paint first or glue

Generally i assemble as much as possable and then paint. But if you have already painted, best option would be to remove paint where parts will be joined.  

Which type of glue are you useing. I apply a liquid weld with a very fine old paint brush. If you are careful, you can get the paint in the join with harming any surrounding paint.

thankyou for the tips. if i paint first then apply thin line of glue i might mess up my finnish, then all for nought. guess i better brush up on my patience.

I also will assemble as much as I can before painting.  This also lets you fill and sand any joint lines that might not be perfect.  

As Bish mentioned above, if you've already painted the parts, I'd use the edge of a hobby knife to scrape the paint off any areas that need to be glued.

It takes some practice, but I've also used an airbrush to carefully repaint joint seams after the fact.

Good luck,

Mark

Thankyou Mark, i'll need alot of practice with the airbrush, but practice, practice practice. The hobby knife is a good idea. will try.

Glue, then paint, but sometimes you can't. It's a balance, really. Just depends on the particular scenario. I will say I've gotten pretty good at touching up with the airbrush if I mar the finish.  ;)

if its a small part like a control stick you probably will get away with a tiny dab of CA. If it is a large part  its odds on you will mark the paint somehow im afraid. if you have no option maybe you could drill and pin the parts using epoxy on the pins only to avoid glue squishing out the joint but obviously you will see the join. This works well on bits like the front wings of F1 cars. Another thing you can do with wings is screw the things on using epoxy on the screws, i did this on my lightning, but it was pre-planed,  i filed the mating surfaces to fit  properly and filled the hairline gaps as well anyway.

Building a plastic kit should start with a planning stage.  Every kit is different.  Some parts need to be painted  before assembly, some assemblies are masked and painted after assembly.  You need to determine which for each part for each kit.  For parts that are painted before assembly, you need to scrape or file away any paint from the part and the mounting area where it will be glued.  No paint-to-paint joints or plastic-to-paint joints, except for very small parts where the part's weight will not stress the glue joint.

Thanks Don for the tips. I need to plan ahead, but darn, how many times to I change my mind in mid stream. I need to drop being a perfectionist.

squid54

Thanks Don for the tips. I need to plan ahead, but darn, how many times to I change my mind in mid stream. I need to drop being a perfectionist.

No you don't. I promise you most of the guys here are mega-perfectionists. I am usually, though I've gotten a little more casual about things on certain projects. A high level of perfectionism comes with time. You just need to gain more experience to determine your planning and process to get the kit how you want it. Stick with cheap, simple kits while you gain that knowledge. Then move into more difficult and complex projects. Take a look at the wealth of knowledge here, not just members, but the ebooks and other  books avail on the site. Perhaps get a couple of modeling technique books beyond the FSM books too. They are invaluable as you progress. These forums are a great way to learn a ton. There is some seriously good talent on this site.