Hi all,
I am about to have a crack at my first AFV (usually only ever painted figures). After reading heaps of mags I have noticed that most "how too's" show a completed kit ready for spraying/airbrushing. Is this common practice?
It seems to me that with wheels/tracks in place it would be harder to get into all those nooks and crannies with a airbrush?
This may seem like a dumb question but I thought with all the experience out there I could get a head start on best practices.

Cheers
Lee

Not a dumb question at all.
Generally, you can airbrush a completed model with no problems. If you have the ability to leave off the raod wheels, it helps a little. However, an airbrush is like a direct fire weapon-if you can see it, you can shoot it. Besides, a lot of places an airbrush has trouble reaching will be the most heavily weathered areas anyway, so total coverage may not even be necessary if you're going to spray a dust coating or apply mud.

Hello,

I think those "how-to's" feature completed model for spraying airbrushing for "advertisement purposes."

Usually, the running gear, tires and/or tracks are left off while the hull and the general assembly is spraypainted. The running gear, tires and tracks are then spray painted. Of course, the rubber bits and other small details are painted by brush.

When everything is dry, the running gear and tracks are cemented in place to the hull.

Camouflaging the running gear is requires a few touch-ups. Take for example, a tank. After attatching the running gear, the tank is painted with camo patterns. As the modeler works on the lower hull, he begins to be extra careful in camouflaging the road wheels, taking care not to splatter too much overspray on the rubber parts. When done, the rubber rims are repainted and when dry, the tracks are attatched.

Personally, I think you will find it easier to work on AFVs if you leave the running gear off when painting the model and attatching them when the hull is dry.

Hope this helps.

Angela

Okay,
This is how I do it:
Assemble upper hull and turret and leave off tools, stowage, etc.
Assemble lower hull, leaving off the road wheels and tracks.
Shoot the base color on the above.
Shoot the base coat on the road wheels, usually still on the sprues.
Paint the tires on the road wheels black, if applicable, and add them to the lower hull. Add drive and idler sprockets so the lower hull is ready for tracks.
Now, if the model has indy track links, like the Dragon kits, I add the unpainted tracks now, before the upper and lower hull are glued together. If they are one piece tracks, like Tamiya kits, you can usually add the tracks after the upper and lower hull are glued together.
Add tracks.
Paint tracks.
Glue upper and lower hull assembles together.
Camouflage if applicable.
Paint and add pioneer tools, etc.

Not saying this is the best way by any means. Just how I do it.

Shaun

Having tried several methods with varying degrees of success, I will second the remarks of Angela and Shaun... planning the build and painting in stages gives me the best results. This is especially true for vehicles with open interiors (M-10, M-18, Marder, etc.) where it works best to apint from the "inside" out. That said, I think the best advice would be to experiment and find out what works for you.

One method I have used over the years involves a complete build up, but the roadwheels and tracks are left unglued so I can take them off at any time. Even when using individual links I can do this. Its just a matter of taking your time and letting the tracks set up enough to be molded around the idlers, sprockets, and support rollers (if present). Once the entire tracks is cured, it can be removed from the suspension, painted, weathered etc..and then re-installed later.

I have even assembled the entire running gear as a seperate unit where the road wheels were atttached to the track and could be glued on later. I got some interesting reactions when I showed this feature. The whole running gear was removed as a whole piece and later re-attached. Makes for easy painting. (For me anyways) Hope this helps you. "Q"

The few AFV I built I painted all the roadwheels and tracks seperatly before total assy. NOW, I am building a Dragon Panter A late, I though I would try a new method and assy all the lower hull
road wheels to lower hull and paint it all together........
I
Now I am kind of perplexed at getting all the roadwheels painted correctly. I may have to use a paint brush to touch up the "rubber" on the road wheels to get that seperation of metal and rubber.
This being my consern because me and my paint brushes don't get along very well.
I found the individual tracklinks to be no big deal if you assemble them in 4 seperate pieces per side, paint, weather, and glue to model when needed.