Again it depends on the figure. If the base figure color is constant over the whole figure and close to the desired finished color, I will sometimes forgo the basecoat or brush a light coat on. This does not happen very often, usually when tweaking an existing figure with minimal paint contrast changes. In this case brushing it on works fine as long as it is applied thinly. Most of the time I will have mismatched base parts, or working with a totally different finished color than the base. In these cases a base coat is so much better sprayed than brushed on. If you spray or airbrush on a basecoat, it will help your paint go on much nicer and in less coats. Just make sure you use a good paint that bonds to the figure well and you will have much less paint chips. Also make sure you don't get heavy handed with it, the basecoat should not fill in any of the details.
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Subject: Spraying a basecoat 