I agree with you abour RedEpic's colorations--and I think you've done a quite respectable job emulating it! Did you achieve this through a bunch of cloud layers, each overlaying to differing degrees of intensity?

The red on the scale would be ok if desaturated a bit, and it's tough to tell if your compass is misplaced because there are too few elements on the map fro which to judge, IMO.

Overall, very nice!