Thanks for the compliments guys! Due to the inquiries about my paint weathering "streaking" process, I suppose I could throw a brief tutorial in here. I have explained this to some degree in some of my other threads, but to save time in searching for it, I'll explain it again. Believe it or not, I accidentally discovered this technique while spraying the exhaust stains on the top of a P-61's wings. I tweaked it and came up with this. First, you need an airbrush that can do reasonably fine lines. I use the Thayer Chandler Omni 4000 which is gravity fed. If you use have a similar gravity fed brush, make sure you put the cap on it (ask me how I discovered this). I use Tamiya acrylics which I find give me excellent control. Well, here's what you do (I'll use the above scheme as the example paints):
1. Spray your base color. For Olive Drab I mix about 60% Olive Drab and 40% Khaki (estimate, not an exact science here). This gives a brownish green Olive Drab hue which I prefer on my USAAF subjects.
2. Once done, take the same paint and lighten it. You may want to thin it a bit as well. With the above, I added Tamiya Buff, however, with other schemes you can use white too. (Note: set aside some of the "original" mixture for future use (You'll see why in a minute).
3. Set the compressor at a low setting....say about 5 or 10 psi. If you don't have this ability, it still should work. I just find it easier to use low pressure.
4. This is where it gets tricky to describe in words....but i'll try. Take your airbrush loaded with the above mixture and start at the wing root. Spray quickly across the chord of the wing from front to back mimicking the airflow. The wrist "flicking" motion you will use will be similar to how you dust your models, only you're going from front to back and using an airbrush. Work your way down the wing to the tip. If its not yet noticeable, lighten the paint a little more. If you over do it, add more of the original mixture you saved and use the SAME technique over it, or should I say commingled with it. This will tone it down. Just keep alternating the mixtures until you get the affect your looking for. Its best to slightly over do it because your clear coat, decal application, line wash, and final dullcoat will tone the effect down substantially.......experiment!
5. I then tape around the control surfaces and use another variation of the above mixture(s) on them so they stand out slightly, similar to how you change the shades of metal in a natural metal finish. I used to fade the surfaces considerably but this forum has taught me that this was not really accurate (not so old dogs can learn new tricks). The idea is to as interest to an otherwise boring scheme.
6. Optional: Once it looks good to your eye, mix up a batch of extremely diluted Tamiya Red Brown and NATO Black and hit the panel lines, with emphasis on the the control surface lines.
Thats about it. It sounds complicated but its really not, especially if your savvy with your particular airbrush. It works with any scheme too, not just OD over NG. I use it to some degree on just about all of my paint schemes. I hope this makes sense and I don't sound like a rambling tool. Use it freely and good luck.
Joe