Taming of the sprue

Welcome wwcharles, I think if you post this in the armor section you'll get more info than you can imagine. Good luck, and photos are always helpful.

You should also try you tube.  There's tons of info on weathering in there that's very helpfull in showing how it's done on video.

Dry brushing and washes are both applicable to brush painted models.

Pigments are an easy way to add some weathering.

I was thinking that the Techniques Section would have worked also

Is there perhaps a Hobby Lobby near you where you picked up this kit? If so, another easy weathering tool/technique that they carry are the Tamiya Weathering Sets, which look like a eye shadow compac case and are actually very similar material. Look into a set or two of those. Simple as anything to use.

I just did my first tank in the last 6 months or so, and I tried many new techniques including dry brushing, using pastel s ground up for powders, and oil paints for making washes and streaking. Everything I did I learned in FSM and Youtube. Although my side armor is on backwards and I later painted the machine gun and re-weathered many areas I missed, here was my first attempt. Just give it a shot!!! Just make sure you are not using solvents or thinners that will eat your paint job. Rudy

 Pics of my fitst tank and attempts at weathering below:

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/3/t/169258.aspx