Do you assemble and paint or Sub-assemble and paint.. ?

Just curious as to how people paint their models. I've recently started to assemble some of my Age of Sigmar: Thunder and Blood starter set, and some of those shields and a few other bits seem like they'll be annoying to deal with... but I also don't like the prospects of priming/painting tiny parts. I guess I'll just assemble and go with that for now... but curious about other folks process when building//painting.

It really depends. For almost all figures, I assemble completely before painting. If you are worried about painting behind a shield or something...don't be. If you can't get a brush back there, you aren't really going to see it anyway. There are very few instances where I've felt like painting before assembly was desirable.

With some things, there are elements you CAN'T paint after assembly. For example, the Skaven Doomwheel. The pilot sits in the middle of the wheel and there are large pieces blocking it, so if you tried to paint after assembling, you would have a hard time getting to it, let alone at the smaller details. I feel like that dudes mounted on something (like a horse or a jetbike or whatever) are a little easier to handle if you paint and then assemble.

I do not like anything that makes painting a hassle. I'm a very lazy painter. So if it saves time and effort, I'll do it that way even if it means I am not eligible for the Golden Demon.

I make a judgement call on each figure over whether it needs to be one piece or sub-assemblies. As for Stormcast, I left the shields off the Liberators, weapon off the Judicators, and the wings off the flying ones when painting.

I have very limited experience with painting minis. When I (partially) did my Space Hulk figures, I assembled them first and then primed them, because I was worried that the pieces might not fit quite as well after getting primed. I still have a lot of painting let to do on those figures. My genestealers are mostly done, but all I have painted on the marines is the base coat of red on the easier sections of their armor.

For me it depends on if the part separations are organic to the piece or if they need to be filled. Also, I'm in the opposite camp as Barnes due to my plastic modeling history. I'll paint the stuff nobody is going to see, but I'll know it's there. Also known as, 'Detailing for God'. It's a damned inefficient way to paint.

I assemble and then paint. When I first got my hands on some Deadzone terrain, I primed it all on the sprue, only to learn later that glue doesn't play well with primer.

99% assemble then paint. Can't paint it, can't see it. Also, black primer. Unpainted parts show up as shadows.

But the main thing is, my skill isn't THAT good. Really, if you need to do smooth gradation with 14 layers on that part, sure. Paint it before you assemble because you need a good, wide brush space. For me? Just dip brush in a thick paint, and hope a single touch will do the part. My skill doesn't worth the hassle.