Assembly and painting AFV's for a newbie

As you noted already, some people do it one way. some the other...I find it easier to leave stuff off and add it later but you'll get as many replies saying the other way.

It really just comes down to trying one or the other on one model and trying it the other on another to see which you find easier. There is no right or wrong way.

Eric

And just to prove Eric's point, I like to put everything together first (including the trax), then paint. I hate scraping paint off to glue stuff on!
Like Eric said, give both ways a shot and see which you prefer!

Eric's right; there's any number of ways to do it. But by way of starting to decide, you may want to ask yourself to what degree you're going to carry your paint job. If you're simply going to spray the model green and quit, then by all means assemble everything and then paint, but if you are considering a good wash and drybrush, you might want to consider painting and weathering in sections. Proving Eric's point again, I like to paint the hull, turret, road wheels, track, and occasionally the pioneer tools and other add-ons as separate entities. Once I've washed and weathered, then I'll assemble them all. Doing it this way allows for better access, a better means of holding the parts ( I can stick several fingers through the hull and hold it), and a little better detailing advantage. But that's just me. Try it a couple different ways and see what you like and what works for you.
Gip Winecoff

route62 to the forum, and the dark side.

There is a 3rd way, which is to paint virtually everything before starting assembly. This is what I usually wind up doing. I really think the other two methods are more efficient and better, but old habbits die very hard with me.

Bill

Thanks for the all the help!!! I have heard once you join the darkside there is no going back!!! I am going to try the "assemble most of it route and add details later" first and see how I like it since it is similar to how I assemble and paint cars and planes. I do plan to weather the model and add bits of resin and PE so I will end up assembling the model completely before weathering.

You don't know the POWER of the DARK SIDE:-) Welcome and whichever way you go have fun:-)

I mostly assemble everything before painting, but the only few bits that I add at a later stage, I glue them using PVA (wood) glue. It does not damage the paint job and can be cleaned of with a bit of saliva.