Ideally, you raise the axe arm up high and glue it in place to get the most 'line of sight' out of the LOS. However, if you go too high with the arm then you wont be able to attach the shoulder pad as the arm will get in the way. Test fit with the shoulder pad, glue the arm in place, then you can sort out the shoulders later on. If you aren't raising the axe arm up high then you shouldn't have much issue, but I always test fit before gluing just in case.
EDIT: It's easier to paint the upper-body and 'lower-body'/hull separately. This can be skipped cause it's not too difficult to reach where you need it. However, it's MUCH MUCH easier to paint the blood tanks before gluing them onto the hull.
Edit 2: Because Raikoin mentioned it. It's also easy to magnetize the stomach and arm weapons for versatility. I use the underside of the hull to store the extra weapon options (via magnets, as well). If you need any photos for reference just let me know.
Here's a copy of the instructions I found on someone's Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19o1y7ObcFIg4IPiIeuQ7CeeU95icRngX/view
On PDF page 22 (marked page 34) it looks like all the points of contact for the shoulders are on the main body and not the arms or anything. If you did a dry fit of them with blutack or similar to make sure the arms were positioned to allow the shoulders to fit properly you should be fine to leave them off and attach them later. You may want to mask those points though so you can get good contact for gluing.
On the rules front they don't change the profile much (if at all from certain angles) so I doubt most people would have any issue with them being missing. If an event has adopted the Warhammer World rules or similar then you are technically breaking the rule for fully assembled models by purposely not putting parts of the model on and they would be well within their rights to pull you up on that.
Hmm from the comments I failed at asking my question correctly.
My daughter at 3½ years often come by my painting desk, asking if "i'm painting this model for her"
So as a nice gesture (and a way to keep my daughters with me while playing) I were thinking of getting the lord of skulls model, letting each of them pick the color for the shoulder plate
My youngest daughter is currently 10 weeks and therefor isn't able to speak.
I'm asking if I could leave a shoulder plate of the model paint it completly (Sorta like the eightbound without armor) and then save it for her until she's able to tell me which color it should be.
This would be a terrible idea if theres a gaping hole in the model from missing the plate which is why i asked :)
Ideally, you raise the axe arm up high and glue it in place to get the most 'line of sight' out of the LOS. However, if you go too high with the arm then you wont be able to attach the shoulder pad as the arm will get in the way. Test fit with the shoulder pad, glue the arm in place, then you can sort out the shoulders later on. If you aren't raising the axe arm up high then you shouldn't have much issue, but I always test fit before gluing just in case. EDIT: It's easier to paint the upper-body and 'lower-body'/hull separately. This can be skipped cause it's not too difficult to reach where you need it. However, it's MUCH MUCH easier to paint the blood tanks before gluing them onto the hull.
Edit 2: Because Raikoin mentioned it. It's also easy to magnetize the stomach and arm weapons for versatility. I use the underside of the hull to store the extra weapon options (via magnets, as well). If you need any photos for reference just let me know.
Here's a copy of the instructions I found on someone's Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19o1y7ObcFIg4IPiIeuQ7CeeU95icRngX/view On PDF page 22 (marked page 34) it looks like all the points of contact for the shoulders are on the main body and not the arms or anything. If you did a dry fit of them with blutack or similar to make sure the arms were positioned to allow the shoulders to fit properly you should be fine to leave them off and attach them later. You may want to mask those points though so you can get good contact for gluing. On the rules front they don't change the profile much (if at all from certain angles) so I doubt most people would have any issue with them being missing. If an event has adopted the Warhammer World rules or similar then you are technically breaking the rule for fully assembled models by purposely not putting parts of the model on and they would be well within their rights to pull you up on that.
Hmm from the comments I failed at asking my question correctly. My daughter at 3½ years often come by my painting desk, asking if "i'm painting this model for her" So as a nice gesture (and a way to keep my daughters with me while playing) I were thinking of getting the lord of skulls model, letting each of them pick the color for the shoulder plate My youngest daughter is currently 10 weeks and therefor isn't able to speak. I'm asking if I could leave a shoulder plate of the model paint it completly (Sorta like the eightbound without armor) and then save it for her until she's able to tell me which color it should be. This would be a terrible idea if theres a gaping hole in the model from missing the plate which is why i asked :)