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Hello!

Do you have any tips on painting in sub-assemblies for push-fit models? I was just painting a SM primaris captain, and for the first time I decided to give sub-assemblying a try. I found that keeping the huge shield and the small chest shield separate was easy enough, and made it easier to paint some parts that may have been a pain in the butt otherwise. However, one part that I did not give the subassembly treatment and which could have used it was the head (I tried to paint it with more detail, following a Darren Latham video... it did not go well, as in addition to messing up the colors, I have a very poor reach because of the protection around the head). This is where the push-fit element kicks in: with a traditional mini, the head would have been separately glued to the body: easy to sub-assemble. However, the way these primaris are assembled, you "trap" the head part between the front and back of the body when you snap them together, meaning that if you put the body together, then you can't insert the head afterwards. Is there any tried and tested way to overcome this? There is no way I'm painting the two halves of the body separately, so I guess the only way would be to shave the nub at the neck of the head so it slides into the body and glue it in place?

Thanks in advance.

Paint the head and the inside of the neck armor first, then assemble and paint the rest.

Just snip that little nub off. I don't understand why they put them on anyway. The head will go on fine plus you will have the option to put it in any position you like.

If the head is in position then why not try painting the neck gorget with the model upside down, that way you should be able to angle the brush under the chin, sounds weird but it works,

Like QAR said, chop the nub off, it'll allow more posing options and makes it easier to paint.

I also advise filing the pegs a bit so that they're thinner or drill out the holes slightly. That way you can test fit everything without the fear of not being able to separate the parts after. It does mean you'll have to use some glue.

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
I don't understand why they put them on anyway.

Because its a push-fit model, designed not to need glue, without the peg, the head tends to fall off.

Makes sense. I never though about people not gluing them together too...

It's not something I'd do either.

It does feel odd, it's the sort of thing that makes sense if you aren't expected to paint something, yet painting is encourgaged, so why not gluing too?

Thanks for all your comments and advice. I will keep them in mind next time I want to handle a complex sub-assembly. I just put together a bunch of necrons and I'm only sub-assembling the scarabs -i.e., painting them separate from the base. All the other models are pretty straightforward, so the are getting painted whole. But I just ordered a Ragnar, so let's see how that one goes...

If confronted with a similar situation, I will probably chop the nub, but chances of me screwing up and runing the model are strong...

Thanks for the suggestion about filing/thinning the pegs... I have struggled trying to separate parts in the past, and also, sometimes they may not fit all the way in -particularly if you glue them, like I do. So some filing would be a considerable benefit all around, allowing easy disassembly and also ensuring a full fit.