Flash Point firefighter

I was bored, so I dug out these little guys to paint. This is one of the basic firefighter figures from the board game Flash Point: Fire Rescue. I wasn't too much for the cartoony style, but it was at least fun to paint. The simple lines and deep engraved lines also made the painting very easy. I think I can paint the rest of the figures (eight, plus the veteran and the dog) all in an hour or so.

I kept the palette simple, inspired by the Chicago Fire Dept. The reflective tape was easy to fake: It's a bright lemon yellow with just a TOUCH of light green. The rest is easy -- a couple layers of gray to highlight the black, and some jewel-technique painting for the visor.

I'll get to those other firefighters, but I'm using this one as a test figure; these figures, though a bit stiffer, seem to be made of the same material as Reaper's Bones. Or at least this material has the same qualities. So the initial problem is getting the paint to stick. I'm using the same technique I use for Bones figures: Delta Ceramcoat Black as a base coat, paint as normal, then spray varnish, which seems to work best for me. But I'm still a little wary.

Minor Bones rant (old stuff really)

I would really like to see what others are doing that their paint doesn't chip off their Bones figures.
People keep saying Bones don't need primer -- well, neither do metal figures, unless you want the paint to stay. In any case, I tried it without primer: All I had to do was look at the figure wrong and the paint would chip off.
They says to clean your figures: Done, extensively, tried dishwashing liquid, tried undiluted Simple Green.
They say the Bones are hydrophobic: OK, keeping the water out of the paint
I'm still getting a helluva lot of chipped and rubbed-off paint. (pre-varnish)

But on the flip side, I did see a youtube video where a guy hit his painted Bones figure 12 times with a hammer, and only had one chip; I would LOVE to know how he painted/protected that figure. Once I can put together a better method  (where I can hit the figures with a hammer) than my own, I think I could really launch into paint the rest of this Bones pile sitting next to my table.

Honestly, I'm guessing maybe it's all in the varnish -- just which one, I don't know.

-- So if you've tried something that works (ie, I can hammer the hell out of my figures), please share!*

Back to Flash Point

If this method I use works for the Flashpoint figures, I'll paint up the rest of the crew I have (as well as purchase and paint the expansion that has the specialist figures.) I'll paint the specialists in colors closer to the illustrations on the cards, though, I'll switch any canvas coats to the black coats as per the figure shown above.

*I guess I haven't checked up lately to see how those Bones figures I painted for Jeff are doing. I'll have to go see; maybe my method, indeed, works just fine?