Dry brushing "chocolate brown" paint: what color is best for?

On dark brown I use and India ink wash first to run into the crevices and wood grains.after that I start drybrushing different tans.Starting with medium tan than going to lighter.I use a stiffer brush to start with than softer brush at the end.Also I don't have very much paint at all on the brush with the lighter colors.
Rod

Are you within driving distance of a decent hobby shop? If so, spend a few minutes studying the ranges of paints designed for military aircraft, figures, armor, and railroads. A respectable hobby shop probably will carry the Testor's range; a really good shop will have my own personal favorite, PolyScale.

Don't be confused or intimidated by the weird names of the colors. Just look at the colors themselves. You'll find a huge variety of browns intended for use in airplane and tank camouflage schemes, and still more in the railroad department. (There's a PolyScale color called "weathered concrete" that, to my eye, is just the thing for freshly-scrubbed wood decks on 1/700 ships.)

Model Shipways makes a range of acrylic paints specifically for sailing ships, but I think they're only available via mail order. Don't despair. Those other, more common ranges are just as good. Nobody's going to know that your ship's ironwork is painted in RLM Schwartzgrau and the stripe on the hull is Union Pacific Yellow. Buy a couple of jars of the colors that look right to you, and see what happens. If you don't like the result, the hobby shop will be more than happy to sell you some more.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

You'll want a lighter color, I would mix some white into your base color and drybrush that.

Jeff