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How do you all paint different parts of a model separately, including spray undercoating etc?

I am assembling a broadside, and want to paint bits (each assemble leg, body, and each missile arm) separate in order to improve detail. Do you guys have any good way of mounting these bits so I can spray and paint them, without having to hold on to the model?

I hope I've explained this properly!

i just glue them to bits of sprue for something to hold and have little mounts of blue-tack on my desk to put them in while they dry between coats.

Drill and pin on corks. Best way to do it.

I have completely stopped caring. At the end of the day, if the model gets painted and I get another item off of my workbench, I call it done. I don't paint individually anymore, all on the model in batches. whats the use of painting something that can't be seen, and then lighting is easier to work out on the complete model than in parts.

Lighting and shading cant be done untill the model is completely assembled, I'm with poda_t on this mostly... I only ever leave a piece off if its going to obscure me getting in with a brush to something that is still visible. for example the boltguns might aswell be glued onto marines prior to painting as they dont stop you getting the brush in anywhere that you can see tbh. but on something else... maybe my dark talon or maybe landspeeders, I had to paint the pilot and cock pit seperate as once he is in the seat its tough to paint the actual seat and the controls around it.

Poda, thing is I'm not really a gamer, I just paint as a relaxing escape, so I've not really got a schedule of many models to finish.

The drilling, I don't have a vice or room for one, but that sounds the closest to what I'm after, I'll try the sprue thing maybe

I tried the pinning thing, but often the drill bit is a bit loose in the hole and things fall off when a little too much pressure is applied (that might be me being useless, to be fair). The blu-tuck method has worked really well for me, not least because of the access it allows to certain areas. Highlighting space marine legs, for example, becomes much easier when they are separated and able to be turned at all angles than when part of a fully constructed marine. Both can be done, but for me the first option actually speeds me up..

The Division Of Joy wrote:
Poda, thing is I'm not really a gamer, I just paint as a relaxing escape, so I've not really got a schedule of many models to finish.

The drilling, I don't have a vice or room for one, but that sounds the closest to what I'm after, I'll try the sprue thing maybe

You use a pin vise to drill, which is a small hand held drill. I think you are thinking of a bench vise, which is a completely different tool.

Yep. A pin vise is little more than an X-acto knife handle with 4-way jaws. Some come with several sets of jaws with holes bored in the center to accept larger drill bits. Many have a pivoting knob on the back to make the actual drilling easier. I keep several different ones of different types around both with and without the pivot. The ones with the pivot are used exclusively for drilling. The ones without just as often are used to hold a part with a pin in it for painting.

If you make sure that you used a sharp bit and the pin size is well matched to the bit, the pin won't be loose and you won't be able to insert it in the drilled hole without the aid of a pair of needle-nose pliers.

You know, pinning to a cork really is the simplest way to do what was asked, although bear in mind; once built you can also achieve this very very simply, by use of masking tape and an airbrush. Just cover up the irrelevant bits of the side in question, and spray the arm. Remove tape; receive awesomeness.