Wow! Jason. Those are beautiful.
Lots of good information here, so to answer some questions. I am using the TS-11 straight from the can. I generally do not run spray paint under warm water, but since I store them in a basement, that might not be a bad idea, or at the very least let them sit upstairs in the sun for a little while. I did apply the paint over Tamiya Primer, but it really is a light grey. I might experiment with Flat Black and a darker grey. I do think the coats are a little heavy. I'll have to try using mist coats to see what that does. I'll post more pics once I get some more paint going.