I have spent the last couple of days using a sheet of card to experiment with chipping and weathering with dry brushing. For chipping I did the following:
1) Laid down a coat of black primer
2) Laid down a coat of model metals aluminum
3) Applied a coat of metal varnish
4) Applied chipping fluid
5) Lastly, I laid down a coat of interior green in varying "thickness" across the card stock. Heavier towards the bottom and getting lighter going up.
I waited for each coat to dry before moving on to more coats. After the Interior green was thoroughly dry (waited overnight), I started testing my chipping skills and techniques with NO thinner applied. This is in the second grouping from the right. As you can see, it is heavy handed and clumsy at best.
I then moved on to applying some acrylic thinner (just a drop or 3). I waited for a about 5 minutes then started chipping with different brushes. Far right groupings, upper and lower sections on the card stock. This looked MUCH better IMHO. I was able to control how deep and to what extent I removed Interior Green.
I then moved on to dry brushing with the oil paints from the Master's Touch set and a few tubes I already owned. These are all on the far left of the card stock. The effect can be a bit hard to see in the picture. But, I really liked the effect I am seeing. The second picture shows a tiny dollop of Unfiltered White and the brush I used to smear it around.
Lastly, here is picture of the weathering brushes I used.
All in all, this was time well spent in learning and improving my skills.
So, between all the experimentation and the airbrushing on my homemade washes I think I am in much better shape with getting ready to dirty this bird up.
Back to more on the build this weekend.