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How do you hold a model?
In your thumb an fore finger?
Paint each peice? (arms, heads?)
On some sort of clamp?

Reason Im asking is I hold the model by the base with my thumb an fore finger an my thumb joint is really starting to hury recently, I've been painting for a few years.

When painting I generally have them stuck on an old GW paint pot with some blue tac, I prime them on there too and then just paint them on there as it is slightly easier to hold. For some things such as the heldrake I have just done and the Nurgle Daemon Prince I am going to start on next time I am home I just hold it by the base or a suitable part which I am not painting, I have a similar problem to you, I would suggest every 20 minutes or so just completely stopping for 5 and giving your arms and hands a nice break

I use an old prescription bottle with our equivalent of blu-tac on it. I put some coins in the bottle to give it weight so that it doesn't tip over and to give it stability while handling it.


As for the model itself, I leave anything that blocks large areas off and paint those separately(shields and such). Then I generally paint in quarters. For Space marines my routine is left leg, right leg, left shoulder/arm, then right. Then the head/torso, backpack and bolter separately.

The bottle allows you to grip the model rather than holding it with just 2 fingers, preventing fatigue and cramping.

Drill a hole in the base of the foot, gue a pin in there, hold the pin in a pin vice, hold pin vice.

Size of pin depends on model. Infantryman/SM, use a dressmaker's pin or standard pin up to 2mm diameter brass rod for bigger and heavier model parts.

I'm lazy, I just hold the model by the base in my hand however is most comfortable at the time. If it's a model I don't want to have to glue down, I'll just hold the model itself.

I like the idea of pinning a foot to a pin vice or to a cork or such, but realistically that consumes time and I'm too lazy.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:
I'm lazy, I just hold the model by the base in my hand however is most comfortable at the time. If it's a model I don't want to have to glue down, I'll just hold the model itself.

I like the idea of pinning a foot to a pin vice or to a cork or such, but realistically that consumes time and I'm too lazy.

The problem there is the oil from your hands getting all over the model. It creates coverage issues that can mess up all manner of techniques.

 Aerethan wrote:

AllSeeingSkink wrote:
I'm lazy, I just hold the model by the base in my hand however is most comfortable at the time. If it's a model I don't want to have to glue down, I'll just hold the model itself.

I like the idea of pinning a foot to a pin vice or to a cork or such, but realistically that consumes time and I'm too lazy.

The problem there is the oil from your hands getting all over the model. It creates coverage issues that can mess up all manner of techniques.

I totally agree with you on that one, it's far easier just whacking a bit blue tac on the base and sticking it to an old paint pot or bottle cap.

For standard figs, I hot glue the base onto the end of a dowel rod about 2cm in diameter by 10cm long. That provides a good sized grip that's easy to rotate or hold at different angles. A piece of scrap wood with matching sized holes holds the dowels upright when not in use - mine has space for 5 rods/figs. It's simple, but works nicely - the rod holder keeps the figs up off the desk and prevents them from accidentally bumping into things. You could probably use blutac just as well as hot glue, but I always worry the tac will fail at the most unfortunate time and leave me with a big paint swipe across the fig. It only takes a minute to hot glue them and it's easy to pop the figs off when they're done.

For small bits, I use a pair of cross lock tweezers with curved tips simlar to these. Ideally, you'd probably want ones with smooth jaws, but mine have lightly serrated jaws and I haven't had any problems with them damaging paint as long as I handle the pieces gently.

Normally I use one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Jewelers-Adjustable-Work-Holder-Vise/dp/B005LY5A14

I think I got mine from Widgets - though I have had them for so long I have since forgotten where they came from.

You can pinch a slotta tab or pins in the jaws, grip a base...up to about 2 1/2" across with it as well. The top portion is removable from the handle, and I can place that with the figure in a positionable holder for when I am airbrushing. That is on a lazy susan - which allows me to steady the brush with both hands when doing detail work.

I have 6 of them which get work either holding figures for painting or holding figures which I am sculpting.

 Aerethan wrote:

AllSeeingSkink wrote:
I'm lazy, I just hold the model by the base in my hand however is most comfortable at the time. If it's a model I don't want to have to glue down, I'll just hold the model itself.

I like the idea of pinning a foot to a pin vice or to a cork or such, but realistically that consumes time and I'm too lazy.

The problem there is the oil from your hands getting all over the model. It creates coverage issues that can mess up all manner of techniques.

Indeed it can, which is why I usually attach the model to their base first if possible (either with glue or if nothing else, blutack). If I do have to hold it in my hands and can't attach it to the base I just use a soft cloth to hold it with so I'm not rubbing the oil off my fingers on to the model. I do also find, personally, the tips of my fingers have more oils than the sides of my fingers, so I'll place the tip of my thumb somewhere unimportant and then rest the model against the side of my index finger.

I don't do all of the above at once, but a combination of them means I can usually paint a model without getting oils on it and without spending 5-10 minutes on each model pinning it them something. It's all about the time for me, I struggle to find time to paint so I like to streamline things.

I hold the model around the edges of the base between thumb and forefinger, avoiding any actual contact with the model itself. So far I've never come across any issues with oily fingers causing coverage problems.

Because I'm a massive Luddite.

2 fingers and thumb, and bottom.

I use old popsicle sticks and double-sided foam tape – both to prime and to paint off of. Light, easy to hold, let's you spin the model around all sorts of angles.

If based, I use poster tack to attach it to an empty pill bottle or craft paint bottle (much better handle, due to the greater length, than a GW-size paint pot), depending on what's handy. If unattached, I'll be pinning it to the base, so I attach the pin and stick it into a wine cork. Ungainly metal models can't stand on a cork alone, so I clamp it in a large binder clip, then pop off the arms, allowing it to rest flat on the table. Sub-assemblies, when utilized, get pins into the eventual mating surfaces or poster tack on the back/bottom, depending on the size and shape of the part.

James811 wrote:
When painting I generally have them stuck on an old GW paint pot with some blue tac,

I actually have two GW paint pots glued together, with a 50 mil base glued on top. Plus a huge glob of sticky tac. Its wide enough that I can hold it with my entire fist, so no hand cramping

 spanner4000 wrote:


Reason Im asking is I hold the model by the base with my thumb an fore finger an my thumb joint is really starting to hury recently, I've been painting for a few years.

If you have problems with your thumb, then you should definitely go for something bigger that you fits well into your full hand, not just 2-3 fingers. The goal is to have something that you can comfortably hold in your hand without having to bend the last phalanx of your thumb - which is what usually causes the pain. So either a slightly bigger painting bottle or similar (for me, even the GW pots are too small) - or you go for the jeweler's vise or a similar "full-hand holder".