Samurai Part 9

Although my last two posts have been on other topics, I've been continuing to work on the samurai.  After finishing up his back, I painted the undersides of his shoulder armor plates and attached them.  Painting the other sides of those plates took some time, as it was a lot more of the lacing details.  The color pattern I'd chosen was a gradient pattern, using purple as my main color.  The typical gradient pattern for these armor plates is a white row at the top, a yellow row just below that, and then a light to dark gradient of whatever color you've chosen (purple, red, green, etc).  For the yellow row I did not use a true yellow, instead I used the same orange as his clothing but leaned more towards the highlight side of the mix.

With the shoulder plates almost finished, I decided to add the rest of the helmet.  Like the last pieces, I first had to paint the underside of this one before attaching it to the figure.  Once it was in place, I started working on the upturned flaps on the front.  These are the final sections of his chest design (phew).  The other side will be done just like the laces on the shoulder plates.  As you can see from the rear view, I've just started to base coat this section.  Once all of that is done, I still need to add the crest/horns to the front of the helmet.  I haven't quite decided if I'll do that at this stage or save it until later.  It's a fragile piece sticking up from the model, so there's also the chance I'll not into it while painting and break it off.