How to attach superstructure after painting?

I scrape or sand away the paint. But I ain't no expert either.

I have tried both before and after painting methods. When painting first, paint has to be scraped, or the area masked. When assembling first, masking has to be done for each color......to me that's six of one, half dozen of the other. I complete the build, and mask and paint after assembly, unless there is a requirement for interior painting, that has to be done before assembly, as in the junkbuild I did in the Sci Fi forum. I don't have any problem with masking, and it isn't any more annoying for me than scraping off paint before gluing. I just prefer painting after assembly is done.

 I just cement the superstructure sub-assemnlies together using superglue. Since most model ship superstructures aren't load-bearing assemblies, strength of join isn't really of the essence. I then give the completed model a couple of coats of matt varnish, which disguised any superglue that got where I didn't want it.

Works for me:

 

Cheers,

Chris.

 

My masking skills are such that I prefer to build each superstructure subassembly, then paint it before final assembly.  I use ZAP (green bottle) cyanoacrylate glue for the final assembly.  If I get CA where I don't want it, I allow it to dry, gently sand it after drying, provide touch up paint, then overspray with a clear matte coat.  This method is more effective for me than masking after assembly.

Bill Morrison

  Hi! When I build anything I always leave the immediate area near a seam or gluing area unpainted . Then after the glue dries I just touch it up . This has worked for me for over 40 yrs.   tankerbuilder

Yes the paint would interfere with styrene welder/cement.

 

I use super glue in any case like this.

 

Always dryfitting before hand.

  SEMPER -FI __ The trick I use is to put the superstructure parts on the deck , and then , scratch a line around the structure with an x-acto blade tip or a scratch awl . then there will be a line up to which you paint .that way you have a nice clean area to apply glue to .. -------TANKERBUILDER