Painting smaller, separate pieces.

[Politix]

What are you all using to paint arms/heads etc when they are not attached to the model? For instance: I want to batch spray/paint a ton of arms and weapons prior to attaching to bodies. 

[Captain Caine 24th]

Sometimes laying out tape, sticky side up, works for spraying many pieces. The problem is that if it's not sticky enough pieces blow off. If it's too sticky it'll strip off paint. I use blue tac putty often. Drilling a small hole into the model for tooth picks or paperclips can work. The problem is getting a consistent paint job with everything separated. Sometimes I just glue pieces back on the sprue on spots that'll be hidden when assembled. It works good for heads, I can get a whole row of them going.In any case, like to use a clear coat to protect the paint job as I move and shift pieces around while getting initial spray coats down.

[Politix]

Sometimes laying out tape, sticky side up, works for spraying many pieces. The problem is that if it's not sticky enough pieces blow off. If it's too sticky it'll strip off paint. I use blue tac putty often. Drilling a small hole into the model for tooth picks or paperclips can work. The problem is getting a consistent paint job with everything separated. Sometimes I just glue pieces back on the sprue on spots that'll be hidden when assembled. It works good for heads, I can get a whole row of them going.In any case, like to use a clear coat to protect the paint job as I move and shift pieces around while getting initial spray coats down.

I had completely forgotten blutack existed. You're my hero!!

[Bryan Blaire]

I use the paper clips glued into holes in the neck/shoulders where things will cover them to prime, base coat, and do initial shading. I use blu-tac to cover the glue points, and use hemostats (idea from Brother-Chaplain Kage, my 40K black magic guru) to hold them while priming, and an extra pin vise while painting and shading.

 

I go back and do the more light based shading and highlighting once I have the model assembled on the base, so that I can see where it all would naturally fall with the model's pose.

[Quixus]

So what is the benefit of using those clamps instead of your hands? You still have areas that can't be covered with paint, while the hemostats are on.

[Arkhanist]

So what is the benefit of using those clamps instead of your hands? You still have areas that can't be covered with paint, while the hemostats are on.

 

Hope Bryan Blaire doesn't mind me aswering for him.

 

The clamps hold the wire stuck into the part, not the model part itself. You hold the hemostat, or put it on the desk and spray the part. Clamps are cheap, so you can spray a batch at once.

 

The blutac covers areas you don't want to spray, i.e. areas which will later be glued, usually around where the wire is also going into the model. For more detail work with brush, instead of a clamp to hold the wire, you insert it into a pin vice, which gives more control and is nicer to hold.

 

I use a similar method, but with corks. The pin wire goes in the part, the wire goes into a cork; I have a bunch of em for batching, and just spray em on the corks. For fine detail work, the corks conveniently fit into my painting handle, so I can swap each cork + piece into the handle for details - or for quick work, just hold the cork itself. (the handle is nicer to hold, and has a brace to steady my painting hand against)

 

Most of the wire pins of parts are removed, and re-used, once the part is finished - the part is glued to the rest of the model. Depending upon what needs to be done to blend the two parts together (and what it would covering up) will determine when I glue the model part together in the process.

 

Even the main model has two wire pins in the feet, into a cork, which stay so I can then mount it to the bases (which I paint seperately) before final weathering. And I use reusable masking putty instead of blutac to hide areas I don't want paint on, but eh, same difference.

 

For painting bases, I just blutac them to a strip of cardboard, and airbrush & detail as needed. For super detail work, I can tack em to a cork as per models.

Edited July 13, 2020 by Arkhanist

[Quixus]

Ah OK, I thought the hemostat was instead of wire and cork. It makes sense then. Once you have pinned the part, I think helping hands wouöd work well too.

[Fajita Fan]

Blue tack is so awesome I’m surprised GW doesn’t sell it upcharged as Citadel Modeling Compound or something :D

 

I use soda bottle caps to hold a lot of things and I’ve hot glued long toothpicks into a few other bottle caps for tacking on shields/guns/heads. It’s great stuff I wish I had discovered years ago.

[Subtle Discord]

Yep, poster-tack and sticks. Very straightforward, and it works.

