you can partially paint, as well as partially assemble. Deep recesses that would be hard to access on a fully assembled model are generally going to be simply textured and in deep shadow - there's little reason to do more than a basecoat and simple shading, there.

I'll generally assemble a model (infantry, that is - things like vehicles with hard edges and a set "pose" can be painted more or less to completion while still in parts with no ill effect) after, at most, the basic block highlights that follow shading. The upward- and outward-facing surfaces that require further highlights, then, are in their final position, allowing me to properly account for occlusion, direction of light source, etc. I can also do any cleanup of the joins required before too much complex work has been done around them. Best of both worlds, as there's nowhere I can't reach (since I start in sub-assemblies) and everything matches (since I finish the model as an assembled piece).

Yes, partial paint + assembly is very useful. I did it with my drop pod, Crimson Hunter, and techmarine. The first two I did the interior in full, complete detail, and just assembled Basecoated pieces around them. The techmarine just got some quick red and leadbelcher on his butt that was blocked by the harness. Other models, skaven infantry for example, don't have as many hard to reach places. Even with shields, the skaven are pretty well paintable.

Use common sense. I personally like to put together what i can, prime it all together, then build it up and paint in a continuous process. Keeps it from getting dull and gives good results. Sometimes its easier to paint parts still on the sprue, or pinned in a lump of cork. Always paint heads seperately. I either pin them in cork or just put them in a lump of blu tak on a paint pot.

I always do partial assembly. For infantry I use tac to pose it roughly how i want, then look for ways to maximize how much I have put together. Most times (as has been said) its just legs-torso-head, but depending on the model i can attach an arm. Makes it much easier to prime and lay down the base colors, then I will pick out any details that will be hard to reach after assembly (chest emblem on marines for example). Once that's done i go ahead and assemble and finish painting. Goal is to get it together prior to doing highlights/shading to make sure that is all done evenly.

For Skaven, your need to paint hundreds of ranked-up models in gigantic blocks. Painting every single bit perfectly is unnecessary and will just discourage you. Assemble an entire unit, block in the main colors, wash, and highlight. Done.

I must be an aberration! I assemble the entire model, glue it to the base, apply basing material, paint the base, then paint the entire miniature. Rarely will I paint in sub-assemblies. I dunno, just seems like a lot of extra work to have arms and bits tacked to corks or pins and then put it all together after the fact. You've probably painted stuff that no one will ever see, and then you have to scrape paint off of bits where they glue together.

 the_Armyman wrote:
For Skaven, your need to paint hundreds of ranked-up models in gigantic blocks. Painting every single bit perfectly is unnecessary and will just discourage you. Assemble an entire unit, block in the main colors, wash, and highlight. Done.

I must be an aberration! I assemble the entire model, glue it to the base, apply basing material, paint the base, then paint the entire miniature. Rarely will I paint in sub-assemblies. I dunno, just seems like a lot of extra work to have arms and bits tacked to corks or pins and then put it all together after the fact. You've probably painted stuff that no one will ever see, and then you have to scrape paint off of bits where they glue together.

Yeah, if you want to just play, it will be 6 months before your first game, if every model is your best effort. When I first started 40k, I probably painted 60 models in 60 hours. Now, I probably paint 3-6 models in 60 hours -- heck, I'll spend an hour or two prepping a model I really like.

If your interest is painting and modeling, after you have a few hundred models, the next few thousand will just finish as they finish. Personally, I derive satisfaction from seeing improved skills, which I can't see if a model is just a quickie.

Also, GW models (and even PP metal and large models) are so damn expensive to not give a really good effort.

 troa wrote:
It all depends on what quality of paintjob you want. If you're going for very high end, you should only assemble as much as you can without blocking areas, paint the resulting parts separately, and then assemble.

If you are looking for speed, assemble then paint, but understand the paint job won't be as thorough.

I disagree, it depends entirely on what methods you use to paint the figure - a high end paintjob using a two- or three-tone primer coat and glazes requires that you assemble as much of the model as possible before you even lay down said primer coat, or you risk the angles of the highlights and shadows not properly matching when you put everything together. Sure if the model is holding a weapon across the chest you have to leave that off and just do your best to hit it from the same directions, but painting the model in half a dozen sub-assemblies or still on the sprue is just a recipe for madness with that technique.

 Yodhrin wrote:
I disagree, it depends entirely on what methods you use to paint the figure - a high end paintjob using a two- or three-tone primer coat and glazes requires that you assemble as much of the model as possible before you even lay down said primer coat, or you risk the angles of the highlights and shadows not properly matching when you put everything together. Sure if the model is holding a weapon across the chest you have to leave that off and just do your best to hit it from the same directions, but painting the model in half a dozen sub-assemblies or still on the sprue is just a recipe for madness with that technique.

Full or almost-full assembly is less of an issue with metal figures, because you can't 2-part cast areas that are unpaintable; with MPP, there's often parts like a piece of cloth that wraps around a leg, or a tabard or chain mesh that falls in front of armor that's still visible, though. The gap isn't zero, so you can see what's behind it, but the cap isn't more than a couple of millimeters, so you can't paint behind it. If you don't at least paint some of the piece behind, a causal view from an angle and at distance might not catch it, but if you inspect it carefully or photograph it, it looks disappointing. Especially on the $30 plastic/finecast Citadel single 28mm models this is an issue, and I think that's what troa was referring to. I can't imagine fully pre-assembling then painting the new Haemonculus.

As I mentioned, it's hard to gauge lighting when it's fully disassembled -- especially object source lighting and determining a zenith, if the model isn't posed.

Depends on what I'm doing to be honest, if it's something like the last gen tac marine/ chaos marine I build it completely and leave the boltgun separate and use a small dab of super glue after everything else is done.

I feel your pain, except my problem is just delaying gratification!

I like to assemble models and not have to wait until I can afford spray (I go through undercoat spray like toilet paper, I think I am a bit TOO thorough with the spray).

Basically if it's a bigger model, like my Dark Eldar Raider for example, I'll do sub assemblies. But if it is just a character or infantry, take the new Haemonculus (who has a lot of finicky details), I'll sooner build it in it's entirety or just build them with very open poses.