When putting together a Warhammer 40k Army...?

Question

Is it best to prime them then glue them together or glue them together then prime them?

Answer 1

I've heard a lot of different opinions on this matter.  Personally, I like to clean off the mold lines, prime them, cut them from the sprue, then glue them together.  I haven't had any problems with glue on top of primer, and the tiny unprimed area where the piece connected with the sprue is too small to notice once there's a layer of paint over it.

I have a large Space Marine army, and I'm building up an Eldar army.  My paint schemes are naturally dark enough that they cover over any tiny unprimed spots.  If you're doing an army with a light color scheme, you might want to go with the "partially assemble, then prime" method.

Answer 2

In 99.9% of cases, I would say build *then* prime.  This is because the building process includes cleaning up the mould lines, tags and areas of distortion.  If you painted the model whilst on its sprue, reaching all the mould lines is actually rather hard and, in addition, you will do additional damage to the model whilst cutting the parts away from the sprue.

That said, it can sometimes be helpful to "part build" a model.  With space marines, for example, many painters build the whole marine but without adding the weapon.  This means that the marine's chest paldron and aquila are still accessible for painting.  Similarly, I know some Imperial Guard players who leave the arms off, painting them separately and then glueing them on once the model is finished.

Answer 3

Download the computer game.