Dragon Vairous stages of assembly/base coat

The legs pre-primed in the hard to reach spots (to prevent over spray) before make the final pose and glueing.

Glued and black base applied

I like this pose a one stable but conveys the notion that the dragon is just about to pick its back foot up for a step. It also so how nicely the legs can be articulated and still proved great stability.

Rust rust rust everywhere.

This is the 2nd coat of light orange rust wash waiting to dry (on top of warlock bronze, boltgun metal, strong orange rust wash). No point in trying to rush here you just have to let it dry naturally or it doesn't look right. I'm going to add some stippling of strong orange to finish it off before giving it a clear coat. (You can also see the 1mm stainless steel pins poking out of the legs I spoke about previously, there's one in each ankle knee and hip joint. While not necessary step those it does aid strength and fiddly part of getting the pose right.)

The colour for this dragon has been chosen MWO default rusty red. I'm going to spice that up some giving it a light coat of duck egg green first "whaaaaaaaat?" I hear you cry well most metal gets a primer/etch coat normally a different colour to the top coat or maybe it had a respray at some point. With a mist of duck egg green/beige under the dark red when I take back the red to show the under coat you see (hopefully) a small contrast line of the rust base which will set the weathering off nicely. Without it I think the rusty red and the orange rust would blend to much especially after everything gets a brown wash.

I'm also tempted to try rock salting the top surfaces (to give a blistered paint look) but I'm worried that will be a step too far. My opinion is mechs valued irreplaceable items and in most cases rare heirlooms so while they may receive some wear an tear through harsh environments (acid rain, extreme heat, abrasive dust, dense undergrowth) and combat they'd never be left to rot. Maybe some mild heat scorching on the top..