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sorri
11-19-2013, 04:02 AM
I'm trying to get back into painting (finally getting shelving up and getting my equipment unpacked after the move ... a couple years ago :(), and I've been watching videos on airbrushing and reading discussions. I've seen the "assemble the whole thing and then paint" posts and the "assemble pieces, paint them, and then put it the rest of the way together" posts. Seems like most people that do videos on airbrushing are in the second camp. But you never see how people actually assemble them -- one second the dreadnought has no arms, then it suddenly does. Most of the videos I've seen have shown people getting paint/primer all over the join points as well. I know that paint on paint is a crappy bond, and if you're talking plastic glue that's worse, but I've also seen posts saying that you shouldn't be cleaning paint off join areas because it's easy to mess up the paint job and you're much more likely to get your natural oils over the paint. I've always been in the camp of assembling the whole model and then painting, since I've never seen how it would work to just paint the pieces, leave the join points unpainted, and either not miss spots (leave too much unpainted) or have the models fall apart (paint too much and the join areas don't hold well enough).

So, how do people do this? What's the collective wisdom say on the subject? Any pointers would be appreciated since I have a ton of plastic on sprues that I'm starting to itch to assemble and get painted up. Maybe that itch will even carry me into finding a place to play up here. :) (If not, my oldest daughter is just about ready to start learning. :))

Thanks!

Strigis
11-19-2013, 11:54 AM
I normally white glue over any joints that I don't want to get paint on them if it'll be a multi-piece paint project. It dries clear and comes away from metal and plastic easily and doesn't leave any residue. I've also had luck covering joints with leftover milliput or green stuff same as the glue method.

I'm not particularly fond of airbrushing and as such don't so I'm not any help in regards to that but I'm sure there's some guys on here that do airbrush that can give some insight to their best practices.

brother captain berk
11-19-2013, 11:56 AM
I assemble to the point that fuether assembly would hinder painting process, or if I intend to magnitize options. The tac squad I juat put together I assembled just no guns ill go in and prime and then glue in weapons after. Its really to each their own. You can always mask joining points to keep paint off them

blueshift
11-19-2013, 11:56 AM
in my experience its a model-by-model basis.

sometimes you'll have joints that will never be seen by the human eye. go ahead and get to that level by gluing those parts together. if you have problems reaching somewhere with a brush that will by highly visible, you'll probably have to mask off the joint and airbrush or paint. larger models warrant the piece by piece approach as the joints are easier to mask and airbrush individually.

another part of the puzzle is the scale and complexity you want for your army. if its for gaming, you probably need to batch paint and an airbrush makes this a bit easier. either way you will need to go in with a manual brush and do fine detail like non-glowing eyes and lenses, cables, horns next to fur, straps across torsos or similar equipment, and so on.

personally i am lazy and really don't care how messy i get- i use my thumb or index finger to mask off big areas when i'm airbrushing. it gets the job done but i usually need a good rubdown from lava soap or even a bit of paint thinner when i finish.

FTGT
11-19-2013, 11:56 AM
I used to assemble then paint, but since doing it the other way, I can't go back. The ease of access for some areas is too invaluable, and I think it also helps me break up the painting and tasks, and keeps me from getting bored or lazy. Also, for airbrushing it frees you up a lot more.

For example, I recently painted a Wave Serpent and assembled the top and bottoms and the main turret, but left weapons off. This allowed me to airbrush the weapons one color and the mount another without masking.

As far as assembly, sometimes I use magnets on the parts to be attached, but even when I'm planning on gluing I haven't had much trouble. It kind of depends on the piece, but some are recessed or have obvious connection points that can either be cleaned or avoided. I also tend to score my connections before glue if possible to help the adhesion. I haven't noticed any more breakage from either the pre-assembled or post-assembled models.

sukigod
11-19-2013, 12:05 PM
blueshift is probably closest to my style. Model by model basis and how detailed you want to get.

When doing metal minis, I assemble it to a point where I can get a brush to any area I need. The glue points get a spot of bluetack/postertack before priming. I'm not so picky with plastics as a slight scraping with the edge of an Xacto is usually good enough for a solid connection between parts.

