very cool! this is my personal favorite technique to use on figures. the only thing that i would question would be your choice of uniform
yuuukkkkk!!!
(kidding, kinda:rolleyes: ).
all kidding aside, i normally use 3 shades per color. a base, dark and highlight. the base is the actual color, the dark is the shadow and the highlight is, well, the highlight. the dark is usually a darker version of the base and the highlight is a much lighter version of the base, or just straight white. the only times when i do not use this combo is in some blues and most reds. the blue tends to look like a pastel, baby blue and the red tends to look pink. with those 2 colors, just use 3 different colors of red or blue to achieve the look.
now there are many different color combos which can achieve some pretty cool effects, but for the most part, the 3 shade technique is what i love.
i know of another technique called staining. it involves the use of ink being brushed solidly, like paint, over top of a white surface. the end result can have the ink settling into the cracks and crevices making darker shadows and running off of the high points creating the highlights. it sounds like it would be easy enough, but it can be really tricky to achieve a good looking finish.
that's a really good looking paintjob that you have done, i would like to see your whole team done in that fashion! thanks for posting the pics!