Your painting skills sure are improving. I especially like the first one. But as you said, get some dull coat. Your guys tend to be shiny.
I've noticed the same. I have 2 types of sealers, one that secures the base pastel, then there's another one that i use to secure the rest of the 5 oclock shadow, which has a light shine, and a light skin texture. On the final cote, I hold it about 1' away, to get a light shine, but not too extreme.Good stuff,
If you were doing desert or jungle troops then the sheen wouldn't be a worry. Sometimes though, my figures would end up looking a tad dull and I just found that a slightly closer than normal spray of pastel fixative left a good looking sheen that looks quite lifelike. I used to buff them with a polishing cloth, but when some paint came off I decided that this was no longer a good idea.
CHEERS!