The thing to remember is war-gaming standard and modelling standard are vastly different. On the one hand you want to create reasonable size armies for the purpose of miniature warfare on the tabletop in as short a time frame as possible so such things as unit numbers on helmets and piping on collar patches are a bit a waste of your time as they will hardly be noticed when looked at on the table.
On the other hand if you are painting a handful of figures for a diorama or for other viewers delectation then these finishing touches are essential and the enormous effort required to get it right is countered by the small numbers. Personally I cant paint much better than wargame standard and frankly few of us can.
If the figures are for wargaming then focus on the gaming and not the colour of the piping on the Colonels cuffs.

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