Refurbishing used minis (help da noob!)

[Allandaros]

I just bought a bunch of used minis (both metal and plastic) for $3 (yay good deal!). But the previous owners had decided to paint directly onto the metal, without priming first. (They also did a lousy paintjob. )

Can I spray a black primer coat on and just paint on top of that? Or should I try and strip the paint first? If I should strip the paint first, what is a good liquid to use on both metals and plastics? (The sites I've seen have all said things like "And you should use X when stripping paint, it's great. Except you should never use it on plastics because they will melt into goo.")

What should I dooooo?

 

[BlueBlackRed]

If the paint they used is thin, and the detail is still very defined, then primer will work fine.

If they slopped it on there thick, then you're going to have to fix it.
It doesn't take much paint to ruin detail.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Get some Simple Green and soak them for a few days, the paint usually comes off easy.

 

[Allandaros]

Yay! Thanks, guys!

 

[JoeGKushner]

Simple Green does work wonders.