Painting on the sprue?

[iamian]

So last night I did something I have never done before.

I painted parts on the sprue. I also gave them a quick wash while I was at it, I think it saved me a LOT of time paintig them, but for some of them im concerned about mold lines.

does anyone else do this as a common practice?

[Deadlift]

Not usually, I have tried it a few times but where the sprue meets model it needs painting again afterwards. If I need to sub assemble models during painting I usually part build, clean up the lines and mount on cork caps with wire.

[iamian]

it was a bunch of bits for the crimson hunter that will be largely internal, and about 5 or 6 eldar heavy weapons sprues. we'll see how much repair I need to do

[YorkNecromancer]

I'd never do this. Mold lines combined with cleaning up nubs of sprue and the like?

The painting would be an abject waste of time.

If people want a quick and dirty army, and it works for them, that's great. I can't ever see a reason I would want to do this, but then, modelling and painting are my big reasons for being in the hobby.

[Deadlift]

I'd never do this. Mold lines combined with cleaning up nubs of sprue and the like?

The painting would be an abject waste of time.

If people want a quick and dirty army, and it works for them, that's great. I can't ever see a reason I would want to do this, but then, modelling and painting are my big reasons for being in the hobby.

It's doable where the actual sprue join won't be seen, marine heads as an example. Or as the OP has said with cockpits

[thebigdog]

I know some guys who paint on the sprues but personally, i find it a bit sacreligious.

[chicop76]

Not the greatest painter in the world, but when I got the gw paint guide and saw how they did it my painting skill got a lot better. That being said I can tell the difference if I was to paint on the sprue.

However marine arms for example wouldn't be a bad ideal. The same with grenades and the like. It is better not to paint the entire sprue though.

[eldargal]

Some small bits I leave on bits of sprue to make handling them easier, like heads and whatnot as already mentioned. But in general between mouldlines and connection nibs it's not worth the bother.

[DWest]

I find tank tracks actually work pretty well staying on the sprue- run a quick knife down whichever side is going to be the outside edge of the track before spraying and that takes care of the mould lines and nibs pretty well. Plus, keeping the track separate eliminates any worry of slopping drybrushing or anything else onto the actual paint on the vehicle (plus it lets me put off having to put the tracks on for a little bit longer -_- at this point I think I'd switch to Eldar before I track another Rhino).

[energongoodie]

My tuppence worth is don't do it.