You're right.I usually don't weather my planes, unless I have very
specific pics to go by, and then not as much. I am not very good at
weathering planes. and like you, I hate to get a great looking model
done and then screw it up with a poor weathering job.
I do try to weather my armor, but usually don't add too much in the way
of dust and dirt since I want to have the freedom to add to it in the
event I place something in a dio. Still, I like to try and practice
whenever I can on the armor. Some of the pics do make it hard to see
the weathering too.