To get a good transition between colours do takes a lot of time with a brush and to get the desired effect I'm wet blending the colours to get that smoother transition between the colours(with that I failed on the PanO miniature). The dilution ratio I approximately use is one part paint and two parts water, this is depending on how thick the paint is, sometimes you will have to dilute more and I applied at least 2-3 layers of different colours listed below.
If you have and can use an airbrush it will take you less time and it probably will look better, I don't have an airbrush so I do it the old fashion way with a brush.
When it comes to painting the skin, it was a experiment, I wanted to try another way to paint skin, a skin that didn't scream Caucasian. So I started with a brown base colour and continued with a yellowish tone in the paints I used. It wasn't a complete success. The layer colours didn't match up with the base paint as good as I hoped, so next time I will change the base colour and go at it again.
On to the base, I did complain about the base top when I did my PanOceania miniature and I wrote that you better use an airbrush to make it look good. I stand by that and that you can make it look good with a brush.
When it comes to the base top (from Custom Meeple), it has more then just two lines on it so that will make it easier to paint, the reason is that I have never found it easy to paint large flat surfaces.
I didn't write anything about the colour choice for the base in the PanO post so I will take it up in this one. I will almost always want the colour on the base to be a contrast to the main colour on the miniature. For an example, the PanO miniature is mainly blue, to contrast it I went with a red-brown colour. The reason is that red and blue go well together and that blue is a cold colour and the red is warm, also the red is darker so it will make blue stand out more.
You can use two colours (one on the base and one on the miniature) that is both cold or warm the most important thing is that the miniature sticks out from the base, the base is a background and should enhance the miniature not taking over.
As a paragraph to this statement, I want to say that this is how I think when doing Sci-fi miniatures, when it comes to historical such as Bolt Action I do the bases in another way, looking at my soviets, their bases don't make the miniatures pop, those bases are painted to set the scenery, the bases are painted to represent the Ukraine. If I had chosen to do a Stalingrad themed force the bases they would be grey ruins for an example.
On to the paints and pictures;
Red
1. Mephiston Red
2. Carroburg Crimson
3. Evil Sunz Scarlet
4. Wild Rider Red
Black
1. Abaddon Black
2. Black Grey 1:1 Abaddon Black
3. Black Grey
4. Mechanicus Standard Grey
5. Mechanicus Standard Grey 1:1 Ulthuan Grey
6. Ulthuan Grey
7. Abaddon Black (Glaze)
"Blue"
1. Meredius Blue
2. Arcane Blue
3 Arcane Blue 1:1 Ulthuan Grey
Skin
1. XV-88
2 Seraphim Sepia
3. Bestigor Flesh
4. Ungor Flesh
5. Ungor Flesh 1:1 Pallid Wych Flesh
As a closing note, painting these detailed miniatures really makes you finding your own shortcomings, for good and bad. To see that in a positive way, these short comings are the things I need to practice to be a better painter.