'Sentinels at the portal of Eternity, Mighty ones who stand before the King, Valiant ones whom none shall pass, Guardians of the King's Tomb' (Hieroglyphic inscription over the tomb pit of Tomb Guards of Settra). The bravest and best soldiers serving the Tomb Kings acted as his personal bodyguards during their lifetime, they were honored to share his immortality after, and be buried close to their king within pyramid tomb. The prospects of immortality inspired these soldiers to heroic acts of bravery, they would bring victories earning their place next to the King. They were also honored with partial mummification. (Tomb Kings Army Handbook).
Three figures of Tomb Guards were assembled out of parts provided within Necrosphinx kit. Their ready to strike poses were perfect to stand as protectors of Venom Queen giving motion to whole scene, spears ready to strike, their bare bones and remnants of armor and mummification causing fear and terror among their enemies... All figures were undercoated in Tamiya White. Skeletons were painted first, with character figures left until last. Painting has started with applying Citadel's Agrax Earthshade wash, straight onto white primer, what brought up details and gave the figure grim look.
Next, Bleached Bone was applied only to bony areas, what followed by thin layer of pure White. Over white, Bleached Bone was applied in glazes. This is rather simple way of painting skeletons, but still effective. I was concerned a little that this way of painting may be too dark still comparing to base and with all other details it may disappear or blend in with background, but all turned out fine. With bones painted I moved to painting armor and other features. Mithrill Silver was used as base color for armor, followed by wash of Seraphim Sephia, my favorite mix when painting golden or rusty armor. One thin layer of the wash gives very light golden-like color, consecutive application or thicker layer builds up color to deep rust. 
With major sections painted, detailing has started. I find it very difficult to paint straps and bandages, especially keeping small lines straight. For this purpose I used apparently no longer existing paint of old GW range - Charadon Granite, which I find one of the best dark colors in terms of coverage. Highlight were done using Dheneb Stone, what is even more difficult to do as the lines applied have to be extremely fine and just painted on the edge, which are often thin - tip of the brush does not always work so has to be painted with side of the brush. Nevertheless I managed to do these highlight to certain degree.
Spears were painted using Mechrite Red and Bolgun Metal for tip, covered with Agrax Earthshade wash. For collar and armor panels details I used Hawk Turquoise, with Seraphin Sephia wash to seal the color and make it less stand out. Final wash of Nuln Oil followed into recesses of armor, lightly drybrushed with Bolgun Metal.
After undercoating whole base with Tamiya's Light Grey Primer, Tamiya's Semi Gloss Black was airbrushed onto edging, also at recessed areas of the stairs to give it more depth and shade. When dried, edging was masked off and Tamiya's XF52 was airbrushed on following by coat of XF59 Desert Yellow and XF57 Buff. Final coat of Buff followed with mix of white as final highlight only at top & raised areas of stairs. Pebbles were painted using Citadel's Skavenblight Dinge and Seraphim Sephia wash applied into grooves & recesses. 
Small details such as couple of scarabs and a scorpion were picked from leftover parts and tried on. Painting and final application will be done after major characters of this diorama are ready.
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