Varangian, legs painted, WIP

I just finished painting the legs and armor plates for Varangian and I thought I would make a quick post with some pictures. The light is not perfect as it is night here and the model is to large to illuminate in a god way. I will take new pictures later in daylight and with a neutral background. I am quite happy with the result. The GS work and the painting goes together well I think even though both are a bit rough. Now it feels like I am actually getting somewhere with this model.
I still have one panel left to paint for the insides but that will also soon be done. I am also finishing up the modifications to the upper body box which means that I will soon be able to start painting this. I have started assembling the arms and the weapons are soaking in some soap water. Once I have figured out how to attach them I will start the GS work for these. I have some ideas but we will see if I can execute it.

I have gone for the standard Northern Ghosts green as a base for the armor. Over this I have added some blue-white diagonal stripes that are flaking of from the base paint for the left leg while the right leg sports a winged scull in bone and bronze. For the thigh plates I kept the "sword" motif but added a cog wheel and some metal wings. Here I mirrored the stripes on the right side while I kept the lef in the base green. The left side did however look a bit plan with just the green so I added a diagonal white stripe. For the groin plate I decided to go for some more heraldic stuff, similar to what is on the left knee cap, with a checker board and the maniple red edged black diamond with a white spade. As can be seen I also did a GS scull on the knee similar to what is on the Reaver knee. It will tie the two titans together.

I also finished the sanding of the base. I think it really turned out well. I am not a big fan of diorama bases as I generally think that the base should be there to support the model but not distract from it. In this case the chimera sort of disappears beneath the foot of the titan so from a distance it just looks as the titan is stepping on something undefined which works for me. Up close it does however look good and I think I managed to deform it so that it fits to foot really well.

I have also done a lot more battle damage and shipping/streaking than I did on my previous titans. I think I am improving. Also the chaos growth are starting to look better in my opinion. So I have faith the the titan will look ok in the end even though I have been modifying it quite a bit.