 

 

I magnetize my bases for transportation so I have a bunch of ~10cm dowels with a metal plate attached to one end, so the base with the legs and the rest of the miniature can connect to those. Any of the smaller bits and the poster-tack has just enough strength to hold the part firmly for painting. Just note that poster-tack gets softer the more it's kneaded and worked so it has the most holding strength when it's fresh and still firm.

[Arkhanist]

If you need something with more grip than blu tac/white tack, black tac is the way to go. It's considerably stronger. It can leave a bit of a dark stain on absorbent surfaces (wood, cloth, card etc) but is fine for plastic. It does get a bit stringy when pulling it off, so just use another piece of black tac to clean up if needed.

[Bryan Blaire]

The only other thing that I like the hemostats for that Arkhanist didn't cover (thank you for that sir, spot on, tip of the brim) is that I like using the 9 -12 inch long ones because it gives me a pretty comfortable and easily remembered way to ensure I'm holding the rattle cans the proper distance from the bits I'm spraying. I can also turn them easier and don't worry about bits falling out of corks (which I had happen with some :cuss corks I tried using) while being sprayed upside-down to get at funny angles on the model, etc.

[Fajita Fan]

The other great thing about blue tack is using it to protect the contact patches so you can still use plastic cement rather than supergluing painted plastic bits. 

 

[Subtle Discord]

Yup yup yup! Get yourself some Tamiya Extra Thin cement and you can keep models in much-easier-to-paint sub-assemblies and then assemble it with little fear of ruining the paint job. Helped me keep my sanity while building and painting my AdMech.

[Chaplain Mollusc]

Would something like blue tack be suitable to hold subassemblies together as a pseudo-finished model for zenithal priming? I've used it for dry-fitting, but never paint.

[Arkhanist]

Would something like blue tack be suitable to hold subassemblies together as a pseudo-finished model for zenithal priming? I've used it for dry-fitting, but never paint.

As long as it's fresh enough that bits don't immediately start drooping or falling off, it can work (or use black tac, as above). Doesn't really work for small joints though (such as wrists or weapons), as either you end up covering more model that needs priming than you'd want, or the spray sends the part flying because the small amount of blutac isn't strong enough.

 

I find I can zenithal prime disassembled parts ok, I just spray it in the direction I intend the part to be facing when it's assembled, i.e. given I use an airbrush it works best horizontally, so I turn the model part as if the airbrush spray was coming from 'above'. I find a 'pure' zenithal tends to obscure too much below the waist anyway, so I tend to cheat a bit to get some graduation on legs etc.

[Fajita Fan]

Would something like blue tack be suitable to hold subassemblies together as a pseudo-finished model for zenithal priming? I've used it for dry-fitting, but never paint.

Short answer? Yes. Long answer? Blue tack is pretty dense so if you’re trying to hold a bigger model together like an AT Warlord the lower parts can get droopy. I use it hold pieces together while glue cures and I make a bridge because it doesn’t support its own weight well as it’s not rigid nor does it harden like green stuff. For smaller models like marines it’s fine for backpacks but you’ll need to keep a super thin layer if you don’t want paint getting into gaps. 

[Chaplain Mollusc]

I've added black tac to my shopping list; we'll see what I'm able to do with it. It's an inexpensive experiment either way. Thank you, fraters!

[MaliGn]

What on earth is a hemostat?

[Arkhanist]

What on earth is a hemostat?

Locking forceps or clamps. They have overlapping metal teeth between the handles to keep them shut on their own, and usually have serrated jaws. They come in a variety of jaw shapes, like pliers. They're used to hold, uh, things in place during surgery, and also for various hobbies; I understand they're quite useful for fly fishers. They're pretty expensive in Blighty, which is why I use big corks instead!

 

example of use:

 

 

 

Edit: and I figured i might as well show why I mostly use corks; that is my baby painting handle on the right, and I also have a full size one that didn't fit nicely in this picture! I'm just giving these guys final prep before priming (the flippin grenade kept snapping off that backpack, so I've just replaced the shaft with brass wire)

 

Edited July 17, 2020 by Arkhanist

[MaliGn]

Ah ok, to hold small parts when painting I use pins and a pin vice to hold. In between I store them in some offcuts of timber I drilled holes in it doesn't hold tight, but I found that neither did cork.