Basic Construction Advice Needed

Most people will paint when the aircraft is assembled, except for whatever hangs off of it and the landing gear.  Same for tanks, and then hang the tracks if possible.  Vehicles can be different, depending on how easy it is to paint and what is covered/hid by something else and hard to paint after assembly.  I am playing with a 1/25 Jeep and will have to paint most of the rolling chassis less wheels and tires as separate pieces same with the body before most of the interior goes in and the dash.

My A-10 will be assembled and painted (Euro 1 ), then the gear and ordinance will go on.  Canopy will go on first and be masked.

Common problem with seams, generally have to re-scribe the panel lines after sanding for the last time if recessed lines or build them back up with primer and tape (tape both sides and primer the line with a brush) if raised lines.

It almost depends more on the specific kit than the genre, but not entirely.

I consider building just about any kit an exercise in paint a little, assemble a little.  You have to look at the kit carefully and reason it out.  Do pieces join with all seams in places where there would be a seam?  If so, you can paint more before hand.  However, if seams should not be visible, and need to be filled and sanded, then painting of those areas must be done after at least some assembly.

It is very hard to paint cockpit details after assembly, so that must be painted beforehand- usually by painting each part seperately, else the masking job would be a nightmare.

On the other hand, I generally leave landing gear off of airplanes until after the major assembly work is done, and painted, as masking landing gear can sometimes result in damage.

While most car kits are made with one-piece bodies that can be painted seperately, there are kits where you have to assemble body from several pieces and fill seams before painting.  And, it is hard to paint frame with it assembled to body.

So in general, most kits will involve painting some parts seperately, painting subassemblies, and sometimes painting when almost all assembly is done.  You will learn by experience how to look at a kit and figure out a plan for the build.  Unfortunately, I believe most mfgs do not believe most folks paint their models.  So while they do give you colors, their instructions are geared more to folks who do not paint the model.  Sometimes following instructions would make it impossible to paint some parts, or else models with obvious seams from painting parts before assembly.

Definitely want to look at is as a "build from the inside and work your way out" approach. The instructions are merely a guide as to how to assemble. While they try to establish a basic flow, you're almost asking for more trouble if you follow them in order. As was previously stated, makes no sense to add landing gear, only to have to come back and mask them off because they're in the war. It's a lot easier to just mask an open Bay, as opposed to a strut hangjng out of it. As far as paint, it's beat to get everything assembled as a whole and then get paint going. Now naturally, if there's an oxygen bottle, paint that separate, and then install, but of there's four pieces that make up a seat, put the whole seat together so you've got an even base coat of paint to start with. You run the rise of glue or cement distorting paint if it comes into contact, which is another good reason to bypass paint until you've got your assemblies in their basic shape.