XV104... need I say more?

I know this picture is obscure, but the astute observer immediately notices this is a Riptide (well duh).

As the background is most obviously my painting desk, this must mean the Riptide is on my painting desk... and what do people do at painting desks? Among other things, they paint!

So that must mean... *gasp* ...that I'm painting my Riptide!

As usual, I started out with a black primer, applied with an airbrush. The gun is magnetized and pinned, so it can easily be removed from the arm. The torso is not glued to the legs, meaning the entire model comes apart in 3 pieces, which makes it easier to paint.

So, after the primer, I applied a monochrome highlight using my tested method of drybrushing Vallejo Game Color Stonewall Grey. I try to make the highlights look natural, meaning I drybrush more heavily on the top of the model than near the base.

This is the result:

Bad photography without flash...

Bad photography with flash... I don't know which is worse, but the one with flash shows more clearly the monochrome highlights result while the one without flash shows more clearly how the model will eventually look in normal circumstances.

Having defined the highlights (I also did the bits and pieces on the base) I continued with my proven painting scheme by applying a liberal wash of Purple Vallejo Game Ink (which you can see in the background of the above pictures) on the armor plating.

After one wash...

After the first wash I need to let it dry completely, giving me the time to play a couple of battles of World of Tanks... experience doesn't come easy you know...

Let an hour pass, then continue painting! So the next coat of wash is applied. I apply the purple ink without thinning. I need it to give a nice coverage, that's also why I apply two coats. This gives me a nice deep color without looking like a wash applied over a drybrush :p

That's where I'm at right now. Next up is giving the mechanical parts a watered down wash of black ink, painting the antennas and the guy's head in white and painting the round thingies in brass.

Watch this space!

I really feel my color scheme scales well to large models. What do you think?