How to secure very small parts for painting,........

[Speedfreak]

Hi, I'm working on a Revell parts pack Blown 427 FE Ford motor that has a coil the size of a small sun flower seed and I'm trying to figure out a way to secure the piece for painting, either brush or spray. The best thing I've not tried yet is to attach the piece to a cut off tooth pick using Liquitape or some other kind of adhesive.

Does anyone know of an effecient way of doing this? Thanks!

[BubbaJoe]

i use a piece of double sided tape and put all the small parts on then paint..then either turn them over of put them on a new piece and repeat.. the other method i've used is to stick a pin in the end of the part and hold the pin in an gator clip to hand brush it...hope this helps

[Ace-Garageguy]

Drilling a small hole in the side of a small part that won't be seen and sticking a paperclip, toothpick or wire in it for spray-painting works well for me.

Make sure whatever you use is a tight fit. I've had paint wick in the hole and lube it just enough so the part falls off and is lost forever.

I also have a pair of vise-grips handy to hold the part by the handle (so you can put it down) while it dries.

[Speedfreak]

Thanks you guys. Bill, I thought about the drill method first but talked myself out of it, think I might give it a closer look.

Edited March 18, 2015 by Speedfreak

[Guest]

I super glue the part to a piece of old sprue at the attachment point. After paint, I can just snap it off, sand off the unwanted paint, glue it and install it. It makes it really handy when it comes time to detail paint or add another color to the part.

[bobthehobbyguy]

For really small parts I use my xacto knife with a number 11 blade and stick the point in a place that won't show.

[Speedfreak]

woooooo, I like the x-acto blade idea, I'll try that, thanks Bob. If that doesn't work I can try the super glue method, thanks Roger.

Thanks you guys!

[Art Anderson]

Drilling a small hole in the side of a small part that won't be seen and sticking a paperclip, toothpick or wire in it for spray-painting works well for me.

Make sure whatever you use is a tight fit. I've had paint wick in the hole and lube it just enough so the part falls off and is lost forever.

I also have a pair of vise-grips handy to hold the part by the handle (so you can put it down) while it dries.

I've also used a small drill to drill into a spot on a small part where the hole won't be seen, then insert a length of the appropriate size brass rod with a drop of CA on it, to secure the part. I can then tape the bit of brass wire to the side or cap of an old dead bottle of paint to hold it while I paint that part. The best part of this is, once the paint is dry, the part can be pulled off of the brass rod, as CA glue doesn't adhere well at all to smooth metal surfaces.

Art

[JohnU]

Alittle trick I've been using since I was a kid. Tape a straight pins to a toothpicks, heat the pin with a small flame then quickly stick it into the plastic part deep enought to hold secure. Best to do it in a spot where you're going to glue it.

[Speedfreak]

Some great suggestions, thanks you guys! I just got out some really thin metal rods I had, gonna try that with a drop of CA first, I'll let you know how it turns out.

[fseva]

I use "removable adhesive putty". It comes in small quantities and can be cut to any size you like. Once you have a ball of this stuff on your part so that it's not obscuring anything you want to receive paint, just stick a toothpick into it and that acts as your handle.

[Speedfreak]

I just tried Art's suggestion and it's working very well, thanks Art. I'm sure that all of these can be used at some time, in some way, I appreciate all the input.

I think I'll try the putty stuff for my next mock-up.