Just finished it today. I havent got the the reigns or underbelly straps yet so hence the floating hand . This is the 2nd fig from the tamiya set if you saw my first post. Didn't go strong on the horse because it was my first one so yeah. Really looking for suggestions / tips for my next one to improve my skillz!
Enjoy..

Ok, some feedback..

Corey,
in the photos attached, its obvious that you are using an overhead light source.

Guess what? - the light shows where to add highlights to your figure, both human and horse.

Close up of the horses head and bridle also shows where you can add some highlights to the leather gear.

For highlighting brown leather, perhaps a hint of yellow ochre.

For the uniforms (green) add some lighter green to the base colour.

For the horse, I would add some yellow ochre cut with a small amount of white.

Others will correct me, but a well groomed horse will appear to have a gloss finish; a scale effect would be to add some satin varnish to the highlights on the horse.

Mane and tail, similar again.

Shadows for green, base colour plus a dash of blue, perhaps.

Metal trim - I use Games Workshop metallics, for the following.

Base coat - gunmetal ( a mid steel finish)
Highlights or worn areas, a thin line of a silver.Or add graphite for weapons, they come up differently, shiny silver weapons look odd if improperly done.
Shadows - A titanium colour ( a dark grey metal finish) (may leave this step out for a while - black undercoat will help with the over all effect)

Your next step is to start practicing some ground work for a base.
A square cut base to fit the figure (or even a scrap bit of wood to practice on will do for leaning experiments) will be an excellent start.

You using Acrylics?

Cheers

Yeah vallejo, I dont have oils and I only have 17 colors which are geared for German ww2 figs. I used green and a smidge of black for shadowing hm, what are you talking about with the basecoat of gunmetal, for weapons?

Paintshop demo of highlights..

here is an example of your photos with your figure with MS paint effects...

very ugly and crude, but you can see roughly where the highlights and shadows are...even with my wobbly mouse efforts!

cheers

Oh to improve it, I nailed most of those spots haha. Except the horses behind.. I did a black wash on the legs which was kind of like a highlight since a light brown had a white residue form around it. Dullcote blends it well

Weapons base coating

The steel parts of weapons (barrel, trigger assembly, breech block, sights etc) can be given a undercoat of black after you prime the piece.

Then add a gunmetal coat over that. If you want to do an interesting experiment, find a scrap of sheet plastic(about three inches x three inches), under coat in three shades of white, grey then black on separate thirds of the same piece.

Apply a coat of your most commonly used colour - German green, or blue, tan, or best yet, lines about 1/2 inch wide of each, let dry.

You will be surprised what a difference an undercoat can make to a finished paint coat....

Like the time I undercoated some tank tracks in white...boy, did they ever look wrong!! No matter how many coats of steel and black I tried, the colours looked wrong!!

Cheers

White eww, I prime gray and it seems to favor the German attire. But for weapons I will take note of the black undercoat, should it be a 1:1 or should I dillute it a little?

For weapons

Just a thin coat of solid black at this point.

Experimentation and experience will find what works for you.

cheers