I'm sure this has been discussed before, however doing a search for 'wash' brings up myriad undesired results.

When my copy arrives, I'd like to do something other than just leave the gray figures as is. I've heard a monochrome wash is impressive.

Can anyone give me a breakdown of this process or link me to a thread?

Maybe that this topic is helpfull for you.. press here

Off the top of my head,

If you want a metallic finish, use a black base coat, metallic color top coat and then black ink wash (or "dip method," if you prefer) to make the cracks sink down. Should go pretty fast if you paint in an "assembly line" fashion.

If you want a bright solid colour, white base coat and then top coat colour, same wash. I'm guessing you meant metallic, though.

I'm not entirely sure what color I would go for.

In my head, I see either a silver with black wash or white with a deep brown or sepia wash.

Either way, for the first method I would use black primer, then go over everthing with the silver paint, and then go over it again with a black wash.

For the second I would do a white primer, and then just go right in with the brown wash? Or would I do white primer, then paint everything in the brown, and then do a black wash?

Should I be concerned that between the priming, top coat, and wash that the details are going to get too filled in and not come through?

Finally, do I need to varnish these in the end? I've heard people use Clear Coat which I believe is glossy. Can I use a matte varnish instead?

I use a matte/satin finish for most my miniatures that I paint. Gives them that realistic feel, more so than glossy.

I would do a flat white paint over the white primer but do a test piece first. Normal white may be good enough if you do finish with a matte clear. Primers have a tendancy to absorb anything if not painted over. So long term stains may be a possibility even if clear coated.