Shiny Toy Soldiers

These are some 54mm (1:32 scale) plastic toy soldiers from Armies in Plastic WW1 range. They do quite an extensive range of figures in this style; they're clearly toy soldiers, not diorama-quality collectors' items, and I rather like them for that. Though stylized in form, they're generally pretty accurate as far as uniform and equipment goes.

I've block-painted them quite quickly, and then given them a shiny coat of Army Painters' QickShade varnish which instantly provides the shading effects. Well, when I say "instantly" I mean "when it eventually dries in my freezing cold workroom". I've used their Heavy Shade on these, which is maybe a little dark, but I don't really fancy paying another $45 to get a tin of a lighter shade.