Platoon's 12SS HJ Normandy ala Tan: Part 3

(A forgotten update prior to the big move)

Putting the paint before the assembly

All to often we are asked by newcomers to figure painting "Should I assemble the figure, and then paint? Or visa versa?" And the answer is always a frustrating one: it depends. It really does depend. It depends on the skills of the painter, the complexity of the paint scheme, the pose of the figure, the subassemblies of the figure, and the list goes on.

I tend to treat every figure differently, but generally I do try to assemble as much as possible prior to painting. If you're not sure whether to assemble first, a trick I use is to dry-fit the figure together with poster tack, and then simulate painting using the various brushes I'll later be painting with. If I struggle "painting" the figure in the dry-run (excuse any pun), guess what? I'll struggle when the brush is loaded with paint.

In the case of this figure, the only part I could safely glue on prior to painting was the entrenching tool. The rest will be painted separately. This is partially due to the camouflage, partially due to the hand of the arms in relation to equipment, and partially due to some of the techniques we'll be trying out later.

Below you'll see the parts (with the exception of the rifle which will be painted much later) in their sub-assemblies next to the can of primer which will be used shortly.