I have built a few structures and every time I do I learn a new technique or just learn from my mistakes.My question is, do you assemble your structures and then paint them or do you paint the pieces first then assemble them?I have done it both ways and painting them first seems to be the best way.Also what do you do when you have a wall of a structure and it is warped out of the box?How do you straighten it without stressing the plastic?
T-Bone, Try putting the warped parts in some warm/hot water for a short time and then put some weight on them on a flat surface till they cool. That should straighten them out.
I have a DPM Hilltown hotel that was warped near the ground floor door. After looking at it for years, yesterday I cut some styrene square tube to length to kind of force the front wall out to where it should be. Other than a rather unusual interior (which I will cover over the window to hide) the wall is as good as new. And, I paint first, usually with spray cans and all at once. I let it dry a day, and put it in the box til its time to assemble, which is sometimes the next day or so, sometimes not. I often glue in some windows in the mornings, or in small bits of time. If I have some time in the morning, I put together square ends and then put the other two together at night. Small bits of progress beat none at all!
It depends, if it's a wooden laser cut then paint after assembly. Styrene kits like DPM Model Power, & others you can get away with painting prior to assembly. A couple of light coats of paint never hurt to me. Well that's my two bits
I do most of the painting before. Touch up and detail work after. Warped parts, I heat up with a hair dryer, and form back true.
I glue the DPM kits together and then spray them with primer or a brown paint, and then a use the brush to give them the final paint layers. But regular kits like Walthers have seperate windows, so I paint the windows when they are on the sprue; I sometimes also paint the walls on the sprue, or I already assemble the walls and paint them. It depends on how complex the kit is, I think. Glueing a kit after painting can give you glue damage on the paint.
I’ve built a lot of structures both for myself and friends. I enjoy it and my layout demonstrates that fact, but over the years you do learn that every type of structure has its problems with regards to assembly. Laser cut structures inevitably have at least one component that is a non-fit. Plastic kits are often warped and some parts appear to be cast from old recycled beach toys. Plastic model cement won’t bond it and ACC will pop off this stuff like it was Teflon. Resin kits take a lot of preparation but can be made to look very good when completed. Assuming they stay completed. I’ve had resin structures come apart at the seams weeks, months and even years after assembly. I’ve assembled wooden craftsman kits bracing the walls with additional lengths of strip wood only to have them warp themselves into woo woo woo Bottles the first time the humidity gets high. These and other problems are what you could face in the wacky world of model trains.
