One for the body painters

[CAClark]

Hey, I wondered, I have a shell to paint (very simple black and white), is it better to cut and trim the shell first, or to paint it, and cut it after?

Cheers!

[jimmy]

I always cut before painting - you have more access with the airbrush / masking etc, and don't risk knackering the paint when cutting. I score and snap my shells to cut them out as well - and I'm not sure how that'd work with paint on there, it might peel or something nasty like that
But I'm not a pro and I'd not like to be cutting out other peoples shells all day

[CAClark]

Originally Posted by jimmy

I always cut before painting - you have more access with the airbrush / masking etc, and don't risk knackering the paint when cutting. I score and snap my shells to cut them out as well - and I'm not sure how that'd work with paint on there, it might peel or something nasty like that
But I'm not a pro and I'd not like to be cutting out other peoples shells all day

Nice one Jimmy, score and snap, I hadn't considered that! And yeah, I'm not ecstatic cutting out my own shells twice in a year, let alone anyone elses. I'd pay a fiver just to have the thing cut out!

[DCM]

I always paint first, score and cut second, as I find the shells far more difficult to handle when they are all floppy and cut out, but thats a personal preference. If you paint then cut, leave the paint to fully cure first, otherwise the paint may still be soft and lift.

[CAClark]

It's only a very simple colour scheme for an E-Firestorm Flux shell, which is quite easy to cut I imagine compared to daft buggy shaped shells. Probably. Possibly. Maybe.

[jonmiller]

yep, cut first. why risk the paint job.

but, like dcm says, tis a personal preference.