dubix88
I'm going to say this to beat Dvoss to it. Kalmbach Publishing has many fine how to books that would be good to start with. There are so many things that could be said aout this matter. Reading some books on the basics will help.
That being said I'll start the ball rolling with this.
1) cut the parts off the sprues. Don't twist or pull them off, that will damage them. If there is still a little piece left over, remove it with sandpaper or a file.
2) Remove any seam lines or flash from the parts before painting. Sandpaper, file, exacto blade or seam tool will do the trick.
maybe someone else will chime in
Darren