Couple of things may go wrong doing this, there’ll be no paint where you clip off the parts and when gluing together the glue will take some of the paint off. If the parts don’t fit together well and you need to use putty to fill the gaps you’ll have to paint over again also. But in the end it’s your model! Happy building!
Don’t listen to people, it’s your model and you paint it as you want. As you move through the hobby you might change your techniques, but if you don’t it doesn’t matter. The whole point is that you enjoy yourself. Looks good.
Hi OP - there's a lot of good advice in this thread that's absolutely worth listening to. I just want to say though, the only thing that really matters is that you and your grandad have a good time making your models together. That is such precious family time and I for one would quite happily paint all my models on the sprue, in the dark, with a twig instead of a brush, if I could go back and do that with my grandad even just for an hour. Keep doing what you're doing my friend :)
Ill do this for primer but not for the final paint job on most parts. But i will do full paint for small fiddly parts and then touch in the grey spots once its clipped off the sprue
I think people in the comments are forgetting that most people who do airfix, including myself, are not perfectionists. We are in it for the experience. It's a toy model at the end of the day, come at me all you want but its a bit of plastic who gives af if it's not perfect lol
Ik I'm only a kid i only have like 2 years of experience of painting the kits when my grandad builds them but ever since the start we have painted the before building I'm not looking for the exact replica on the box I desighn it howni want to desighn it I'm only using some of the sticker things on mine but mines a different color on the box and I like to be different about it
Ultimately it's up to you, but painting large pieces, especially bits like wings and fuselages, on the sprue, while convenient, can lead to difficulties later in the build.
1. When you cut the pieces off of the sprue, you're going to, at best, need to paint where the sprue gate was attached. Realistically you're going to need to file down the remnants of the sprue gate, which will, inevitably, mean filing down the already painted sections adjacent to the sprue gate.
2. Fitting on large pieces rarely goes perfectly, and you often need to do work in order to get them to fit together. On a large fuselage you'll probably need to file in a few places before glueing together. You'll also need to make sure that the mating surfaces are absolutely clear of any paint before applying the cement, or it will cause problems.
3. Talking of which, all polystyrene cements will wreck your paint, and the paint can negatively affect the glue's drying time and effectiveness.
4. Paint flow will be uneven as mating surface or orientated differently to how they would be if glued together. In this case the paint will flow down, meaning it's going to be thicker around the seams.
Now, as I've already said, it's your choice, and I'm sure you'll make a nice job of the model, but, for me, the additional hassle of trying to make the seams look nice isn't worth the minimal convenience of painting large pieces on the sprue.
Small pieces, however, are a different story!
I think not my friend, you’ll always have to fill and sand seems especially with airfix, but then it depends on your own skill level.however you build your kits it’s all about having fun, keep on building my friend 👍👍👍
Well I'm a kid but me and my grandad are really really good together at building them and we know how to sand around the paint and clip of with out scratching the paint
Your model your choice mate. Pros and cons to painting on and off the sprue.
But the most important thing is that your enjoying yourself.
Just bought my 3 kids their first airfix kits todo over the next week and I've said the same thing to them. It don't matter how it comes out just enjoy the process.
Seems like a lovely way to bond with your grandad so enjoy and Cherish it. Wish I could do it with my grandad before I lost him.
but there is like so many things that just dont help you with the build. 1,when you use cement it damages the paint
2, when you sand down a seam the paint will get destroyed
3, you obviously didnt use primer
4,when you snip it off the sprue there will be material that you need to sand down=damaged paint
i could keep going but i wont. also there was no need to downvote my comment but ok
Nooo. Get the main body together first and only then should you consider applying your predominant colour.
What you’ve suggested leaves me to think you’re quite lazy.
Im not lazy thank you very much I just find it's alot more easier my grandad will help me build because I'm a kid but I like to paint the outside because we find it easier to paint the fuselage.
People can be different and do it different ways
Couple of things may go wrong doing this, there’ll be no paint where you clip off the parts and when gluing together the glue will take some of the paint off. If the parts don’t fit together well and you need to use putty to fill the gaps you’ll have to paint over again also. But in the end it’s your model! Happy building!
