Quote:
Originally Posted by Davet  is it best to paint on the spru, as you have to scrape the paint off to glue |
I usually nowadays remove the part from the sprue, clean it up and prepare it for painting then I reattach it to a spare piece of stretched sprue, pared down to give a small contact area and glued onto a surface that is not visible on the model.
Take a 1/72nd pilot, invariably attached by his head and a leg to the sprue. I remove it and clean it all up then reattach it to a cleaned up piece of stretched sprue underneath his foot. When you have finished the paint job, holding the sprue all the time, and it is finally time to fit him you simply have to break him off the sprue and glue him in place with the minimum of handling.
Then take a motorcycle tank. I would asemble the two halves, finish the joint and prepare for painting then stick a piece of sprue inside the tank underneath. You can then paint the tank with either spray or brush and finally when you are ready to fit it break it off the sprue.
A motorcycle engine I might assemble the crankcases and the cylinders before sticking a piece of sprue to a surface that is going to be covered by a chain case or an alternator cover. I might even do all the weathering before removing it from the sprue and fitting it to the frame. Then when you fit the chain case or alternator cover, also painted with a piece of sprue stuck behind it you will have a perfect finish.
You have to think these assemblies though before hand and decide on the best way of holding and painting the bits but I almost always use trimmed down stretched sprue to hold bits while I paint them.