Primed and ready! Burkish underclothes...

Right, *before* I get to priming the soldiers I do have to iron out any kinks in the rifles. This is the main draw back of plastic soldiers I think, all the rifles are slightly bent because of the way the soldiers were shoved in boxes.

This is easily remedied, I dunk the bent rifles in a bowl of boiling water and straighten them out and then quickly dunk them in a second bowl of cold water to reset them. Job done.

That done I gave each soldier a quick wipe down in case there was any dust or plastic bits on them and then started the first coat of primer. This was AutoTek plastic laquer for car bumpers, Tim Gow recommended this as it helps stiffen fragile parts like the rifles and keep them a bit more stiff.

Once dry I started the second primer which was a few light coats of white spray...

Well, now the intense bit - the actual painting production line!