Style Found! (at last)

Ok, so here it is.  The combination of more subtle contrasts between paints, washes and highlights appears to have come together nicely.  The wash of 50:50 brown ink to water has worked very well and the use of Evil Sunz Scarlet as the edge highlight against the Memphiston Red basecoat sets the model off effectively.  Subtly is definitely the key in order to keep the colour gradients and transitions smother.

I have basically found that a white undercoat (2 thin wash layers) with about 3-4 thin applications of Memphiston Red, leaves a very smooth and even base colour.  The model was then washed 50:50 with Brown ink/water mix.  A 1:1:1 mix of brown: black: water mix was then carefully and ONLY applied into the deep recesses where the shadows fell.  The thin brown:water wash did leave white areas in a couple of places which needed tidying up.  The picture below was taken just before I added the darker wash mix and helps to illustrate the point.  Thin layers of Memphiston Red were then applied to the armour and slowly pulled closer to the edges where the eventual edge highlights would appear.  A thin edge highlight layer of Evil Suz Scarlet was then carefully drawn on the edges of the armour.  Where slightly thicker lines were created by accident, a few passes with Memphiston red soon restored it back to how it should be.  With regards to the black areas on the knee and arms joints, just use 1 or 2 thin applications of Abaddon Black.  I found that a pure black area with grey highlights didn't work, the contrast was too strong for my liking.  Notes to self, paint must always be thin and flowing nicely off the brush.  Patience and subtly is key.

Looking forward to completing the rest of the model now and sticking it all together.