Blaster Sidewinder ESB EE3 build

[Short4ATrooper]

Some of you may have seen a previous post of mine asking for help. I had been using this thread as a guide:

https://www.thedentedhelmet.com/for...s-kit-final-update-painting-assembling.25249/

However, something strange is occurring as none of the pictures are displaying which makes the thread much harder to follow!

In the absence of any other build thread I’m yet to find, I figured the only option would be to start my own. Blasters are easily the weakest part of my skill set - I know nothing about real guns for a start, I think the only terms I know are ‘trigger’, ‘hammer’, and ‘stock.’

My goal is to have a 501st clearable EE3. Not interest in mods to make the kit function like a real Webley as I’d have no cause to use any such functionality at a troop. I’ll be asking lots of questions about what goes where!

Before I start, I’ve mostly been priming greeblies but therein lies my first question:

Is it better to prime and paint all the individual parts and then assemble everything, or assemble first and then paint?

To me, it seems logical to paint all the individual pieces first and just do the weathering when it is fully assembled but I’ve been told it’s not good to do this because when it comes to glueing parts together, you’d be glueing paint to paint, and the bond wouldn’t be as strong as if you glued the raw parts together.

What’s the consensus?

 

[TX30907]

Generally with a build like the EE-3 where you have a lot of different materials/finishes in the final product, I personally prefer painting individual parts, or at most subassemblies for portions with the same finish (such as the Webley receiver and barrel). Depending how elaborate you get with finishing, it may be worthwhile to do an overall weathering pass after full assembly to 'tie together' the appearance as one object vs. a collection of parts.

The note about gluing "paint to paint" is true, but (a) it's simple enough to remove paint from the mating surfaces, and (b) with a Sidewinder EE-3 you'll mostly be using CA/superglue to bond resin to resin or metal, so the bond on an unpainted finish won't be *that* much stronger than a painted one unless you're applying numerous layers and/or don't get proper adhesion on your paintwork.

 

[Short4ATrooper]

Generally with a build like the EE-3 where you have a lot of different materials/finishes in the final product, I personally prefer painting individual parts, or at most subassemblies for portions with the same finish (such as the Webley receiver and barrel). Depending how elaborate you get with finishing, it may be worthwhile to do an overall weathering pass after full assembly to 'tie together' the appearance as one object vs. a collection of parts.

The note about gluing "paint to paint" is true, but (a) it's simple enough to remove paint from the mating surfaces, and (b) with a Sidewinder EE-3 you'll mostly be using CA/superglue to bond resin to resin or metal, so the bond on an unpainted finish won't be *that* much stronger than a painted one unless you're applying numerous layers and/or don't get proper adhesion on your paintwork.

Thank you! I’ve done a lot since this post and have been ok, generally ended up doing what you describe - subassemblies like the trigger/hammer/grip area or getting the scope brackets on the barrel before painting. I’ve also utilised the ‘pin’ or ‘peg’ method where I use wooded dowels in some pieces to further reinforce attachment. For example, here’s the back of the stock greeblies:

And corresponding holes in the stock:

With the greeblies attached: