Q for All: How Do You Jig?

I use a 4"X10" pine block that I wrap painter's masking tape around, sticky side up. The low tack of the painter's tape has just enough grab to keep the parts from flying around when you hit them with the airbrush. For vertical pieces, I have drilled holes of varying diameters into the pine block so they stand upright. The downside is that you have to change the tape everytime you use it, but you can get a lot done at one time.

I use varying sizes of dowels and styrofoam or a box to stick them in. THis allows me to move the parts around and hit it from all angles.

If the dowel alone won't handle it, some fimo or clay does a good job of holding the stubborn part to the end of a stick. Spray glue on the end of the dowel will also work. Just something to make it tacky.

Tape, one side of small parts laid out on the tape and then turn the parts over and do the other side. The tape prevents them from scooting across the table when I use the airbrush.

Mike

I have a clump of bees-wax that for some reason always stays just a little bit soft and malleable, it never hardens! I just push the part into part of the clump, and paint away! When I don't do that, I use the old Meat-Hook, Mk.I(that's a "hand" to all you non-technical types!)!

Lots of small parts on the 1/96 scale ships I work on, so here are some tricks I use -

I have a 2' long by 6" wide board that is bored with lots of 1/4 inch holes - around 30 or so. In each hole, I have a dowel with a aligator clip attached to the end. You can find flat jawed aligator clips at large electronics stores, or you can file the teeth off of radio shack clips - though a few with teeth are handy. The clips is soldered onto a 1/16 inch brass wire which is glued into the end of the dowel. I can take the dowel out of the holder, spray paint the part, and then return it to the holder to dry. The dowels are a good, but loose fit into the board so they insert and remove easily.

I have a few dowels that just have 1/16" pins in them - for some parts, like gun barrels, I can insert the pin into the part to hold it while painting

I use Blue Tak adhesive to hold parts onto the end of the pins as well.

For parts that have one surface that will be glued - cleats, to use a ship modeling example - you can take a strip of double sided tape, run it across a old piece of cardboard, and then lay the part onto it for spraying. This has the added bonus of holding the parts until they are ready to use.

That should give you a few ideas!

Kurt

Gawd - holding parts while you paint? There must be a hundred different things to do.......
- superglue part to a toothpick and stick the end in a block of styrofoam
- sharpen lengths of sprue and liquid cement par to sprue - again use styrofaom block - I attach the sticks to the inside, non-visible side of the part
- bluetack on the end of a stick or toothpick
- old paintbrushes to poke in holes (tyres, spinners, props, etc) - the gradually reducing radius of the handle allows a "self clamping" action
- alligator clips-
- bent clothes hangers for cars and larger things
- popsicle sticks (as ponch said, stick it in the slot for the wings) - pack them out with sheet styrene if they're too thin
- double sided tape (or masking tape doubled over on itself) on a stick or sprue
- haemostats or self closing tweezers
There must be a hundred other methods, but these are the most common methods I use. If you know of any others, please let us know.
Have a good one,
LeeTree

I sometimes use popsicle sticks as handles. Just stick them into the fuselage holes. I recently finished Italeri's 1:48 UH-1C helo and this method worked just fine, given the amount of holes and windows.

Very good question. For completed models I have a pedestal built out of wire coat hangers I place in the paint booth. I rotate the pedestal to get to un painted areas. On small parts, some I paint when still on the tree or use wide masking tape. Take the masking tape and tear off about ten to twelve inches. Roll it and stick the ends together and place it in the paint booth. Take the items to be painted, such as gear doors and stick them to the masking tape. This prevents small parts from being blown around when spray painting. For round items such as drop tanks, misssiles or bombs etc, I tack glue them to plastic sprue, in areas that will not show, and again use the pedestal and alligator clips to hold the sprue. I rotate the sprue on the clips to paint the complete item.

1. Take a piece of wide masking tape & put the small parts on it & airbrush them.
2. Take a piece of stiff wire & mount or suspend larger parts & airbrush.
3 The 2 above methods will also work for brush painting as well.
4. For even larger parts use an old coat hanger

I've got a coat hanger bent into a handle that I stretch tape between the two sides and stick parts onto the tape. I've also been known to put that coat hanger into the hole for the prop on smaller kits.

Semper Fi