Affix to case before or after paint job

[stottlem]

First of all, I am new to the forums, great site, been watching it for years.

First a basic description of the case:
It is a case for my girlfriend that I am pretty much building from scratch. I plan to make a frame for it out of 3/4" wood painted white to house some fake gems with pink LEDs behind them. For the sides I plan to use acrylic painted pink with a few designs on it.

Now the question:
Should I affix the gems to the wood after painting? Or, should I affix the gems to the wood prior to painting and just cover them with tape during the painting process?

Any help you guys could give would be great. Also, if you have any other tips that would be awesome too.

Thank you in advance.

[slaveofconvention]

You'll never get the same quality of finish masking things off. I'd strongly suggest paint then attach as you'll get much cleaner lines between the paint and the gems. Of course, there's always a chance you might damage the paint when attaching the gems, a problem you wont have if you mask them up, but that's just a matter of being careful. Painting first should give you the better result

[SgtM]

Slave is right. Do them after paint.

[stottlem]

Attaching after paint is what I was leaning towards, thanks for your input.