Those prong grabbers can be helpful in a pinch (no pun intended), but I find them too imprecise for typical modeling use (speaking in N Scale terms).
For picking up and handling/gluing small parts, my preference is a good pair of
tweezers. But for holding small parts to paint, my favorite tool is smooth jaw alligator clip soldered to some scrap rod or thick solid wire. They'll hold things securely yet gentle and you can really minimize surface contact.
https://i.imgur.com/inaRg00.jpg