It took me a while to find this site myself and I only recently joined last summer. It's given me the the motivational push(es) I've needed to move forward and get into building and all the other fun stuff involved.

I'm learning different methods of building myself. So far what I'm finding that works best for me it to remove and clean up all of the large major parts which are usually distinctive enough to not have to worry about mixing up during building. Then I work in steps for different sections of the build, say the suspension for example, and remove all of the appropriate parts for cleaning and assembly. If necessary I number pieces with a fine tip Sharpie so that I don't have to worry about mixing them up. Just be sure to mark in a place that won't be seen. If it has indy tracks on a sprue, then I like to leave them on for painting. I leave all of the little delicate pieces on the sprue until I am ready to instal them, which is usually after assembling all of the larger pieces.

I'm not too concerned about finding a "correct" way of building, I'm just learning from all of the fine fellows here and putting together the techniques that work best for me

[quote]I glued my hand to my ... my hand to my butt crack with superglue [quote]
Do I even want to know how you managed to glue your hand to your butt crack?

Seems we are all on the same path there. Good to know. Follow up question, do you primer your whole kit or do it in sub assemblies? When do you paint your wheels and running gear?
I have one kit mostly built that just needs the detail parts and has most of the colour on it. Running gear needs black for the road wheels and am wondering if there is a better way than doing them by hand. My apologies if these questions seem dumb, but I have always thought the only dumb question is the one that never gets asked. . . cheers.

Hi Damon,

I only use primer when I have metal or resin parts, most of the time I first paint the model in one base colour (grey/brown). But always the whole kit.

Here's my process:
- Building following the instructions, always dryfit and test first.
- Marking all sub-assemblies and/or detail painting with a pen or pencil to pickup after the building stage.
- Building by stages (lower hull - wheels - top hull - turret )
- Primer & basic painting + details marked previously

I paint the wheels separately , still on the sprue sometimes, spray it on both sides. Then I detach them, clean it and start painting the rubber parts, try to find the Rubber colours from Valejo Panzer Aces series, it works better than the usual matt black.

This might not be the best method, but it's working so far... anyway keep asking if you need any help !

I think I am just being overly cautious. I haven't really built a kit in five to ten years, seriously and am afraid that my jedi ways are old and out dated. It sound like I just need to have a bit more confidence in my abilities. Thank you for the advice and encouragement. Cheers.

That might be it Damon.
I've been away from the hobby twice, and the comeback is always full of doubts
"will I be able to pull it off ?" -- "Can I still do this ?".. trust me you're not the only one..

Just give it a try, if you're not happy with the results, try another kit, another approach, a different technique...

I've found that the color of rubber on road wheels varies from army to army and even from time frame or model. I've found anthracite grey, grimy black, and straight black are the norms. I try to keep a supply of each color since I don't always know what my next build will be.

I cut parts for each step. And sometimes even more. I have found, far to often, that it is better to piece things together (dry fit), as much as possible before preceding. Sometimes I will cut everything loose (like my Rev-Mono M48A2C) because a fair amount is already loose and I want to do a detailed assessment of what does and does not need work.

My thing is plastic zip lock bags for storage and small to medium tubs to hold parts or groupings of parts (turret, running gear, small hull parts), keeping them covered while working.

Sometimes I clean in groups, most of the time really, I just find it easier. Clean an assembly, then put it together.

I also tend to wash them in groups to. I have larger plastic tubs I dump all the parts in, add a squirt of dish detergent and a splash of bleach and fill it over the parts with hot water. I sometimes do this more than once, once to remove mold residue and again near the end before painting to remove sanding residue and skin oils from handling. (The Attack Pz 38t was vile before I washed it, not the worst ever but the worst lately). It also helps with glue as well as paint. Tubs are big enough to put an assembled model in for washing.

I have 2 large strainers (couple a bucks each at a chain store). I dump the soapy parts in there and rinse 'em off with a sprayer. I use hot water again mainly because they seem to dry faster. Of course make sure your smallest parts are bigger than the opening in the strainer.

The beauty of it all is, it ain't work with OSHA guidelines. It's fun so just do it the way that works for you.

Frank

No shame in asking man. Dealing with 1:35 models, I first make notes as to what I'll do. I construct the suspension, turret, and upper hull, seperately, and then coat them with primer then paint. The same thing goes with 1:48th scale but I the tracks are seperately built from the hull.




Thier basically how I put everything together before painting. Make sure you make notes while or before building!

This is how I work:

look at kit directions and break it down to major sub-assemblies, like Hull, turret and running gear.

I normally start with the hull, assemble the "big" parts that can handle getting handled without fear of breaking them off during construction...leave off light guards, headlights, etc till later. Cut and clean up pieces that I need for that assembly.

I assemble the running gear next..but I often leave the putting on the track to last since if its link to link track it takes a while and might derail me finishing the kit.

Next I put the turret together the same way as I do hull...leave the small parts off that can get knocked off easy.

Once I have all the major stuff done, I go back and start adding the detail stuff that can get broken off easily towards the end of the build.

The good thing about this is that you can always build the turret first or the hull or alternate between the two when building..not stuck working one way.

Mostly in since pieces, unless they are very large / easily identifyable / not too drop-able (Panther turret, mantlet, and rear hull, but not grab handles)

The larger pieces can be snipped off and cleaned up at a TV tray with the kids watching something. Repetative roadwheels or track links the same, snipped, filed, scraped and dropped into pill bottles until needed.

Smaller piecesindividually cut when needed and sub assemblies are built at the workbench.

As for dropping parts, the MicroMark catalog had a great suggestion that I stole.

They sell a 'jewelers apron' that has velcro dots at the bottom so you can velcro to the bottom of the workbench.

It makes a pouch in your lap for dropped parts.

I took an old long sleeved t-shirt and put the velcro onto the waist of it and tied the sleves around me.

It works great!

But I would not always remember to untie before I stood up...and the knot was a little uncomfortable.

Lately I just drape an old t-shirt in a contrasting color to the kit sprues over my lap when I build. It catches 99% of the dropped parts and keeps me off the floor and at the bench.
It will not always catch 'tweezer launched ' parts, but this way I can spend more time building and less time crawling around on the floor.

Mike

this thread is outstanding for ideas given and methods used. i apreciate all the tips here.

reb