That's pretty cool! Nice work!
It is very difficult to understand exactly what you want
to do. I am not sure whether you are speaking of
painting it in full color or if you are talking about
basing the piece out in one color and maybe doing a
glaze or stain effect to show the detail work.
If you are speaking about painting in full color, there
are literally 1000's of articles on painting, showing
many different techniques and styles. You may consider
checking out this site and subscribing to help get
yourself familiar with some:
http://www.kitbuildersmagazine.com/