So i just got my box set of cadians, and am going to be painting them tonight after i get them cut out. i would, however, like a few tips so my guys dont look too bad. i bought a spray can of primer and another can of blue, both from GW. my paint scheme is going to be, well, GI Joe's Cobra for my IG army. i plan to do a coat of primer, then go over them in the blue. after that i detail other parts with flesh tone and gun metal as needed. i plan on doing just the parts, then assembling after i paint them. good ideas? or should i reconsider

Sounds kosher to me.

Are you going to go for the little face-masks too?

I would use a black undercoat for the guys, as opposed to white, since I remember them being a pretty dark blue.

As a small suggestion, doing the officers in bright red might help with the 'thematic' look though.

I would paint one mini first and that way you have a guide for the rest of the army/unit. sounds alright otherwise though. just keep your paint fine and try to be as neat as you can.
Good luck

The line troopers are going to be the standard cobra blue, but my stormtroopers and vetrens are going to be red, the Crimson Guard. i would love to mod my rough riders and put them on bikes, making them the python patrol. now if only i could find someone to be my cobra commander...

Welcome on LO!

I would recommend assembling most parts of your minis before spray-painting them.
Put everything apart from the arms and guns together. So you have a slight idea of how the mini will look in the end and it is easier to paint, but the areas that would have been covered by the Lasguns is still free, so that you can paint them without any problems.

The backpack of your radio operator and other parts decreasing your chances of being able to paint all areas should be left unassembled as well.

Cheers
Julian