I’ve just begun airplane modelling and I need some guidance. Its not at all clear to me “when” I should paint various parts of my model. It seems obvious that I should paint the smaller parts before I have glued them to the fuselage, but its less clear when I should be doing the major painting of the main aircraft body. Should I completely finish the kit assembly before painting the fuselage (thus necessitating a bunch of masking of the landing gear, armament, canopy, etc.) or should I do a basic assembly of the fuselage only (fuselage body, wings, tail, etc) and paint that before adding the smaller components?
I realize this must be a very basic question, so if any of you want to point me to a book that has this type of info that would also be appreciated.
Here’s hoping that this forum is kind to beginners!
What a loaded question. The process is different for different modelers and for different models. I like to assemble the entire model with out landing gear or propellers, paint then add those final details. For large bombers with various guns sticking out if I can leave those off until the end I will do just that. Some models do not lend themselves to that process and have to be painted in stages. You should examine your model closely right from the start and try to decide on an approach that will suit the kit best. Take a look at my site (link in signiture) and read a few of the construction reviews - see how the process went for me on a few different kits.
jmesberg,
Swanny has a great website, and you should learn a lot perusing it. I just wanted to extend a warm welcome to you, a new member to the forum family! Hope you enjoy your stay.