I have two questions:

1) I am planning a German Gothic knight, do you know of any good resources that show their armour in detail?

2) I don't assemble my figure until after I have painted it, it makes it easier to get at their arms, inside their legs, etc, however all the instructions that I have seen for scratch building involve making a whole figure. How could I break it up into parts that I could paint and then reassemble?
I was thinking of building it a little large in the arms and neck, leaving a plug of putty slightly wider than the blade of my saw and then hacking, the arms and head off, painting them and putting them back on. Off course I would have to find a way to get around the wire armeture.