Hey I am new to this but I find you can learn something new from anyone. Some may know this already but I think it might help someone. I just decided to repaint one of the heads from a black widow figure, and thought I would use some thinner ( I do a bit of gunsmithing so I had some duracoat "Trustrip" cleaner/degreaser on hand) to clean the surface of the face before painting. As soon as I started it began to strip off my old paint job. No big deal but then it started to strip the original paint......then some other paint......then some primer. This is not a old custom. The toy co. put on 3 layers of paint/primer! When all the paint was removed I saw that the head cast had twice the detail molded in than you could see due to all the paint, and my coat did not help at all. I airbrushed my flesh tone on after a full strip of the head and it looks way better. so much detail lost from thick paint. MY TIP! Strip old paint when you can. I know, I know.... not really new news but a good reminder.