Thanks lads,

Yes a challenge and a struggle it has been. It still is, but it's oh so rewarding once the UVs are done and you get to do all the fun paint stuff with accuracy and control. Things go exactly where you want them to appear and there are very few surprises hehe. It sort of unlocks the next level where all the fun stuff is.

A first paint and bump pass. Not feminine and retro enough but getting there. Next I will look into spec map hoping it will make her a little less plastic looking, and the alpha stuff for hair and eyelashes. Hehe yes the eyes are there under those HUGE sunglasses errr goggles. Some bump mistakes on the upper lip as well.

There are still a couple of surprises with how color reacts to light and spec via the blinn. It helps to work with a bit more saturation than I would normally choose if painting for instance to avoid muddyness and grey creeping in.
Hair came out looking like wood panels haha. I'm on it.