Why You Don’t Need Sub-Assemblies

This post is part of the Notts Hobbies 30 Day Army Painting Accelerator, Click here to get your free copy.

Priming your model with the shadow colour means you don’t need to use sub-assemblies.

We’ve all been there, debating whether to glue the arms on now or paint everything in pieces and assemble later.

If you're painting for a competition, you may need to use sub-assemblies, but no one will see if you painted the aquila on your intercessor, just try your best to paint what you can. The gun will be blocking the light so that the chest will be in a shadow anyway.

Why?

Because those hard to reach areas under arms, behind weapons, inside cloaks, will just stay dark. The dark primer creates natural shadow, adding contrast and depth without any extra effort.

Below is a picture of our Space Marine Captain. We didn’t use sub-assemblies, but the inside of the cloak looks painted because we’ve highlighted the areas we can access.

Not using sub-assemblies saves the headaches of remembering which arms go with which models and means you can't lose parts.

This saves time and removes steps from your painting process, which is important when painting an army.

Next time you're building your army, don’t worry about whether you can access certain areas. Prime your army with your shadow colour and let the primer create shadows in areas you can’t reach.

This post is part of the Notts Hobbies 30 Day Army Painting Accelerator, Click here to get your free copy.

Glossary

Contrast - highlights differences in colour, value, texture and shape to create visual interest and guide the viewer’s attention

Primer - prepares the surface of the model for paint, applied from a spray can or an airbrush.

Shadows - the deepest parts of a surface, that receive the least light.