I’m currently doing a couple of tanks, a Matchbox 1/76 Jagdpanther and a Fujimi Tiger I, and I’m trying to figure out which order to paint the parts. I have done the hulls but haven’t put the wheels on yet. Would it be best to undercoat the hull first, then pop the wheels on and undercoat them one “layer” at a time (the inner wheels first, then put the next set on, and so on), or put everything together and undercoat it and hope that there aren’t any gaps?
The problem I find with painting first is that it makes the glueing process so much harder, often resulting in weaker models. What I do is to put everything together, keeping larger items such as the turret separate until the very end. I do glue wheels and tracks. True enough, painting those after assembly can be tricky, particularly for the rubber rims (although capilary action can help you there!), but as I model my kits for dioramas or at least weathered, there’s a fair amount of unpainted bits and painted bits that eventually do not show off any of the original colour at all…
I dont know if there is a tv series called the American Chopper or not in the UK, but I found out that the process of building a tank is similar.
Basically you started with the test fit of every components, and then depend on your painting skillz and modelling skillz you slowly began the process of putting it back together with the painting process involve.
For me, I paint all the difficult parts first, sometimes even when they are still attached to the sprues.
But generally speaking, the hull and infrastructure goes first, then wheels, then tracks. The tools and other gizmos maybe last.
If you want walk in the park type for the wheels, paint them while they are still attached to the sprues. The sprues help you hold the wheels while painting.
The rest is up to your immagination [swg]
Ben
Generally, you’ll want to put the hull, all hull attachments, and turret together, then paint it. You can leave off the wheels and tracks and paint off vehicle, for easy reach, but if you have a vehicle with no rubber portions on the roadwheels, attach as much as you can before you paint.