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I've got some figures that were primed and/or base coated years ago that I want to finally get around to finishing. By now they've got several years worth of dust and finger oils from play. What's the best way to clean them up without also stripping the paint?

Warm soapy water, a sponge and toothbrush.

The soap+brush wont flake any paint?

That was my first thought, then I figured I better check if that'd loosen anything.

Doing this right now.

I use an airbrush first to remove dust. Nothing beats the pressure, and it will remove the most egregious build ups.

Second, I wipe them with a cloth with isopropyl alcohol to remove fingerprints. Don't use a paper towel or a rag, which will leave small threads on the model. I have these blue towels I got from the Apple store for cleaning my Mac which do the job nicely. There's also the towels for cleaning sunglasses, I have used those in the past and they are fine.

Third, I use a hard-bristled brush to remove dust from crevaces. I usually use a magnifying glass when going over them, it's surprising how easy it is to miss a detail. It's usually easy to wipe stuff away, but I sometimes soak them in water when something won't budge.

This usually gets them back to the point where it's safe to paint. I have a couple REALLY old miniatures where the primer was chipped, soaked them in Super Clean to get it to go away.

Good luck!

Thanks for the tips!

Worst comes to worst and the primer does wear badly - or the dust buildup is too heavy to remove - dunk in Simply Green, strip, and re-prime.