I was reading one today actually, but i can't find it...
It showed the parts stripped, but clearly stated that you could paint without stripping it.
i think it's all in how you want the end product to come out. my opinion is strip it down as far as your knowledge will allow you, paint, then reassemble. once you've painted each major component seperately, put back together, and put last coat on to make more uniform... then you can put all the smaller parts back on.
theres obviously more to it than this, i'm just summing it up the best i can.
BTW: the only painting i've done is model cars so my opinion is based on my inferior knowledge... maybe someone else can say my opinion is good or bad...