I normally start with the largest or the hardest part to reach, in this case his scales. I am only going to paint a small part so you can see the differences in the tones as I progress through each stage.
This is the colour range I have chosen for the warm red tones.
The thin basecoat of Black Red 859 is liberally applied over the area.
Followed by a coat of Red 926, avoiding the shadow segment lines.
A wash of dark red ink is applied all over to help bring out the shadows and help differentiate between each part. As you can see it has made the scales quite a lot darker.
Re-using the Red 926 paint, I have started to apply the colour following the texture of the scales in thin lines along each one.
Moving onto Flat Red 957, you can see the texture forming on each scale.
Ras Nsi has quite a lot of damage on his scales. I have avoided the damage until now as it would of got in the way of painting the texture. Each scrape, scratch and dent is painted in with the Black Red 859 at this stage; just before the highlights are applied with Hot Orange 009 and Orange Fire 008.
The finished scales.
I have added a small drop of cream to the Orange Fire paint to make a very light coloured final highlight, just to bring out the points of the scales and any damage that required another highlight.
Flaming Sword
Fire is yellow at the base and gradually darkens to the top of the flame, so it is painted backwards.
This is the colour range I have chosen for the flames.
I have started with a basecoat of Gold Yellow 007 and the lower part of the blade plain Black. The yellow is then darkened with Scrofulous Brown 038, followed by Orange Fire 008 and Amarantha Red 829
Once the effect is complete, i used the tip of a fine brush to add lines in black to show the flame movement as Ras Nsi swings his sword.
Skin
Ras Nsi’s skin is a pale green grey with an unhealthy appearance.
For the skin tones I have used these colours.
To represent the diseased look in certain areas, I have applied thin washes of red ink in small patches and painted white dots over to top.
Varnish
To protect the miniature I recommend spraying the finished model with an aerosol mat varnish.