"Painting 28mm Figures With Shields" Topic

Do you attach the shields to the figures before painting? Do you paint the shields separately, then attach them?

Paint separately, then attach.

Grelber

+1

It depends. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.

Mainly attach then paint, for a couple of reasons –
1. Bare Metal/metal, or plastic/plastic is easier to glue and provides a stronger connection.
2. Aint no point painting parts that will not be seen.

Figures I use already have attached shields.

Depends a lot on the mini and the shield. For Zulus I'm good to attach and paint it, since I'm pretty much just doing base coats of various browns with a wash and don't need fiddly back-of-shield detail. For medieval knights where the armour is basically being drybrushed and/or washed with a different ink than the shield and there's fancy heraldry to take into account, I'll do them separate. That also lets me do woodgrain on the reverse :)

But by default I'll attach first, especially for massed troops. Just speeds things up.

After several trials I find that painting them separately is more comfortable.

If using transfers I prefer to do them separately. Otherwise, I like to paint them attached.

Painting separately, unless they are shields being put onto figures with 'arm bosses' (a very good figure design), is always difficult because of the inherent weakness of glue to paint. In this case, these days, I drill a small hole in the arm and rough up the back of the shield (digging into the metal) at the attaching points and glue with a strong 2 part epoxy resin (Araldite, etc.). This generally requires very little touching up and provides a strong bond.

Usually I paint them separate.

Like Olicana, if using transfers, I do them separately. And if the shield design is intricate, it is easier to paint separately.

If the shield designs are simple or a natural hide, I attach the shields before painting.

Transfers – Separately

Painted – Attached

Always separately. It's too fiddly to try to paint in behind on most figures. And scraping a little paint off an arm and shield to ensure good glue contact is trivial.

"You gota keep em separated…" (Offspring)

Depends on how much detail on the figure is being covered by the shield.

If it's just large areas of single color cloth and flesh (think ancients), I will attach first and paint behind the shield. If there's a heraldic design (medieval) or lots of fiddly bits (modern SWAT riot control) behind the shield, I paint then attach).

I read a comment a while ago that said what's behind the shield doesn't matter. I hand paint all my shields. Mostly all you have is an arm and part of the body easily reached with a fine point brush. I always attach the shield then paint.

Separately.

Attach and paint.

Paint both, remove paint at attachment point, glue.

"Painting 28mm Figures With Shields"

Difficult, but it can be done, though using a brush is a lot quicker & easier… ;-)

Separately, if feasible…

Separately.

Attach and paint.