Holding parts after spray or airbrush painting, then putting them down

[Stevekir]

I have some parts in my present model which have rounded edges and which wet after spray or airbrush painting need to be put down level on their undersides to avoid spoiling the edges. Here is a sketch which shows the problem:

(The problem also applies to similar parts with rectangular edgeds).

A typical part is essentially a rectangle of plastic about 3 mm thick. Like a lid of a box-shaped part. All four of it's top edges are rounded, including the four corners. After painting and when the paint is still wet the part needs to be put down to dry flat on a surface to dry, without the rounded edges being in contact with anything at any time. This means that the part needs to be lowered to the surface horizontally. Without a levitation machine, the problem is to avoid tipping the part so that the edge ("edge of the part" in the sketch) will not be damaged. This is most important with gloss coats. The part cannot be hand held while lowering because the hand cannot be extracted without tipping the part. (I've made a meal of this explanation to be sure it is clear.)

My usual method of holding parts to be sprayed or airbrushed is to attach a blob of white tack to the back of the part and then gingerly to put it down supported initially by an edge while I remove my hand whose fingers inevitably stick to the white tack requiring a tussle. An alternative is to hold the white tack with tweezers but they also stick. "Supported initially by an edge" is the problem.

I suppose I could build stands each consisting of two rails attached to each other and held on four legs a couple of inches above the drying surface. A blob of white tack attached to a small weight would prevent the part being blown off by the spray. The part would not need moving between spraying and being dry.

How do others put such wet parts down without damage?

 

[col68]

Muse white tack or doubled over to stick the parts onto a piece of scrap wood so I don't have to move it. If I need to keep the other side free of paint I mask it first

 

[stona]

I'm not sure why they need to be put down flat in the first place ?

I usually end up with an array of parts, all stuck to cocktail sticks with Blutac at various angles, decorating the upper shelf of my work area!

Cheers

Steve

 

[dave]

This is my solution.Parts attached to cocktail sticks with either PVA or white tack.

 

[dubster72]

For flat parts this is how I do it. Get a wooden clothes peg & a length of masking tape. Grip one end of the tape in the jaws of the peg & wrap it around the peg so the tape is sticky side up.

Then push the part onto the tape & spray.

Like this


It gives plenty of hold & no fingers need to touch it until dry.

 

[yak face]

Maybe try two coffee stirrers taped together in a x shape with a big blob of white tack on the joint steve . Stick the flat panel on the blob then use any of the four arms to hold it , it should sit off the surface and be stable on the four arms. Cheers tony

 

[Ian M]

My painting mounts consist of white tac which gets used either to fix parts to a paint stirring thing from diy stores, also a blob of it with a cocktail stick pushed into it. Mind heavy parts as they can droop in a warm room...
Heavy parts get stuck to a bit of sprue with superglue in a place that is hidden afterwards. Very small parts get stuck on cocktail sticks or into a small drilled hole if there is room to do it.
Once mounted no need to touch it until it is dry.
Crocodile clips on a stick, bamboo grill pins are good for holding odd shapes that need painting on all sides in one go.

 

[russell hopson]

like your idea Dave now raiding the kids Lego:D

 

[john i am]

I use cocktail sticks crocodile clips and crib boards

 

[Stevekir]

Thanks folks. I used to hold between fingers a blob of White Tack stuck to the other side of a part, but my fingers or the plastic glove usually stuck to them, resulting in a tussle to set the part down. I have decided, for most of my parts, to fix a cocktail stick to the back with two (for security) blobs of White Tack. The part can then be handled without risking touching the wet paint, and to protect the edges I posted about, the part can be kept level while being laid down for drying. The positioning of the cocktail stick parallel with the painted surface makes it easy to handle safely:



The other side of the part can be sprayed later with the stick attached to the other side. For drying, the stick can be pushed into a block of polystyrene or other similar object, or a rack like Dave's. I find that sticking cocktail sticks to a biggish part at various angles implies only one blob of White Tack which in my case has often resulted in the part falling off. I like dubster's use of sticky tape for small parts. The rectangular shape of the clothes peg would keep the part stable when being put down for drying.

What I like about hobbies is that they require problems to be solved and techniques to be developed.

 

[Gern]

For the parts you've shown Steve, I'd use a coffee stirrer rather than a cocktail stick - it gives you a larger surface area for the white tack.

 

[Stevekir]

For the parts you've shown Steve, I'd use a coffee stirrer rather than a cocktail stick - it gives you a larger surface area for the white tack.

Good point. Will do.