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I normally glue my parts to spare plastic to paint them then break them off and glue them together for the final product. Kinda makes the shoulder pads and arms glue back at weird angles though. I was wondering what you guys use to hold your bits while you paint. As in puddy or some other squishy product. Thanks for your time!

Sometimes I use small bits of pin with superglue, other times I use blu tac. You just need to make sure you trim back whatever glues supports back to the original line of the part before attaching to the model. Shouldn't end up going worky.

Well, first I would ask why you aren't fully assembling before painting?
Or if you are painting before assembling (not advised at all), why aren't you leaving the bits on the sprue? Paint, then glue, then touch up.

Next, what glue have you been using? If these are plastic, you shouldn't be using super glue. Ever.
If you use plastic cement, like you should be, you can use a very small amount to glue the bit onto the spare plastic to paint, then when you break it off, it should not have any odd bits getting in the way of gluing the final product.

Likewise, when you glue the 2 painted bits together, you should have un-painted surfaces between them for the plastic cement to adhere to.
Plastic cement also doesn't adhere instantly, so you should have a few moments to adjust the pieces to fit properly.

If I had to guess, it sounds like you are using super glue, which is creating 'junk' in the middle of you surfaces preventing a proper fit
Super glue adheres quite quickly and may be grabbing onto a painted surface preventing the proper fit. Use plastic cement to fix this issue

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I assemble as much as possible. Always paint heads seperate, but I'm confused as to why you need to paint arms seperately?

I paint the bits separately so I can get the chest part and arms separately for bolter guys. If the arms go to the side I just put everything together. Yup all I was ever told to use was super glue. Had no idea plastic cement was a thing lol. I'll give it a whirl though. Thanks for the suggestions!

 Tagony wrote:
Yup all I was ever told to use was super glue. Had no idea plastic cement was a thing lol. I'll give it a whirl though.

My God, you poor soul! I am so sorry. Plastic glue is live changing when used properly.
That should help prevent those odd fittings, but as I mentioned, it must be able to touch un-painted surfaces to work, so keep that in mind.
It also doesn't leave that white residue that super glue can sometimes leave

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I usually pin the sub-assemblies. I drill a tiny hole in the part, insert a paper clip and glue it with superglue. I can usually bend the other end of the paper clip so it stands upright on the table (many people stick it to a cork though). Obviously I drill where I'll end up gluing the part.

I never use plastic glue unless the part is thin or brittle and needs a cemented join. You could always glue the arms, but leave the bolt guns seperate. I can't really help here as I rarely paint rank and file miniatures. I think you're making it unnecessarily difficult though.. Glue as much together as you can first. Use superglue if necessary and you can always snap parts off if they need adjusting.

I prefer super glue and pins because I can paint the individual pieces while they are glued to the end of a wire handle, then when I clip the part off, it already has the pin ready. I can then use the pin and hole to test poses.

I do a lot of converting, though. Plastic cement might be better when you know exactly what you're building.

I use both super glue + pins AND plastic glue for sub assemblies.

for marines if possible, i glue the arms, guns and shoulder pads as one assembly with tamya super thin cement, and use the arm attachment point for a pin.

legs torso, some times head and back pack.

then once painted i super glue the arms on after removing and sanding the connection point.

iv had a few times where i used the plastic glue and it jacked up my finish paint.

Typically the proper way is to pin the parts to a holder like a wine cork, or you could blu tack them to something. I’m lazy and just hold the bits in hand; I haven’t had issues, but this isn’t ideal because of the risk of skin oils interfering with the paint.
https://www.target.com/p/loctite-fun-tak-174-mounting-putty/-/A-14043898

The buildup you refer to sounds like super glue. If you’re going to use that, you definitely want to scrape that stuff off with a knife or file before re-gluing. Using the pinning or putty methods can help minimize clean up.

 Galef wrote:
Well, first I would ask why you aren't fully assembling before painting?
Or if you are painting before assembling (not advised at all), why aren't you leaving the bits on the sprue? Paint, then glue, then touch up.

Next, what glue have you been using? If these are plastic, you shouldn't be using super glue. Ever.
If you use plastic cement, like you should be, you can use a very small amount to glue the bit onto the spare plastic to paint, then when you break it off, it should not have any odd bits getting in the way of gluing the final product.

Likewise, when you glue the 2 painted bits together, you should have un-painted surfaces between them for the plastic cement to adhere to.
Plastic cement also doesn't adhere instantly, so you should have a few moments to adjust the pieces to fit properly.

If I had to guess, it sounds like you are using super glue, which is creating 'junk' in the middle of you surfaces preventing a proper fit
Super glue adheres quite quickly and may be grabbing onto a painted surface preventing the proper fit. Use plastic cement to fix this issue

-

I have to disagree; often times partial assembly makes painting easier.
For instance, I have a bunch of skitarii and tech priests who wear robes, but also have overlapping cables from backpacks and such. I left the arms and backpacks off because it’s so much simpler to paint the body without obstacles. It’s also easier to finish scenic bases separately from the model.

Super glue isn’t so bad. Sometimes poses just don’t look very good in hindsight, or you might fancy rebasing an army. The brittle nature of super glue actually becomes an advantage when making alterations because snapping off super glue joins has a lower risk of damaging the model than plastic welds. When handled properly, the difference in durability doesn’t really become an issue.

You should definitely use superglue on arms and any sort of weapon mount. Whatever is a good option NOW might not be so great after a couple of years. Breaking apart bits that are cemented is next to impossible if enough glue has been applied: it literally cements (melts) the pieces into one solid piece of plastic.