As the title suggests this is my first time building a model of any kind.

My first attempt is an Italeri made SWS with Flak 43. I dont know if this is easy/medium/hard build for a first timer? But with no skills or experience i am throwing myself in there and sometimes find it hard, sometimes easy.

Thing is.... i started painting the parts as and when i got to them. What i have noticed on here though, is that many build the model first, then paint afterwards. All good and well, until you have all those finiky little bits thats you just cant get to, like in the cab and under chairs etc

Can anyone offer a good reference point for a newbie and how to paint there model.

Any help, most appreciated.

That is something i have trouble with a lot. Most modelers use airbrushes. I unfortunately cant afford one. so i paint methodically.

In a case like yours I would paint the cab as I go along, or in subsections, then the running rear wheels and tracks ( hard to reach places) before attaching. then the rest.

With my sherman, the first thing to be painted was behind the wheels ( before the wheels were attached. then the wheels. then attach ( make sure there is no paint where the glue goes. Easy enough to scratch off paint .)

Best not to paint things on the sprues too!

hope that is helpful!

LPJ

Another Aussie joins the Kitmaker team, always a good thing !

Although I'm predominantly an aircraft modeler, I have dabbled in armor and vehicles a bit, and I have found THIS THREAD invaluable for tips on all painting and weathering techniques.

Welcome to the best scale modeling site on the interweb, and don't be shy about asking questions, asking for help, or displaying your progress. The people here are an endless source of information, advice and just plain entertainment.

Cheers, D

Welcome. Building and painting can be fun and relaxing and keeps the hands moving and mind thinking.

I brush paint everything. I'll paint things as I go. If I know I'm going to place something some where where it will be hard to paint later, I'll paint first and then glue. Even if it's just a thin coat. I always paint a chassis before I place things like road wheels, idler, etc.

RW..;

Hi! and welcome to the best world-wide club (plastic modeling) going!

Starting out with an Italeri sWs kit... Wow! But that's the one you have started with, so get in there and enjoy it!

Now-a-days I mostly air-brush my panzers, but I started out 45 years back with the brush and little paint-tins... My current take on the general procedure is pretty much like some others have posted - work sub-assemblies and paint behind wherever added-on things will make reaching in later difficult. My rule of thumb is "IF I can see in there, paint goes in there" - which calls for painting some surfaces before tools and details go on.

Bear in mind though that making a paint-job coherent and consistent over the whole thing calls for trying to paint as much of it intact as is reasonably feasible - specially so for camo jobs, where patterns may go over attached boxes and other detail bits.

Tracks and track-gear (sprockets, wheels, rollers, bogie frames and bits) do better when painted separately and then added onto a painted hull, IMHO.

And like James said; AVOID painting stuff on sprues!

Welcome aboard and do ask questions - there are many good folks here who will gladly help you along!

Bob

I use both an airbrush as well as handpainting on most all my kits. However, I am a firm believer in painting some parts on the sprue. This is especially true of smaller parts. It is much easier to paint these on the sprue vs trying to hold them and paint them seperately. I will seperate and assemble as much as possible, any parts to be airbrushed.

Removing painted parts from sprue does leave a small blemish, but I find it much easier to go back and touch up a very small spot after cementing the part in place. Often, these small blemishes are hidden after assembly and don't require any touch up at all. I like to prepaint as much as possible before I start assembling. This allows me to build much more quickly than if I were to paint the parts step by step as I assemble the kit.

Interior parts, such as dashboards on vehicles or instrument panels on aircraft cockpits are much easier to paint and detail while still on the sprue vs trying to hold them and paint them when seperated from the sprue or after they are cemented in place. I allow paint to dry and set 36-48 hours before I handle the part again and I find it much easier to keep track of small painted parts if they are still attached to the sprue vs simply laying on my bench

I Have never had that problem!
I Guess with armor we dont have too many parts that are small and hard to reach. If i were building a vehicle. with Gearsticks, steering wheel, Radio Detail e.t.c i would go about it by assembling parts into dash, floor, radio. base them. Detail paint. then Glue. and make sure none was showing,

although for a better paint job nowadays I seem to be assembling all but the hardest to reach places.

Is there a specific reason you avoid painting parts while still attached to the sprue? It's something I've done since I began modelling and is second nature at this point. I enjoy hearing how other guys build and some of the tricks and habits they have.

to me it depends on how much clean up i'll have to do after being painted on the sprue, what type of glue will i be useing? simple as that for me, being the lazy male i'm told that i am on occasion, lol.

reb

I haven't tried painting the pieces while still on the sprue either. I have come to appreciate the good results that some people get while using this method and I think it has plenty of merit. I just like putting things together and often forget about using that approach.

I've always painted on the sprue myself. Found the primer and base color to cover more completly. No problem for me to go back and fill or repaint blemishes, I'm in no hurry, this is therapy. Painted details on sprue. Always painted camo after the model was assembled, couldn't see doing it any other way. After coming back after 22 years found my collection in Mom's basement and in pieces. Now I'm restoring the old collection for practice. Paint is now being applied to complete models. New fresh decals applied. When I'm satisfied, I'll start on new kits.

This SWS kit has some touchy areas. The first is the 37mm gun, it's a little challenging to build, especially the ammunition feed. The other place is the tracks. These do fit, but they have to be placed exactly around the the drive sprockets in a particular way for them to work. As well I recommend building the tracks with the wheels as a subassembly, and not glueing the wheels to the vehicle so that these subassemblies can be removed and painted. Oh, and paint your interior first.

Hi RWilson,

Some good discussion and suggestions. Here's another way to deal with the small part / paint question.

What I do for small parts is to cut the sprue apart leaving the kit part still attached to a little sprue "handle." I then clean-up the mold lines and other blemishes. Finally, I cut the part from the sprue "handle" and clean-up that attachment point.

For those small parts that I want to paint separately, after washing the parts, I use toothpicks (cocktail sticks) with little bits of "reverse-rolled" tape on their ends to hold the parts. I airbrush and hand brush paint the parts, moving them around on the end of the tooth pick to reach all the areas.

Here's a couple of happy snaps of small parts being painted this way:











It might seem like a lot of extra work, but I find the extra control and ability to access all the areas of the parts makes the painting much easier and allows for more precision and detail.

I don't do this for all the detail parts, and I actually paint most parts while assembled to the main sub-assemblies of the model. But for those details that can benefit from the extra detail, this is my method.

HTH,

Yes, you should avoid to paint the parts still attached to the sprue UNLESS the sprue attachment point is the joint. Considering that you shouldn't paint the joint, you can use the sprue as an useful support, but is quite hard that all the small parts are attached this way

So, I think the best method is that which Mike has well described in his pics

cheers