R.E. Tomcat weathering.

Ron USMC and Midnight Prowler, many thanks for your kind words! I'm glad you like my 'cat.
So to ansewer your question Ron,here's what I did.

(Most of this will be obvious to a lot of people,but I'm keeping it real simple so everyone can get it right first time)

Once the model is painted I airbrush two coats of humbrol polycoat gloss.(we don't have Future where I live.Plus if I make a mistake,I can use paintstrip to remove enamel paint/gloss.With Future you can't do this!) After coat 1 I apply my decals and leave them to dry for 24hrs. Then I airbrush the 2nd coat and make sure I put plenty on! Now just leave for another 24hrs for the surface to harden.

For the weathering, I bought a kiddies waterpaint set from woolworths.(believe me-it really works!) Get a small bowl of water , an old paint brush and a roll of kitchen towel.

I tend to start on the underside of the airframe, but it really should'nt matter where you begin. So for example let's do a wing. Wet the brush and mix it into the black paint so that It's "milk-thin" then simply brush a thick coat onto the panel lines and other recesses. Don't worry if the paint does'nt take to the gloss coat straight away, this paint thickens as it dries. Just add a little a time until it starts to solidify.
At this stage your beatiful model will look truly awful-don't panic!this is O.K.
Now leave to dry for 15-30mins.
Next, grab a peice of kitchen roll and dip in water and start to wipe the dried paint away at diagonals to the panel lines. This will reveal fine lines and add that "stain" to your wing. If it looks too dirty? Just add water and wipe away. Looks too clean? work in some more black paint. You decide how much is enough.
If you want to highlight panel lines such as those on 'burner cans which are dark to start with, use the same technique with a mix of white/orange .
When finished-seal in with the varnish of your choice.
Well I hope this is useful to you guys-any problems,feel free to e-mail me

Happy Modelling!

Darren.