Approaches to painting turrets

[Cylence]

Since it doesn't seem like there is an existing topic on this, how are people approaching painting turrets on the battlefield support units (or the Goliath)?

The easy approach would be to glue them in place before priming if you don't care about them moving.   I wouldn't recommend priming without glue as some of the turrets are loose enough to break any fix the primer may provide and result in potential chipping/flaking.

Approach two would be to remove the turrets and paint both parts separately.  In general this should be straightforward enough, but does lead to a few questions:
-turret removal/replacement: with almost every unit I have the turret is easily removable by hand with little force.  The exception to this has been the Sturmfeur, the Maxim, and the Galleon (the latter two being small enough I'm still not sure what type of connection is being used as I haven't gotten them off), and the pintle mounts on the Sturmfeur and the SM5 (same issue).
-Once off, there is the question of what to paint/not to paint: some units have contact points where there will be definite rubbing, while others the turret floats on the ball socket and can get moved in a way there will be unintentional rubbing between the turret and the chassis.  Anything never-visible can be marked and left unpainted, but is a heavy clear coat enough for painted areas exposed/covered as the turret gets rotated?  Are there painting techniques that would help blend any friction degradation of the paint?
-Reassembly:assuming the ball and socket are properly masked and left unpainted, a light coating of floor polish such as future (or whatever it is called these days) should probably be sufficient to hold things together while allowing free rotation.  I know some people prefer to coat the ball with a layer of glue and attach after it has dried, but future has always been sufficient for small plastic joints where I've needed it.  Has anyone attempted either or alternate methods so far?

Another method I've seen mentioned briefly is replacing the ball and socket with magnets, but I don't have any experience with small RE disk magnets to know if there are any potential issues with polar conflict while rotating, or proper sizing (since there are at least three different socket sizes in use).

[Weirdo]

I haven't painted any of them yet, but my plan is currently:

I really don't see how to keep a turret rotating without damaging the paint job(either very quickly or over time), so my intent is to glue all of my turrets. If it's a very small turret, or the shape is such that painting any areas visible between the turret and hull won't be difficult, I'll do this before priming and painting. If the above isn't true, my plan is to finish most/all painting first, and then floor the turrets into place after that, ideally before final sealing if possible.

The only major departure that comes to mind right now are a pair of Von Luckners sitting in front of me at the moment. On those, the 'neck' of the turret looks to be too long, to the point that the turret appears to be floating a couple mm above the hull. For those, I think I'm gonna have to cut the entire neck and ball mount off the turret piece, paint everything, THEN glue the turret on.

[worktroll]

I paint the hulls and the turrets separately (I use blue-tak to stick them to clothspeg sticks, for handling), and make sure to put a couple of coats on the underside of the turrets. Then I seal them - typically a layer of gloss varnish (harder), then matte (for finish.)

Then I use "poor man's magnet" - a little bit of blue-tak - to secure the turret to the hull. Don't use too much, and the turret will sit well, still turn, and not fall off. And if you check every so often, if you see gloss varnish coming through underneath, that means it's wearing a little, and a bit of new varnish will help protect the paint.

[Luciora]

If using magnets, like real turrets, you don't want them touching the hull. Ideally you want them slightly higher to avoid contact.  I just bought some teeny cylinder and ball magnets that work really well for shoulder replacement, and could be used for waist and turret replacement, assuming there is enough depth.  You can also combine magnet types to fit the situation.

[General308]

Since it doesn't seem like there is an existing topic on this, how are people approaching painting turrets on the battlefield support units (or the Goliath)?

The easy approach would be to glue them in place before priming if you don't care about them moving.   I wouldn't recommend priming without glue as some of the turrets are loose enough to break any fix the primer may provide and result in potential chipping/flaking.

Approach two would be to remove the turrets and paint both parts separately.  In general this should be straightforward enough, but does lead to a few questions:
-turret removal/replacement: with almost every unit I have the turret is easily removable by hand with little force.  The exception to this has been the Sturmfeur, the Maxim, and the Galleon (the latter two being small enough I'm still not sure what type of connection is being used as I haven't gotten them off), and the pintle mounts on the Sturmfeur and the SM5 (same issue).
-Once off, there is the question of what to paint/not to paint: some units have contact points where there will be definite rubbing, while others the turret floats on the ball socket and can get moved in a way there will be unintentional rubbing between the turret and the chassis.  Anything never-visible can be marked and left unpainted, but is a heavy clear coat enough for painted areas exposed/covered as the turret gets rotated?  Are there painting techniques that would help blend any friction degradation of the paint?
-Reassembly:assuming the ball and socket are properly masked and left unpainted, a light coating of floor polish such as future (or whatever it is called these days) should probably be sufficient to hold things together while allowing free rotation.  I know some people prefer to coat the ball with a layer of glue and attach after it has dried, but future has always been sufficient for small plastic joints where I've needed it.  Has anyone attempted either or alternate methods so far?

Another method I've seen mentioned briefly is replacing the ball and socket with magnets, but I don't have any experience with small RE disk magnets to know if there are any potential issues with polar conflict while rotating, or proper sizing (since there are at least three different socket sizes in use).

Keep in mind on the Goliath that even though it looks like it should be a Turret. It is not a turret.  (for almost all varrients and the standard Goliath)

[General308]

Same with the LRM and SRM carriers they look like turrets but they are not

[House Davie Merc]

I paint the hulls and the turrets separately (I use blue-tak to stick them to clothspeg sticks, for handling), and make sure to put a couple of coats on the underside of the turrets. Then I seal them - typically a layer of gloss varnish (harder), then matte (for finish.)

This is what I'm doing. The gloss varnish part is important. If in the future parts start looking shiny
then you know it's time to put on another coat.
I'm going to experiment with the turrets on the new vehicles and see if I can get away with just using
the ball and socket they come with instead of magnetizing them.