Assembly
Assembly Sequence
I find the following can really speed things up.
- I start by cleaning up all the parts in advance and sort them by what colour they are to be painted. Luckily in most cases Tamiya places locator pins such that similar parts will only fit one way. If I'm not sure, I stick the part to a piece of masking tape with its part number.
- Modify parts and add any extra details now.
- With all the parts cleaned up I assemble any parts that will be painted the same colour. With bikes and autos, that means precious little can be assembled.
- I try to prime and paint the bodywork first so final assembly is quick.
- Then I paint the remaining parts in one or two sittings. Since I have the part sorted by colour, I do each set all at once. I start with the lightest colour and go to the darkest. With metallics being the last. This means I don't have to be quite so thorough cleaning the airbrush between colours. Sometimes I put a dab of liquid mask (Maskol) on surfaces that will be cemented. When the paint is dry, just remove the mask and cement the part. This helps keep scraping off paint from parts to a minimum.
- Now that all the parts are ready, I start assembling at 'Step 1' and breeze right through. Only stopping to let the cement dry.
Protecting the Model
Submitted by André Boucheré
Use 3/8-inch computer parts pads (or foam rubber) for assembly pads, they allow you to rotate parts when assembling without scratching the finish of any painted surfaces.
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