Shell Spraying Question?

As a newbie I probably have an obvious question.

When I spray my shell should I attach the bumpers prior to spraying OR should I spray the bumpers separately and then cement the bumpers to the main shell? (Pics below)

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y270/adz13091982/28-06-2008203731.jpg

Good job with the diagram- makes it easier to give a good answer. :thumbsup:

On some kits, the body must be put onto the chassis before the front/rear bumpers are fitted. I that case, you either must paint them separately or come up with a suitable workaround. In this case however, that doesn't seem to be an issue (the instructions are suggesting to attach them before mounting the chassis).

So in this case, I would definitely put the bumpers and sideskirts on first- especially if you'll be using a metallic colour.

Should I paint the window surrounds prior to clearcoating but after I have sprayed the main body colour?

Window frames come after clearcoating.

Also, a when painting a body with multiple parts, it's good to paint everything attached with tape. This way, the whole body will have an even tone and bumpers and skirts can be detached after painting if needed.

It's something of a matter of personal preferences, but...

I usually (but not always) leave the window surrounds until the body is clearcoated, polished, and waxed. That way, the body is well protected from any overspray from painting the surrounds. Be sure to 'rough up' the surrounds themselves after masking but before painting, so the black paint has a bit of tooth to attach to. I gently sand them with some fine grit sandpaper just before spraying.

As for the bumpers, I would glue them in place before priming and painting. There should be no reason at all to detach it from the body at any future point. If you glue it first, you don't have to mess with gluing painted parts. There are to reasons to avoid this. One is that painted parts are difficult to glue- all paint has to be removed from surfaces to be glued, and that is a real risk to painted parts. Second, if you're at all sloppy with the glue, you can permanently mar the painted parts. Also, the glued joints won't be as strong as if you did them first. So if you can, it's best to do the gluing before painting.

I generally rule that it's preferable to paint the whole car together, with the bumpers attached. The only times I consider not doing it this way is when you can't fit the chassis into the body after they've been attached. I will paint mirrors and spoilers separately, though, because they can block the paint and leave effectively "masked" portions of the car under or behind them.

As a newbie I probably have an obvious question.

When I spray my shell should I attach the bumpers prior to spraying OR should I spray the bumpers separately and then cement the bumpers to the main shell? (Pics below)

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y270/adz13091982/28-06-2008203731.jpg

Well... as stated previously, it largely depends on how the directions tell you to assemble it, but it also depends on how you plan on coloring the shell. If you were going to paind the skirts and bumper different colors or part od hte bumpers different colors then mask the bumpers and paint them and the skirts seperately. If you were going to paint it all the same color, then I dont think it really matters (provided you arent doing anything that requires multi-step painting like I had to do with my GTR).

It's important to note smallish parts like D17, that you may later want to be black or carbon fiber. Leave those off and paint them seperately - then affix them to the shell after it is also painted.

how about panel lines?
draw it before clear or after?

how about panel lines?
draw it before clear or after?

I do my panel lines after my clear because the clear coat will eat the panel line wash to near transparency. Then again I do an acrylic wash... Different people do it different ways