Painting and assembling, which route do you take?

[martinfan5]

How about a topic that have no right or wrong answer , looking at any WIP thread, you see the different ways people go about building their models, and its interesting sometimes seeing how people go about building models, and one way is the painting and assembling process. So I am curious, what way do you prefer?, do you paint all the parts and then start the assembling process?, or do you paint and assemble in steps? And do you prefer to paint the body first or last?

[bobthehobbyguy]

My preference is to do as much pre assembly as possible. For example the engine will be painted as a unit. Before paint I will do a mock up to minimize having to tweak painted parts. Body gets painted at the same time as other parts so that it has time to dry before polishing and foiling.

[GeeBee]

First thing I do is the prep' and paint the body and all other body colour parts, then sort out all the other parts that need to be painted the same colour, these are then mounted on wooden cocktail sticks or clamps usually where the part will be mounted and painted in batches, once the body is painted I usually work on the engine then chassis and finally the interior, the glass is usually the last pieces I touch.

[peter31a]

Yeah, pretty much what Geoff said. If there are some subassemblies that are to be done one colour like engine or chassis then they will be assembled first.

[Jantrix]

I build in sections.

I usually start by determining any fitment issues, by assembling the bare body, glass, interior, chassis, engine with tape. And try to see what problems lie ahead. Nothing sucks like finding a fitment issue at final assembly.

Then the chassis parts are cleaned up, painted, assembled.

Then the engine.

Then the interior.

Finally the body.

As each assembly is completed, the test fitting continues. Paint does add to the size of a part, and as we've all seen (with hoods especially), what fits like a glove in bare plastic, doesn't fit at all when painted.

[Erik Smith]

Pretty much ditto what Rob does - I almost always leave the body for last because I constantly test fit for ride height and clearances and I know I would drop it and destroy the paint. I test fit "glass" and body chrome prior to any work on the body because it is really difficult to make changes too late in the building process.

I try to get most assemblies of the same color assembled then painted - stronger bond and saves times - but I am not so organized that it happens perfectly. I also try to paint all parts of similar color at one time.

[chunkypeanutbutter]

Everything on the chassis is black. Always flat black, no exceptions. Steering, driveshaft, tank, etc... All black.

I gather everything that's flat black and paint it while still on the trees.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I do a lot of heavy mods...top chops, sectioning, other major bodywork, channeling, frame zees, etc...so naturally there's a ton of test fitting before anything gets painted. I'll fit EVERYTHING before paint, and pin things that have a possibility of damaging a finish during assembly.

Edited November 14, 2014 by Ace-Garageguy

[philo426]

I paint in stages'I will assemble and paint the engine block followed by the chassis.The interior comes next and then i paint the body and foil it.

[Tonioseven]

I paint the body first then go on to the rest of the build unless there are modifications to the rest of the build that might affect the body. Depending on how the body turns out, I am then motivated to either finish the build it put it back in the box and leave it for another time.

Edited November 14, 2014 by Tonioseven

[Mike_G]

I paint and wetsand the body first so that the paint has plenty of time to fully cure before polishing while I work on the rest of the model.

[Guest]

I prefer to assemble as much as possible first then do my paint work. As a truck builder (big rigs), I consider the cab and hood to be the body and start with that first. Prep, prime and paint then allow them to cure. Next would be the chassis assembly followed by priming and painting of the chassis. Engine, wheels and interior are next following the same order of prep, prime and paint. Detail painting such as window rubbers, body lines and BMF are done to the cab and hood as needed followed by the windows and interior installation. Chrome accessories come last.

[tubbs]

i assemble also, the more i can put together, the better. but i paint backwards from everyone else. i do a lot of pro street and drag cars which takes a lot of body to chassis fitting, so usually the body, for me, is the last thing to get painted and put together.... if the build even makes it that far.

[chunkypeanutbutter]

I always build the interior, chassis, and engine first and get it rolling. Then I paint the body and when it dries add on the body parts. Unless it's a model of a car with replaced or rebuilt parts, I'll do this before weathering, but most times not.

[Lunajammer]

If there are heavy body mods I do those very first because if I don't like how things are going, then I haven't wasted time building the rest. Otherwise I very loosely follow the order of the instructions. But in the name of efficiency I skip steps to work on other units while paint/glue is drying.

[CJ1971]

Everything on the chassis is black. Always flat black, no exceptions. Steering, driveshaft, tank, etc... All black.

I gather everything that's flat black and paint it while still on the trees.

I think you'll find that there ARE quite a few exceptions to your flat black decor scheme.... ?

[Deathgoblin]

Paint the body. while waiting on the body to dry, primer everything so I can see any defects. wetsand the body and polish. build the critical subassemblies and paint. I tend to build and paint some things at the same time.

[Snake45]

My paint and assembly sequence is on a case-by-case basis and is based on about 55 or more years of experience in building these things, both airplanes and cars. For more of my insights on this issue, see my sig line.

[om617]

When i started out i had trouble with fitment,the reason was because i did not prep parts before paint and test fitting them.

Now things go together much more easy,even if it takes a little more time i feel it`s worth it when time comes to assemble.

Now i start out with the chassis,then engine,interior and then paint and prep the body with foil and sometimes polish it.

The final that goes on is glass and chrome. I do my best not to touch these parts,even use glows if i have to blackwash

or put on some clear paints as indicators or so on bumpers.

Also i appriciate all the tips and tricks learned on here,example those small things as drill tiny holes and use pins when

you are going to mount tiny parts as hoses,mirrors,doorhandles etc on final assembly,it has eased the frustration level

a great deal.

[hgbben]

Body sub-assemblies and chassis. Have to see how the body and chassis will look like with suspension components during test fitting. Chassis parts most of the time are semi-gloss black with misc. detailing. Interior is next on the list. Body next followed by engine assembly. Glass installation during final assembly of kit.

[Harry P.]

Everything on the chassis is black. Always flat black, no exceptions. Steering, driveshaft, tank, etc... All black.

Why? That's not very accurate.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Why? That's not very accurate.

Maybe it's a Goth thing.

[Harry P.]

Maybe it's a Goth thing.

[PARTSMARTY]

To be perfectly honest-depending on the build I do it a little of what everybody else said.A lot though is fit body parts and get them painted and let them have plenty of time to dry properly.again a lot has to do with my ideas of how I'm gonna build it.i do paint engine sub-assemblies as one piece.i've been building about 53 years and love it now more than ever.

[Snake45]

Why? That's not very accurate.

I did it that way too, when I was his age.

Still do sometimes, such as if I'm doing a one-piece chassis and/or a curbside build. Not every build I do these days gets a full ration of my awesome styrene skillz.