Here are the Pshopped test hang pics.
On the green side I increased the silver area of the tendons, and did a more sophisticated blending of colors through the brown/aqua/green tones to help integrate the tendons but also hint a difference toward the lips.
On the blue side I mostly changed the bottom transition points of the main tendon, making it more irregular and a little more extended. Then I also changed the refraction color from aqua to brown, blending to aqua away from the lightest area. I think this sells translucency a little better.
Then it was time to do it for real. Starting, of course, with more silver drybrushing!
And then more silver drybrushing.
Then airbrushing clear brown.
I actually started drybrushing the Freak Flex clear brown on the green side, extending it far further down the tendon, to help separate that texture from the jaw's. I was very surprised how well it drybrushed, and that you could lay it on slightly wet and feather it easily too.
Then brown (Tamiya, not Freak Flex) edge highlighting. I really liked how this made the tendons look thinner, less tree bark-like. And how the brown over aqua blended into a sophisticated color.
And that's it, I think the tendons are done! It suddenly looked "whole" to me.
On to the clearcoat...but how? I hadn't painted the underside of the head yet. But I really wanted to protect the paint that I have applied. So I decided to hang it, clear the existing paint, then later I'll paint the underside and hang it again to clear the whole head.
I threw some paracord up over my lift's truss, and a truckers hitch around a lift arm. Seemed to work.
Used Upol clear again. Seems to have cleared really well. Definitely comes "alive" with clear!
