Repeater Bolt Thrower Update #1

*Squeek*

I am feeling a bit guilty about all the High Elf love on this blog as of late...
...but truth be told I am under the gun on getting this army done to the deadline. So, no time to work on more Skaven until after this is done!

In an earlier post I looked at which models to work on next, and in the end settled on a pair of repeater bolt throwers (RBT). These beauties can really lay down some hurt (with their two modes of fire) and are an iconic HE unit (IMHO). Additionally they cost 100 points a unit, which quite nicely bulks up the army.
But damn if they don't take a lot of layers to get a nice smooth "Starwood" effect! I have already lost count of how many layers I have done - and I still feel the urge to do more. Add all those layers of Skull White on the crew and it isn't as quick as I would like.

So how far along am I? Pictures below (stages and paints used below the pics).

At this point, I have used the following paints: (EDIT: Please note I am still using the "old" GW paints. GW provides a conversion chart HERE.)

RBT: 

Basecoats:
Snakebite Leather/ Bleached Bone mix. 50/50 (RBT arms and smooth parts of the RBT)
Bleached Bone (as above)
Bestial Brown/ Dwarf Bronze (RBT metallic parts- this is a basecoat for the Dwarf Bronze)
Dwarf Bronze (rbt metallic parts)
Shining Gold (rbt metallic parts - highlights)
Dark Angels Green (gems)
Mithril Silver (stock, some parts of the frame)

Washes:
Gryphonne Sepia

Crew: 

Basecoats:
Skull White (Robes, haft of bolts)
Liche Purple (robes/ sashes)
Mithril Silver (armour, weapons)
Chainmail (helmets)
Snakebite Leather (boots)
Calthan Brown/ Dwarf Flesh (Flesh)
Sunburst Yellow (Hair)

Washes:
Ogryn Flesh (Skin)
Badab Black (Armour)

Bases:

Calthan Brown overbrush
Snakebite Leather drybrush
Codex Grey dry brush
Snakebite Leather (base edges)
Static Grass


Finally, for all those HE players out there, do you have any tips about the best use them on the battlefield? Also, how do you protect them in a small army? Any advice would be welcome.

Cheers,
*Squeek*