Deadlift
11-19-2013, 12:07 PM
I'm trying to get back into painting (finally getting shelving up and getting my equipment unpacked after the move ... a couple years ago :(), and I've been watching videos on airbrushing and reading discussions. I've seen the "assemble the whole thing and then paint" posts and the "assemble pieces, paint them, and then put it the rest of the way together" posts. Seems like most people that do videos on airbrushing are in the second camp. But you never see how people actually assemble them -- one second the dreadnought has no arms, then it suddenly does. Most of the videos I've seen have shown people getting paint/primer all over the join points as well. I know that paint on paint is a crappy bond, and if you're talking plastic glue that's worse, but I've also seen posts saying that you shouldn't be cleaning paint off join areas because it's easy to mess up the paint job and you're much more likely to get your natural oils over the paint. I've always been in the camp of assembling the whole model and then painting, since I've never seen how it would work to just paint the pieces, leave the join points unpainted, and either not miss spots (leave too much unpainted) or have the models fall apart (paint too much and the join areas don't hold well enough).

So, how do people do this? What's the collective wisdom say on the subject? Any pointers would be appreciated since I have a ton of plastic on sprues that I'm starting to itch to assemble and get painted up. Maybe that itch will even carry me into finding a place to play up here. :) (If not, my oldest daughter is just about ready to start learning. :))

Thanks!

I always sub assemble any model I'm going to airbrush, it's far easier that way to get into the hard to reach areas and to avoid cross contamination of colours. You can use blu tac to mask off areas you don't want to get paint on. That works a treat. It can be molded to the shape you want and won't pull any paint off underneath. You must not use it on wet paint though. And even though you will get paint on the blu tac it's still reusable. Another product is a low tact masking tape. Tamiya do some and it comes in various widths. I use both extensively on my models. I also mount individual parts or sub assembled pieces on cork caps using wire so I can airbrush each piece without touching the part and again there's no worry about having "over spray" hit areas you don't want it too. Sukigod here is a fantastic painter and any advise he has to offer is worth listening too as well.
I have put a thread together on BoLs helping folks get into airbrushing, BigReds currently posting it as a series on the front page too.

http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?36597-Deadlifts-Airbrush-experiences

Covers a lot of the basics which to be honest, sounds like you have already but I hope it may help.
Deadlift.

SLYTXDEVIL
11-19-2013, 12:24 PM
I predominately paint and then assemble the model. I either mask off or don't paint the joints and then after painting and gluing if I need to touch up, it always seems easier to touch up then it is to try and squeeze in. I buy models secondhand and refurb them, so I spend a lot of time freezing models to help break the bonds on the arms and sometimes heads and weapons to reconfigure. So I do a lot of sanding and simple green cleaning, but it has shown me I would rather paint in pieces and then finish overall. :) But that's just me.

sorienor
11-19-2013, 07:54 PM
The short answer is there is no right or wrong way. You need to figure out what is best for you.

I do both. It really is on a model-by-model basis.

When assembling the painted pieces, there is a nice trick for plastic. Assemble before you varnish, as acrylic paints are porous. Plastic glue will soak though the paint and melt the plastic and create nearly the same bond as if there was no paint at all.

Morgrim
11-19-2013, 08:04 PM
I've never had issues using plastic glue over thin layers of paint, because the glue dissolves the paint just fine. For metal models if I'm painting them in sections it generally means I'm pinning that joint, so the easy option is to only dryfit the pin and then glue it into the predrilled holes afterwards. If I glue one end of the pin then a quick rub with any form of solvent or a piece of sandpaper will remove any paint on the exposed end of the pin.

sorri
11-19-2013, 10:34 PM
Thanks everyone, some good suggestions. Good to hear that the painted sub-assemblies have historically held on par as the assembled-and-painted models, and I didn't realize that the glue would go through/dissolve the acrylic paint on the model. That makes lots of sense to me. It also gives me another reason to do do thinner layers of paint. :) (I airbrushed my GK army I took to BoLScon, back when it was, and while I really liked the interesting silver pearlcoat like look my paint mix gave me, I'm now realizing I used *way* too much paint -- I think I went through 2-3 2 oz. bottles of mixed paint for a Draigo/Coteaz GK army (with a couple stormravens, granted, but...).)

Deadlift- Thanks for the articles and the lounge post. I actually went through the whole thing and pulled some info on equipment to buy/try, as well as all the tips. Your posts in particular have gotten me back on this kick. So thanks -- I think it's time again. :)