Nocturna Models Freya [WIP - Armour & Shiny Stuff]

While painting Freya's armour, I realised I had the opportunity to try applying a gloss varnish on some parts of the armour, specifically on the precious stone on her leg armour and the plating on her gauntlet. I chose to paint both in turquoise as it went well with her green clothing and purple cloak. 

Tamiya Gloss Varnish provided a perfect finish to the turquoise gem and plating

With most of Freya's clothing been predominantly green in colour, the most obvious choices for the precious stone in her leg armour were emerald, jade or turquoise. For the most contrast, turquoise seemed to be the best choice among the three, results of which you can see in the pictures below. 

Nocturna Models Freya with about 85% of her paint job completed

Turquoise on Freya's gauntlet went well with her green clothing

Freya's boots have been repainted in a lighter shade (see last picture)

With Freya's cloak on, the advantage of using turquoise is more evident. Much like how mayo binds all the ingredients of a burger together, in Freya's case, the turquoise colour serves to link the purple / lavender-coloured cloak with her green clothes. A dark green cloak could also have worked but it ran the risk of making the overall colour scheme too dull and dreary.     

Nocturna Models Freya with her purple-turquoise-green-brown colour scheme

Turquoise on Freya's gauntlet also combined well with her purple cloak

Freya's pauldron may need a wash to tone things down, but then again ...

As has been the case so far, detailed errors showed up in the macro shots of Freya which I hadn't really noticed while painting her. For example I got a lump of dark paint on her vest and the lining between flesh and clothing is still too reddish. Freya pauldron also seems a tad too shiny and may need a wash to tone things down a bit - something I may or may not do.

Errors in all their glory thanks to a dedicated macro lens

Just as I was in the midst of finishing this blog post, I actually completed Freya's base but didn't have the time to do proper shots so I just took a quick snapshot using a Samsung Galaxy S4 camera phone. Lighting was a bit harsh for the camera phone shot but the photo still came out ok. I should have better closeup pictures of the base in the upcoming Freya post. For me, Freya's base was slightly difficult to get right in terms of colour scheme. It would have been better if I had some replica moss to put on the base but all I had was static dead grass so final results were not ideal.

Nocturna Models Freya - paint job nearly done

So with the base done, only Freya's hair remain to be painted. In view of the existing colour scheme of her cloak, clothes and armour, I am planning to paint her hair blonde as it would go well with purple and green. Might still go for a brunette or redhead but most probably Freya will be a blonde. After painting her hair and the final touch ups, Freya should be completed by the next post.