Most elaborate prep?

[goat major]

Or giving them to Andy and then buying them back again ?

[RMD]

Back in the days of the Flames of War forum, a weekly occurrence was the almost-audible (from New Zealand) sound of Evan Allen banging his head on the keyboard, when yet ANOTHER person exhorted people to 'wash off the mould release agent'... Poor old Evan's plaintive cries of "FOR THE LAST TIME, WE DON'T USE ANY £@%&!^G MOULD RELEASE AGENT!" invariably went ignored, because what would he know...

[World2dave]

Worst of both worlds for me. Like Norm, I fail to prep. Then get hacked off when figs are hard to undercoat and generally don't hold paint well.

[valleyboy]

Hmmmm
I often remove assorted bits of flash that I missed when I'm doing the final highlight

[Jeremy]

I’ve bought resin, metal and plastic. Resin is the only one I ever wash. Never had a problem with paint adhering to any of the things I’ve painted. Except that greasy fat lass the one time. But in my defence, I was very drunk.

[BaronVonWreckedoften]

Plus she wouldn't keep still, which can't have helped.

[BaronVonWreckedoften]

Whilst release agent is predominantly used on plastic/resin figures, it is sometimes used by metals manufacturers as well. Given RMD's (quite reasonable) comment, it might be worth checking with a manufacturer whether or not it uses the stuff.

Ultimately, how much "prep" work you put into your figures is up to you; as someone who, back in the 70s and 80s, wouldn't have known an undercoat from a waistcoat, and just slapped on a single layer over the bare metal (and was happy with it), it's all good if that's all you want.

[RMD]

The only time I've ever washed any models was some ceramic-cast buildings that were covered in powder residue. I've never had any problems whatsoever getting paint to stick to metal, resin or plastic models.* Perhaps that's because I use enamels rather than the acrylics used by the kewl kidz?

* Aside from one time in the early 1980s, when I almost cried as I watched the (Tamiya Acrylic) paint peel off some soft plastic Esci Scots Greys that I'd just painted...

[Jeremy]

I remember the Esci Scots Greys. I had tons. They became all sorts in our armies due to the lack of available figures in SA. They used to shed humbrol like crazy around the fetlocks and the swords

[Norman D. Landings]

I think I remember that episode of “All Creatures Great & Small”:

“Ay up vit’nry... ‘er’s sheddin’ ‘umbrol off ‘er fetlocks.”