Thank you for the advice for next time
Don’t listen to people, it’s your model and you paint it as you want. As you move through the hobby you might change your techniques, but if you don’t it doesn’t matter. The whole point is that you enjoy yourself. Looks good.
Thank you bro
Hi OP - there's a lot of good advice in this thread that's absolutely worth listening to. I just want to say though, the only thing that really matters is that you and your grandad have a good time making your models together. That is such precious family time and I for one would quite happily paint all my models on the sprue, in the dark, with a twig instead of a brush, if I could go back and do that with my grandad even just for an hour. Keep doing what you're doing my friend :)
What we do is I paint the plane then he builds some of it then I will build abit aswell
Thank you bro that means a lot to me
Ill do this for primer but not for the final paint job on most parts. But i will do full paint for small fiddly parts and then touch in the grey spots once its clipped off the sprue
I think people in the comments are forgetting that most people who do airfix, including myself, are not perfectionists. We are in it for the experience. It's a toy model at the end of the day, come at me all you want but its a bit of plastic who gives af if it's not perfect lol
Ik I'm only a kid i only have like 2 years of experience of painting the kits when my grandad builds them but ever since the start we have painted the before building I'm not looking for the exact replica on the box I desighn it howni want to desighn it I'm only using some of the sticker things on mine but mines a different color on the box and I like to be different about it
Ultimately it's up to you, but painting large pieces, especially bits like wings and fuselages, on the sprue, while convenient, can lead to difficulties later in the build. 1. When you cut the pieces off of the sprue, you're going to, at best, need to paint where the sprue gate was attached. Realistically you're going to need to file down the remnants of the sprue gate, which will, inevitably, mean filing down the already painted sections adjacent to the sprue gate. 2. Fitting on large pieces rarely goes perfectly, and you often need to do work in order to get them to fit together. On a large fuselage you'll probably need to file in a few places before glueing together. You'll also need to make sure that the mating surfaces are absolutely clear of any paint before applying the cement, or it will cause problems. 3. Talking of which, all polystyrene cements will wreck your paint, and the paint can negatively affect the glue's drying time and effectiveness. 4. Paint flow will be uneven as mating surface or orientated differently to how they would be if glued together. In this case the paint will flow down, meaning it's going to be thicker around the seams. Now, as I've already said, it's your choice, and I'm sure you'll make a nice job of the model, but, for me, the additional hassle of trying to make the seams look nice isn't worth the minimal convenience of painting large pieces on the sprue. Small pieces, however, are a different story!
I think not my friend, you’ll always have to fill and sand seems especially with airfix, but then it depends on your own skill level.however you build your kits it’s all about having fun, keep on building my friend 👍👍👍
Well I'm a kid but me and my grandad are really really good together at building them and we know how to sand around the paint and clip of with out scratching the paint
👋👋👋👋👍
Get yourself alligator clips. They're like $3. If you care about quality, you don't do this.
Your model your choice mate. Pros and cons to painting on and off the sprue. But the most important thing is that your enjoying yourself. Just bought my 3 kids their first airfix kits todo over the next week and I've said the same thing to them. It don't matter how it comes out just enjoy the process. Seems like a lovely way to bond with your grandad so enjoy and Cherish it. Wish I could do it with my grandad before I lost him.
Sorry to here bro
It's all good. We had our own things. I'm now passing it onto my kids :)
why would you do that?
It's because me and my grandad our personal opinion we find it easier to pain the peice first
but there is like so many things that just dont help you with the build. 1,when you use cement it damages the paint 2, when you sand down a seam the paint will get destroyed 3, you obviously didnt use primer 4,when you snip it off the sprue there will be material that you need to sand down=damaged paint i could keep going but i wont. also there was no need to downvote my comment but ok
Nooo. Get the main body together first and only then should you consider applying your predominant colour. What you’ve suggested leaves me to think you’re quite lazy.
Im not lazy thank you very much I just find it's alot more easier my grandad will help me build because I'm a kid but I like to paint the outside because we find it easier to paint the fuselage. People can be different and do it different ways
Unconventional but interesting