Same here, hard core brush painter!
It kind of depends what glue you use. Most glue will attack the paint, that is the reason why I don't really paint parts before I attach them.
It will take you some experience to see which parts you can paint before you attach them and which parts can wait.
Mostly I just take a look at the sequence, if there is any piece that protrudes, then it's better to paint the piece that's below it first. If you have to do touch ups after the glue messed it up, you will hardly see the difference between the first layer of paint the one applied afterwards.
I think that's about the most important lesson when you're doing small scale. See the sequence of painting and constructing.
Of course the first step is looking for the right colour and scheme, but I guess you already figured that out
Good luck with the model and certainly post some pictures of the progress if you can!
Regards
Roel