First off, thanks for all the advice I've gotten already about the right airbrush and compressor to get. I bought a Paasche VL airbrush kit and luckily a friend just bought a Testors compressor so I can wait a couple of paychecks to get my own compressor :-) I bought a Tamiya Panzer Kampfwagen IV Ausf.D kit as my first project. Now I have a question on which order I should start painting,washing,drybrushing, and assembling. Should I do any painting before assembly or should I assemble everythig and then paint it. I remember when i was a kid having problems assembling parts that I painted beforehand. I'm just looking for guidance on what order I should be doing all the steps. Thanks in advance for the help.

-Eyeball

It's really a matter of preference. Here is a good article to get you started http://www.militarymodelling.com/features/feature12/index.html Hope it helps.

Thanks Steve...good article

Good choice on the airbrush. I've used Paasche's VLs since I was 15. It's probably not the fanciest (like Iwatas) or even the most point-and-shoot (like the Aztecs), but it's a great little tool, and pretty darn durable. With the exception of the needles and tips, which are cheap to replace, it's built like a truck. One piece of advice: if you're careful, you'll almost never need to disassemble and clean the valve that controls airflow. If you clean the paint out towards the front, you shouldn't ever get paint in there, which is good, because it's kind of hard to reassemble (small, soft screws that are easy to cross-thread ). That assembly also has a little rubber washer in it that you don't want to dunk in thinner/turpentine. You can submerge the front half of the brush if you want to, just not the air supply stem.

You'll have a ton of fun learning how to use it. Look at some of the posts people have put up on these boards about thinning ratios, air pressure, how different thinners affect drying time, etc. Once you learn that stuff, you can get a really smooth, glossy coat, or have the paint drying in mid-air and creating an even, near-microscopically rough surface that's dry to the touch the minute you stop spraying.

As to the assembly/paint question: it's definitely a matter of personal preference. As is the order in which you assemble things. Most instruction sheets, including those from Tamiya, will have you build the suspension, including tracks and road wheels, as the first step. I think that's nuts. You can't possbily paint the lower half of the hull once those things are on! Look at the instructions, then assemble in an order that makes sense to you. Good luck, and, most importantly, have fun!

The VL is my back-up brush. Got it at an auction for half price. As Part-Timer said, you'll enjoy this AB a lot.
In painting tanks, wha I do is first pain the rubber sections of the wheels, followed by using a cicle template to mask this off and paint the "rims". Then I assemble them and put them aside. I assemble the hull and turret and paint these the base color before putting them together. If there's a camo pattern, paint his with the hull and turret together so the patterns match. After the camo is done, I add wheels to the hull. Gloss coat follows, then decals. Wash, drubrush, flat coat, pastels. That's it in a nutshell.

Glad to hear I made good choice. Thanks for the feedback.

As with most of us here, I'd suggest doing the lower hull first leaving off the road wheels, this gives all the parts good contact points and it save hours on shaving off paint to assemble them. The road wheels I suggest painting your base colour and camo pattern first, then paint your tires. The turret on the PZ IVD can painted as one assembly also get most of the hull together and paint that. Leave the tools till last then mount the after they are painted and the tank is ready for its wash. this will even the colours on every thing. But as stated before its a matter of preference SS-74(dave Tong will build the whole thing then paint), others like me build a bit and then paint a bit. nothing but preference. Now scream, and go have fun. Just don't be afraid to test things out and expiriment a little. STUG

I usually try to build 3 or 4 subassemblies, base coat then shadow or cloud paint. Then do the camo if needed. After all that I assemble the subassemblies except for wheels, tracks, tools and any other details that would be hard to paint on the vehicle. The next step is the decaling if necessary. The weathering then begins with the lower part of the vehicle, ( dirt, sludge, dust, oil etc.). All the stuff left off is then put on so the final steps of washes and drybrushing can be done over the whole unit. That is basic plan I use. If there is an interior then that is completed in the subassembly stage. For me, the building sequence is strictly controlled by the needs of the painting sequences. However, each person finds his path that he is comfortable with and usually sticks with that. The more models that are built will help you find what works for you.
capnjock

I like to put the whole model together before i lay anypaint on it, that way it all flows together.
But thats just my thing, good luck on the kit!

Here is my IV that i just finished, great kit.

It's a personal preference of which way you do it. Personally, I like to do as much of the assembly before painting as I can. Some pieces just have to be painted as subassemblies
as finished. Try both ways, and it also depends on the moded that you are doing, sometimes it much easier to paint then assemble.
Good luck!!!

i go the sub assembly route then blend the whole thing together. Timber wolf like your iv and those trees they are outstanding,congrats .

Thanks again for all the help!

-eyeball