I've painted Imperial Assault figures before, but I've come across a problem that I've never faced before and I don't know what to do! Help!!

I made the mistake of changing my primer spray and then didn't test it before priming several figures...and it feels a little grainy on the minis. So do I need to strip them (and if so, how do I do that?) or can I just paint over the graininess without it affecting things?

Help! I'm panicking a little bit...

If the surface turns out to be grainy after priming, the reason for this is that the spray particles dried up a bit before they hit the surface of the mini. The cause of this can be a variety of things - maybe the distance between the can and the mini was too great, maybe it was too warm or too cold, etc. It's always best to test new primers on something before you spray. I always use the black primer from Games Workshop as the first layer, because I never ran into problems with it. As for your minis - yes, I'd strip them and start from scratch since a grainy surface will ultimately ruin every paint job on them.

I was afraid you would say that! Yeah, I think I was holding the paint back too far.

So how would I strip the figures? Another person said I should soak them in Simple Green overnight or for 24 hours and then brush them with an old toothbrush. Does that sound like something that won't ruin my figures?!

Thanks!

Well I use a product called 'Sterillium' here in Germany. I do not know how similar products are called where you live, but look for something which is sold as a hand-desinfectant which is also used by surgeons - the chemical makeup should be very similar if not the same. It works great - leave the mini submerged in it for a day or overnight. Then use a toothbrush to brush-off the primer under warm running water. If the primer does not come off easily, leave it a bit longer submerged.

2 hours ago, rasmussen81 said:

I was afraid you would say that! Yeah, I think I was holding the paint back too far.

So how would I strip the figures? Another person said I should soak them in Simple Green overnight or for 24 hours and then brush them with an old toothbrush. Does that sound like something that won't ruin my figures?!

Thanks!

If you can get a hold of super clean it does a great job of removing the paint all the way to the plastic. Does not hurt it at all. I use it all the time on mine when I make a major mistake and need to strip them. I posted a link below to show you what it looks like. You do have to wear either rubber or vinyl gloves or your skin will dry out.