I’m getting back into modeling after many years of building when I was younger. I noticed on many YouTube videos of builders that they detach all parts before painting and building. Do you do this ? I’ve always kept the parts on the sprues and detached as I went along I nless I am doing some pre-assembly for painting. I’m always concerned for the one part out of some kits that look similar that I can confuse for left instead of right for example. Is it better to detach all before painting/building?
That’s how I do it, too. I guess it’s whatever one is comfortable with. I’d lose track of everything if I did the take 'em all off thing.
I do a few parts on sprues, undercarrage legs, AFV wheels and so on. But i would say i remove well over halfand if i think it could get confuseing then i label the parts.
Thanks Greg. Plus I would definitely lose the small parts .
I do the same thing…leave them on the sprue until they’re needed. I tried doing it the other way a few times and I ended up finding out the hard way that, yes, those wing halves were just different enough from each other to look completely wrong after they had already been cemented together. Not a fan of painting on the sprue though. Its so much easier to not have to do the paint touch-up at the spots where the part was connected to the sprue. For small parts, I just attach the part to a toothpick with a little dab from the hot glue gun on the surface that will attach to the model. Then I poke the other end of the toothpick into the side of a cheap roll of masking tape to hold it while the paint cures. Kills two birds with one stone by eliminating touch-up and making it so I also don’t have to remove paint from the surface I’m going to be applying cement to during assembly.
Like a lot of modeling questions, “it depends”.
Personally, I remove most parts from the sprues prior to painting. As others have said, it eliminates the need to touch up the cut sprue gates. For nearly identical parts, I use a Sharpie to mark the part number on an inconspicuous area. I’m kind of careless, so I will sometimes just write a note like “left” as a fairly foolproof reminder which side a part goes on. I try to assemble as much as possible prior to painting, but sometimes leaving stuff unassembled is the easier way to go.
Lately I have re-learned that cleaning detail parts up while still on the sprue helps keep me from crushing them in my clumsy hands. I cut the sprues around the part so a complete frame surrounds it, yet holds it seccurely in place. This way, the part is more easily accessed without the whole sprue tree getting in the way.
You’re welcome. And me too.
Very rarely,most of the time I assemble and then paint.Sometimes an odd accessory or part is more convenient to leave on the sprue to paint.Especially if the attachment point is easily cleaned and painted or hidden.
Ahh,I misunderstood the question,no I never take all the parts off at once, only as I build.
I’m finding it’s better to leave them on the sprue as long as I can. The sprue is a great handle. The Tamiya kit I’m currently building has most of the sprue attachment points hidden when assembled. That’s pretty clever.
Man it depends on the kit and sprue attachment points or if they are visible parts on completion. I’ve moved away from spending my time detailing cockpits as most of it cannot be seen anyway and I don’t take WIP pictures anymore, so I usually spray all those parts on the sprue taking care to avoid contact points where I will apply glue.
Hi;
I usually don’t take the parts off the sprue before painting. That way I don’t lose the teeny weeny parts. But, I do build so often from scratch that’s not the norm. There’s a lot of stuff that needs painting sometimes and it all gets the same color.
So it gets stuck to a surface with a teensy drop of white glue then left to dry, paint, wait for the paint to dry and remove. This way the glueing surface mostly NEVER sees paint at all!
Bigger chucky pieces come off the sprue before painting but many pieces stay on. Sometimes I’ll build some sub assemblie before painting.
Forget what the YouTube people do-do what works best for you. Whichever is easiest for you, is the right way.
Personally, I tend to leave parts on the sprue until I need to attach them to something else. That’s the easiest way, for me.
Last year I was working a make and take at the alliance airshow in Fort Worth. A couple of mothers sit down with their kids. I get them started, the instructions are important, don’t lol take the parts off the trees until the instructions say you need them, …
Mom #1 starts working with her son. Things are going pretty well. Mom#2 is a little off to my right. She didn’t pay attention to a word I said. She had pulled, not cut, all the parts off the trees. She looked at me sort of lost - what now?
My response, “Find part 8”. I think the light went on then, that perhaps the old phart knew of what he was talking.
Depends on the kit. One of the things I do with every new kit is go through the instructions and determine what parts need to be painted when. A little late to paint the cockpit after it is in the model and the canopy on 
It becomes a paint-a-little, assemble-a-little, paint subassemblies, assemble them into main structure, final painting, decaling, weathering. Even the genre of the model alters when to paint and when to glue. You learn with experience. When I paint the sprues (many parts needing same color), I do still need to touch up afterwards to paint the points where the sprue attachments were, but that may be easier than trying to hold very small parts while you paint.
The days of getting replacements for lost parts from X companies Customer Service are all but gone.
Perfect. Love it. [Y]
I usually make photo copies of the sprues. Then I circle groups of parts that are the same color on the prints. Sometimes I’ll paint them on, rarely other times take those off and paint them, then put them in a compartment of my parts trays.
It’s true. The parts may look the same, until you install the wings and the aircraft has a nice anhedral.
Bill
Hi Bill;
You reminded me of something I posted some years back on Scale Auto. I bought a model at a local store. Took my jewel home to find the Steering Wheel Shortshotted!
I wrote AMT and recieved a call from customer service that they did not keep parts on site anymore. Take the model back and exchange it or request my Money back!
That was my last try at customer service anywhere. Now I check it at the purchase site. The manager of H.L( He’s an old friend) Told the staff it was alright for me to do that. And my Local H.S.( Hill Country hobbies) almost insists that you do this!
Next time you’re at Hill Country Hobbies, tell Gary I said hello.
Michael McMurtrey
Carrollton, Texas