Greetings,

I just received some 1/35 scale figures (WW2 German Infantry and Modern US Army) and I have a question for all of you.

Do you assemble the figures first and then paint them, or do you paint them and then assemble? Is there a preference?

Whenever I do models such as armored vehicles or planes, I usually paint them while they are on the base frame, then cut them off, trim, and touch up. However, it seems as though it would be easier to assmble the figures and then paint them.

What say you?

Input would be appreciated!

Personally, I put them together, then paint. Leave off arms or anything else that gets in the way of painting the torso, but apart from that I build everything. There are people that leave off the accessories too.

I'd have to say assemble first, many figures need some filling and sanding to get them just right so you'd end up having to re paint regardless. I do paint my heads seperatly , and in large groups so your not wasting paint if you've mixed up a batch of flesh colour.

I build it before painting. Sometimes I leave the rifle of but not always. Many figures need filling around shoulders etc. When painting first and then assembling you'll need to fill on top of the paint and so you'll need to fix your paintwork again.

Lars

i personally do it in stages.

1) I glue the leges together
2) glue the torso to the legs, fill areas if necessary
3) add personal equipment like the webbing etc...
4) addthe head then prime the figure.
5) paint the figure but do not paint the face!
6) paint the arms on the sprue still
7) piaint the hands and head because you can use the sprue and the figures as something to support the face so you have a steady hand =]
8) glue the arms and rifle on
9) Finished

Hello Matt, I would say it varies with each and every figure. Some parts can be assembled beforehand and not interefere with the painting. Sometimes assembling an arm, or a piece of equipment will make it more difficult to paint. It also depends on the fit of the parts, I have built figures that needed little or no filler. This will make it easier to paint a figure in subassemblies. I recently worked on the Italeri PT Crew, and they fit very well. I was able to assemble one figure completely before painting (except for the head). For the second one, I left his right arm separate to make it easier to paint him. I always paint the head separate if possible. Hope this helps. Al

Hey Matt,

This is the tutorial that I'm using for my Karl figures. I've tried it and I think it's the easist and in depth instruction on how to build and paint figures. (It's mostly painting but it says how to build):

http://armorama.com//features/2274

What Al said.

I vary my approach based mostly on figure stance and how easy it will be to paint the areas that will be harder to get at when complete. I will either paint with everything disassembled, or just the legs and torso together. I always paint the acesories, gear, weapons, and heads seperate. I paint everything by hand also.