Super Newbie EVA Foam question - painting related

hey guys! I'm about to embark on my first EVA foam project, and had a question regarding painting. My armor will have a lot of details - should I produce everything separately, paint it, then assemble ? or assemble, then paint after ?? it seems easier to paint all separately, but will contact cement stick to the base if it's covered in acrylic paint? would I need to scratch it off ? or assemble first, paint base/major color, then masking tape around the details? I can't imagine scratching off paint for glue adhesion with the number of tiny pieces i'll have :/

Put it together an then paint it the contact cement will not stick to a painted piece. before you paint also make sure to seal your foam to get good results

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I was afraid of that :/ my fear of course being if i have to try and pain the details after they're on the base, i'll screw it up :/ but i guess if i can use painters tape on the base to isolate the details, it might be ok!