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I did a brief search but didnt see anything, so I thought Id throw this up and ask.

Im curious about how other people clean off their pewter models when they first buy them. That oil stuff is a pain in the butt and I hate when I miss a spot and so the paint is less likely to stick there.

My method is I usually the them soak in soapy water for a bit, sometimes overnight sometime 10 minutes. Then I take an old toothbrush and soap it up and scrub the model, rinse, repeat scrub, then let dry. This works pretty well, but I still get small spots here and there where the paint flecks off and refuses to stick. The base I generally use is GW brand Chaos Black if anyone is curious.

easy. simple green cleaner. it's biodegradable and reusable and you simply leave the metal and plastics in the liquid in a sealed container for about 24 to 48 hours and shake every few hours or so. and strain the stuff back in the jug.
the paint mostly flecks off so a tooth brush or a wire brush(the kind you use on a BBQ grill) and some rinsing in warm water and dish soap and the models are ready to paint.

simple green is found at most hard ware stores and major stores like target and walmart. $10 a gallon jug.

these seraphim were cleaned today. they had a coat of black primer all over . took about 24 hours and some shaking in a tupperware container. and a brisk scrub with a wire brush and done.

See I was actually talking about the INITIAL cleaning.. like getting that oil gunk off your pewter models.... Before the original basing and all that...

Well I also use the soapy water/toothbrush method. I use regular dishwasher soap, since we really don´t need perfumed models, do we? (Unless you´re doing slaneshi daemons of course)...

Anyways, i usually make sure they´re in there for a good 10 minutes, give them a thorough brushing allover, then leave them in unti lthey´re all done.

After this, i take them out, but hold them under running water before letting them dry. This step has proven important to me, since the soap can also do weird stuff to paints.

Anyways, that´s my method.

warm soapy water with a degreasing agent will do just fine. If you don't need to strip paint, don't buy anything special. Just get the dish detergent you use for greasy dishes and boom, you are golden.