1. The uniform looks a bit two dimensional. Without shadow and highlight there's no depth. If the greens and tans were a bit brighter to start with, then given a brown wash, you would more or less end up with the muted tones you have here but have the shadows along with the medium range. Then you could add some highlights and get some contrast. Here everything seems to already blend together, and there's little definition in the colors. You also might want to break things up by using different shades for the various colors (make his scarf lighter green than the other greens, his boots a different brown than the other browns/tans, etc. The impression is that you've tried to give him a weathered/dirty look with the first coats of paint, and you really can't do that. It took me awhile to figure that one out myself, but you have to make everything pristine to begin with. You have to start by giving subject 'X' a look that is brand new, factory fresh, right out of the box, off the shelf or off the assembly line, then beat it up. Everything gets worn, torn, bent, broken, muddy and bloody in stages over time. Nicks, dings, dents and holes in metal are rusty/corroded gradually from months ago to last week, tears in fabric and leather are dirtier and more ragged as time goes by (including patches), fabrics fade (but not uniformly), buttons get broken off, and the dust/dirt is a different shade depending on what it's on. The same dust on a black weapon won't look the same as it does on a green coat, or a maroon beret.
2. Glossy fabrics
3. Eyes
I don't know what's available in the UK for paint besides Humbrol, and I've never used it, so I don't know its specs. I use acrylics, and essentially nothing but artist's tube paints and 'craft' paints, for a number of reasons. I am/they are cheap. A 2oz (59mL) bottle of craft paint is $1.25 (right at £1), and I can get at least ten times that volume by thinning it to the same viscosity as commercial model paint (which also needs thinning to spray). The amount I can get from a tube of artist's paint ($5/£4) at its muddy consistency truly boggles the mind. I also like them because they are absolutely flat -- the next best thing to a black hole for light reflectivity! I have yet to find any 'flat' clear coats that actually are dead flat. On the occasion I need a bit of sheen I can spray those sections with a gloss or matte clear, or I can add a bit of Future (Kleer over there) to the paint. It is much easier to gain sheen than cover it.
I didn't mean to get into an entire dissertation on model painting, but I hope I have helped in some way. Michael
